Josh Tyler: happy day everybody. Happy day. Look at that. I just feel it's a good day. It it's it's it's last day of being blazing hot in the Midwest.
Tyler: Yeah it's raining raining here. We it's like this water's coming from the sky.
Josh Tyler: is someone crying?
Tyler: I I mean, I've never seen anything like it. It's been so long.
Josh Tyler: Do you remember Jack Handy from SNL? Yeah, and that
Tyler: S and L. Yes, I do.
Josh Tyler: was one of the things that he told his kids. I tell my kids, why is it raining? It's because God's crying at something you did wrong.
Tyler: My gosh.
Josh Tyler: He was the one that would say, like, let's pull our kids up to he said we're gonna go to Disney World. And they'd wait till he falls asleep. They fall asleep and he pulls up to a burned down house, like, sorry, Disneyland burned down or something like that.
Tyler: my I appreciated even at a young age the dark humor that existed
Josh Tyler: I did too. I d yeah.
Tyler: within the Jack Handy lessons life lessons that we got on SNL. That's a that's a great a great throwback for a lot of our parents watching. sorry ch sorry kids.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. I actually had I had a I had the book. Jack there's a book of Jack. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like the bathroom
Tyler: yeah, was like a bathroom book? Yeah. I
Josh Tyler: book you the t Ted Lasso bathroom book you gave. I need to I need to regift that by the way. But pay it
Tyler: Yeah. Yes, keep pay it pay it forward, baby.
Josh Tyler: for it, my friend. Yeah. Hey, cool guest. I I actually a good friend good friend of ours is gonna it's gonna be Neil McNabb and talking about th this whole shakeup, but Wanted to ask you before before we bring Neil in is ha half the country right now is is during high school season and going on. So I wanted to ask your opinion. One of things that we see a lot through through CAP is when high school season hits, kids kinda go, I I'm done with recruitment, I'm only high school. What are some and I got my tip 'cause obviously I'm prompting this, but what give give us a quick tip of what you should be doing during high school season. Knowing that you're like I c bring it from a college coach perspective, because I know you're in season as a college coach, but what what's your advice to give kids when you're in high school season to continue the recruitment process?
Tyler: Well, the first thing is from a college coach perspective, this is not a one way street. and they're not saying that, but a lot of college coaches are acting like, I'm done with recruiting, season is in session. And
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: so the communication between players and coaches goes down.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: And so, I'm working with several players right now that are getting frustrated because they're not hearing back promptly from college coaches like they used to be. Now, I will tell them that let me tell the I'll I'll talk to the college coaches for a second. You're losing kids in this
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Tyler: because the players that I'm working with, I'm working with a kid that he wanted a division three school. And so he targeted several and he went after those schools right now in this time of year. And he didn't hear back. Well now he shifted to, you know, D two and NAIA schools and he's starting to hear back a little bit.
Josh Tyler: Interesting.
Tyler: So sorry D threes, but they they they're lost they lost a kid maybe.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: or they're going to lose a kid. And so I would say my advice would be do that. Continue your persistency. utilize film. A lot of high schools film, they stream their games. This is a normal thing now in high school. Yeah.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, yeah HUDL yeah yeah, correct.
Tyler: And so it yeah, huddle focus on the on the stadium wall like it's easier now. And so utilize that film, add to your collection, continue communicating to coaches. If you have a huge game, invite them out. Right? So I don't take it different. Just you you know change your approach a little bit to the competition level that you're at now and utilize it that way. That's my advice.
Josh Tyler: That was a good one. I yeah, I I'd for for me I was I I want to say it is great point on on the slow communication. Cause it is it is a grind in during season. But two, it is if it's a school you're interested in, go watch them play. You know,
Tyler: Mm, that's good advice, yes.
Josh Tyler: go if there's if if especially if you're close or even an hour drive, and I know you're in the middle seasons, so it's hard, but for sure go watch them, get on campus, watch them play. And when you said invite into games, I told a couple players is is an AI does this. Take your schedule and their schedule and make it easy for 'Cause if you just send a schedule, they're gonna forget. But if you say, Hey, Tyler, I see you coach, I see you have a game on on the sixteenth. We play at home on the seventeenth, maybe you'd be able to make that game because maybe practice will be lighter. And But I I I think getting on campus and going to watch games right now is vital. Like it shows the coach you you you care. that's my that's my advice. Get g get get on campus and find and and pick a game that they could watch.
