I look at how far the MLS has come in a matter of years. When I first started getting into soccer, about 5 years ago, American soccer was a joke. We had decent clubs but the MLS was constantly mocked for having very poor play, talent, and matches that most people wrote the league off in general.

In retrospect, I should have done a lot more research or reading. American Soccer is actually very big now and has many different leagues for going pro. However many people will tell you that some of these leagues can not even be considered “semi-pro”. Take everything that I say and others say with a grain of salt.

The First breakdown I would like to do is the MLS. I think we are starting to see a better MLS. They are claiming that they will have 18 teams by 2012. We shall all wait and see. It was a little disheartening to see 2 of our teams lose to Pachuca and Saprissa recently, however if you never fail, you will never learn. So the Dyanmo and D.C. United should look to improve next time they are in international competition.

Overall:

-I would like to see more Youth Academies from all the teams. I have heard the Chicago Fire are in the process of making one in Chicago. While I do support the Sockers and various other “L” Train teams, Academies will produce more than club academy teams.

-Another thing, while exporting players to bigger and stronger leagues is a good thing, if you look at Mexican Soccer, a lot of good players are staying. This gives their league a lot of strength. For instance, Guillermo Ochoa, Oswaldo Sanchez, and many many others are some examples of this. However, Ochoa stay has a lot of time to decide what to do concerning this topic.

The USL: Besides the A-League or Division 1, I know very little about the other competitions. I think this league is a good league however for one thing. Although the USL is lower than the MLS, I love the structure. Take a look: USL first division(11 teams), USL second division(10 teams), Premier Development League (67 teams), and finally the Super-Y League(approximately 700 teams). So having said all this, a good league with good structure will produce good clubs. I think the players get noticed a lot better and from that receive more opportunities.

MISL: Think mini-MLS but for indoor soccer. I like this league, for one thing, it is a different game indoor wise. For one thing, Goalies have to live with giving up double digit goals a game. Another thing that I love is that there are a lot of teams and they even have an established minor league playing league. I like this due to my love of developing players from within.

NPSL: The National Premier Soccer League is a break off of the USL Division 3 pro league. Teams come and go from this league and it is to be honest, semi-pro. It is very established and I look forward to watching these guys compete.

USASA: There are a number of good amateur adult teams in USASA. Look at Hollywood United.