{"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":"Youth Soccer Pressure: What Parents Get Wrong | Ben Olsen","slug":"youth-soccer-pressure-what-parents-get-wrong-ben-olsen","published_at":"2025-11-26T11:35:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/youth-soccer-pressure-what-parents-get-wrong-ben-olsen","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/640cbd75","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/640cbd75/286a2ade.mp3","summary":"Why do so many youth soccer environments create pressure before players are ready for it? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Ben Olsen about the realities of pressure in youth soccer in the United States and what parents often misunderstand about development. The conversation covers pay-to-play, soccer IQ, joy versus pressure, MLS NEXT academy culture, player development, and how elite environments evaluate potential beyond early success. This episode is for soccer parents, coaches, and players navigating ECNL, USYS, MLS NEXT, high school soccer, and the college pathway, as they try to understand what truly matters for long-term growth. (00:00) - Intro (00:40) - Ben’s Early Experiences in U.S. Youth Soccer (03:15) - Pressure, Competitiveness & Player Development (07:10) - What Parents Get Wrong About Youth Soccer (11:30) - What Real Development Looks Like Inside MLS NEXT (15:45) - Culture, Joy & The Global Game (21:20) - Navigating Club Soccer Expectations (27:50) - Ben’s Advice to Parents & Players (32:40) - Wrap-Up Click here to view the episode transcript.","meta_description":"Why do so many youth soccer environments create pressure before players are ready for it? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Li…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3146,"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/youth-soccer-pressure-what-parents-get-wrong-ben-olsen/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/youth-soccer-pressure-what-parents-get-wrong-ben-olsen.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}