AN AMERICAN GAME
Some say that soccer is an American game. Okay, Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell say that, and it might sound weird if you’re an American soccer fan, and you’ve spent your whole life defending your love for the game to people who say the US has no soccer history.
But: soccer was in New Jersey before it was in Brazil. The US had a pro league before Italy or Spain. We were the first country to register for the first World Cup. In this series, the former teammates tell stories from the 150 years of American soccer history that even die-hard fans may not know. Tom is one of the pre-eminent historians of American soccer, and Kirk is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter, so it’s real history that’s fun to listen to.
With a World Cup coming this year, we want to give American fans a reason to stand a little prouder, cheer a little louder, and celebrate the generations of immigrants who brought their dreams, and the game, with them. Because it’s our game, too.
WEB: https://www.soccertownmedia.com/
IG: @soccertown_media
BLUESKY: @soccertownmedia@bksy.social
AN AMERICAN GAME
Crabgrass Empire: How US Youth Soccer Got This Way...and How to Fix It
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome to Season 3 of An American Game. While enjoying their brief hiatus, Tom and Kirk heard lots of post-World Cup debate about what's wrong with American youth soccer, and they decided to kick off the new season by ending the debate. We've all got other stuff to do, right?
So here it is: the Unified Theory of What's Wrong in US Youth Soccer, the Socio-Economic History That Made It This Way, and How It Can Get Better.
Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell
Original music by Patrick White
