{"podcast":{"title":"Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America","slug":"chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","podcast_index_feed_id":7528250,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/chasing-the-game","website_url":"https://www.chasingthegame.us","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/4Xne-FSh01iD2s8m_-NH8nbG0PHW7JxI0AKsxID8Mvc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZWVh/ODMyNzJlMTg1NDQ3/NWZmZjlhOTAwOWEy/ZGJmYy5wbmc.jpg","author":"Liron Unreich","episode_count":30,"summary":"Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America is a weekly podcast for soccer parents, coaches, and players who want to understand how youth soccer development really works in the United States. Hosted by two dads, filmmaker Liron Unreich and investor Matt Tartaglia, the show covers everything from grassroots soccer to elite pathways like MLS NEXT and ECNL. Combining data, real experience, and expert insights from academy directors, college coaches, and former pros, each episode explains what families truly need to know. Weekly episodes focus on the core aspects of youth soccer: player development, coaching culture, college recruiting, tryouts, travel costs, and the challenges of youth sports parenting in today’s competitive environment. For families navigating youth soccer’s complex system, Chasing the Game offers practical advice, credible voices, and relatable stories from two dads working to make sense of American player development, one episode at a time.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250"},"episode":{"title":"You Can’t Catch Up Later: The Truth About Youth Soccer Development | Patrick Ouckama","slug":"you-can-t-catch-up-later-the-truth-about-youth-soccer-development-patrick-ouckama","published_at":"2025-11-19T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/you-can-t-catch-up-later-the-truth-about-youth-soccer-development-patrick-ouckama","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/e078201d","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/e078201d/fb72665e.mp3","summary":"What does it mean to coach the person, not just the player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Patrick Ouckama, Technical Director at the New England Revolution Academy, about culture, accountability, and player development inside an MLS NEXT environment. They explore Patrick’s coaching path, what has changed in U.S. youth soccer, how academy systems shape mentality, and why development has to come before short-term winning. This episode is for parents and coaches who want a clearer view of how elite academy soccer works and how the best environments build both stronger players and stronger people. (00:00) - Introduction (00:19) - Development focus at younger ages (00:23) - Positions vs. profiles in academy evaluation (02:50) - Why many players identify as “#10s” (04:00) - When an attacking player becomes a fullback (05:50) - Pathways into the first team by position (07:45) - When to move a player out of the midfield (09:10) - Playing time vs. development at U13–U14 (12:00) - Technical load: why American players lack touches (14:50) - Are tactics introduced too early in the U.S.? (17:20) - Assessing coaching methodology inside academies (20:30) - Comparing U.S. and European development cultures (23:10) - Common misconceptions among parents (26:40) - Overlooked barriers in the U.S. development pathway (29:50) - Rapid-fire questions (33:40) - Closing remarks Click here to view the episode transcript.","meta_description":"What does it mean to coach the person, not just the player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2022,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/episodes/you-can-t-catch-up-later-the-truth-about-youth-soccer-development-patrick-ouckama/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/you-can-t-catch-up-later-the-truth-about-youth-soccer-development-patrick-ouckama.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}