Tyler: I gave the craziest advice I've ever given, I think, to a kid the other day. I said, I know, you wait for this, Josh. I said, you know, did you ever call their admission Did you ever call their admissions office to set up a visit? The family was like, Admissions office? We're just waiting for the coach to respond. And I said, Guys, this is so old school of me. But what if you call
Josh Tyler: Have you written a letter?
Tyler: what if you emailed or called the admissions office or went into their here's like their schedule online where you can sign up for a visit and did it through there because guess what they'll do? They'll contact the coach.
Josh Tyler: They'll let the co yeah.
Tyler: A recruit is coming to campus. I and I
Josh Tyler: That's true.
Tyler: Josh won honestly with Cap we haven't talked about that enough probably that it there is another way to visit the campus other than just come contacting the college coach, especially in season when they're got a million things going on. Go through the admissions off. Yeah. Yeah.
Josh Tyler: And they probably during in season they probably appreciate it more. I know I I did. Hey and and then I could just swing by and say hi and then the middle season. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler: Yes, inter and now you got a handshake, now you gotta talk, and you got a quick second. Maybe they'll even set up a twenty minute meeting with you and the coaching staff.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Sweet.
Tyler: G it's another way in, guys. Admissions offices, that's their job.
Josh Tyler: That is true. They have they have to admit you in. Admit it. Admit it.
Tyler: Yeah. Now what I will say one one came back and said, Well, they only do group visits, so I have to go on like a Saturday or like a d a whole group that and I'm like, Well that's that
Josh Tyler: I've heard that for smaller colleges. William Jewel does that as well. Just they're
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: small, understaffed, and and yeah. We we we're
Tyler: I get that, but I'm like well that
Josh Tyler: not rolling with the Missouri State budget here. Just come whenever you want, kids. Come on,
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: come on down. All right. Hey, let's
Tyler: That that was the follow.
Josh Tyler: let's get to this. I'm gonna but this is we got a cool guest coming up next. Is that this is Cap Chat Live. All right, welcome, welcome. We we're back. Cap chat live,
Neil McNab: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: Tyler, myself, we got Neil McNabb here. If you've been following the world of soccer over the past week, we you know that we are standing really, I think, at a historic turning point for youth sports kind of in in this country. so and we're trying to make sense of of it all. So effective and I'm gonna obviously Neil's gonna talk more about this, but effective September first US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, which is USYS, announced a two-year integration plan to bring roughly two point seven million players, fifty-four state associations, and ten thousand local clubs under a single umbrella by two thousand twenty-eight. And so we have Neil here to help us make sense what this actually means for families, club directors, college-bound athletes. so Neil sees this Transition from every angle. Neil, here you go, Neil, a former professional player with roots in the Man City youth system. His dad was a legend at Man City, Portsmount FC, and today serves as the president and executive director of Georgia soccer and as well as executive director of Rush Union in Atlanta, which is the new home of US soccer. So Neil, how's that from the intro, man? Welcome.
Neil McNab: Well, don't I I don't even know who that guy is, but I want to meet him.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, he sounds super cool.
Neil McNab: Thanks thanks for having me on guys. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. There's a lot to dive into. I don't think we have all the questions today, but I think that we've been referring to it as as Domino One. you know, there's been a lot of work go on behind the scenes to get to that point. but official vote did happen at the end of August with the USYS membership vo voting almost unanimous, ninety nine percent to one percent, in favor of some pretty big bylaw changes that went through that essentially gives US soccer the the voting rights to USYS and and will initiate this integration plan over the next two years. and the craziest thing is people didn't even know they're like, what do you mean US youth soccer wasn't part of US soccer? that
Josh Tyler: That's fair fair.
Neil McNab: that was one of the questions that were like, what do you mean? They're not pot one and the same thing. no they were not. They were they are independent entities, both nonfor profits. one established in Tennessee and I think the other one established in the Midwest. And so dealing with a lot of different technicalities, way above my pay grade. but it was a yeah, it was a monumental moment and I was excited to be in the room as the vote as the vote passed. And as a voting member, since I am the president of Georgia State Soccer Association, I was I was holding the fob for Georgia. And I can tell you that I was in the ninety nine percent, I wasn't the the one percent side of the vote.
Josh Tyler: Let me ask you let me ask you this as you is and I don't need I don't know I don't need to know what state or anything like that. Wha what's the to see this such overwhelming vote as massive and and w what was the concern of of the one percent? Or they just just wanted to be different?
