Part of me has to laugh as we continually try to copy models from other countries and cultures trying to replicate their soccer successes.
I experienced alot of this 30-35 years ago in Prestwick, Scotland and Frankfurt, Germany(10 years total).
I do want to say up front I am not trying to bash D.A. and I respect what I think they are trying to do, but Big Daddy actually just hit the nail on the head with his reference to affiliations.
We are not set up the way the rest of the world is and soccer is not #1 here--his point is valid--close affiliations make all the difference in the world.
I will use Scotland as an example--I lived there longer.
Celtic and Rangers(Glasgow) had pretty extensive Youth Systems(as they called them) as did Hearts and Hibs(Edinburgh). After that, it was a little hit and miss.
Kilmarnock(closest to us in Prestwick) had their own YS and indeed some local boys were identified and played in this program on weekends.
Long story short--this would occasionaly lead to a "Jock Stein" sighting. Jock had heard of a kid in Killy's YS and was there for a peek.
Jock was the manager of Celtic, which had just won The European Cup(Todays Champions League) in 67, the year before the great Man U(Georgie Best, Brian Kidd side) beat Benfica in 68.
Two years later, Jock was Scotland's national manager. You can connect the dots I think. When your ability on the field is exposed to these eyes, you are on the fast track.
I don't think we can replicate that here for alot of the reasons B.D. hits on in his post.