Neil McNab: I don't know. I don't I don't know who the one percent was, either, Josh. I think that yeah. Who knows, right? Who knows? maybe we'll never know. it will come out in in years to come. It will be US Y S Gate. I don't know, maybe it'll come out. But
Josh Tyler: It was Montana, admit it. Montana. No, I don't know. It's probably better you don't. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: you know, I think from where they were to where they we ended up, like in discussion with US soccer and US Y S and state associations, there was definitely a time where Just getting the vote to pass at 66% supermajority, two-thirds vote on a bylaw change, was a big challenge. And so we went through a series of of meetings with US soccer leadership, US YS leadership. This has been ongoing work for well over a year, as far as my involvement's been for for Georgia soccer. but I know these discussions have been going on for the last two years, and and many of you will know that US club soccer. already have a management services agreement with us soccer that was bought out with them. So the back of the house services with US Club, right, which is another governing member under US Soccer, but not part of US soccer. And then USYS actually signed a letter of intent to go in and do a similar thing and then it it turned into more of this well hey how do we become one and the same? And I think that when you look at it from the big picture, 'Cause it's hard to get down in the weeds, right? We get lost in the weeds. But looking at it from the big picture, having a unified system across our youth landscape makes a ton of sense for soccer. And so people get concerned about what it means for them in the moment, right? There's jobs, there's uncertainty, there's it's scary. Change can be scary, but I tell you what scared me even more was not changing. When we look at the current ecosystem, right? We look at how it's structured currently. It's so fragmented. There's so many different leagues, levels, platforms. As a parent, and I have children playing myself, and I know you guys do as well. Like it is very, very tough to navigate, and we live it every day.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: And so l w living in this fragmented system to say, well, hey, if we could bring it all together, or at least we can bring some of it together, before you dive into the the nitty gritty. From looking at it from 30,000 feet, yes, a unified system makes sense. And so if we know that a unified landscape and ecosystem makes sense, let's go ahead and start doing it. And this was Domino One. And I do know that US Soccer is in conversations with the other member associations too, right? US Club, AYSO, SASOcca. We've got the adults and USASA as well. I mean, there's lots of different groups out there, and hopefully. This is just the beginning of a a a unified pathway for the player from, you know, the beginning of their youth career all the way through to their adult.
Tyler: What about the naysayers of it's were too big? I that had to have come up quite a bit on just the geography of the United States and and population.
Neil McNab: Yeah, for for sure. Look the it's
Josh Tyler: Naysayers.
Neil McNab: it's gonna require it's gonna require yeah, thank you, Josh. I just got that. Sorry, maybe it was on a time delay here. the
Tyler: Get the get that get that guy an apple.
Neil McNab: I will say that it's gonna take everybody to make it happen. And so there's a lot of different operators out there, right? You've got a lot of different leagues, platforms, and they're competing for the f some are competing for the same membership base, some are serving a need. And so You can't make decisions on behalf of different members who fall under different governance and have different structures when they're competing for some of the same membership. and so I don't see the the leagues, the levels, the platforms going away. what I do see is a unified governance to help support them. Right? If but if everybody was playing by the same rules, no matter where you are across the country, then that would enable us To be able to deliver a better product to everybody. If we're and and I don't just mean the playing rules, but that is one of them. If we're if we're under the same safeguarding guidelines, if we're under the same coaching standards, if we're under the same refereeing development standards, if we're under the same talent ID. You want to talk about the size of our country and not able to keep up? Talent ID is a massive area. We don't even know what talent we have in this country because there's no actual unified way to identify it. And you guys are talking here about the college stuff a little while ago. I got lost a little bit on the Saturday Night Live elements. but you're talking about the the college recruiting world. And
Josh Tyler: They didn't make it across the pond.
Neil McNab: and yeah, that's right. And you know, but trying to funnel players through to the youth national teams and then to the full national team, we don't even know who's in the country. Let's be honest, we don't. And and it this all came about with FIFA. The World Cup that we just hosted, amazing. we did an amazing job hosting this World Cup. I think we had tons of fun. I think everybody here had tons of fun that came to to the US and they're like, hey, we've who's in your system? And we just heard you say two point seven million in USYS, but there are a lot of people playing soccer in all of the other member associations. And then what about the ones that aren't in any? What about the unregistered population?
Josh Tyler: Where where do the and I I want to come back to actually let me let me back this up. I I think we're throwing a lot of acronyms here and I'll steal a term from Smartless when he always refers to his sister Tracy, who doesn't understand. let's break this down, I guess, a a little bit here. Is currently for there there's fifty four state associations, which I'm confused on that part. I'll come back to that because there's there's fifty states, but I think California split into two.
Neil McNab: So it's Texas.
Josh Tyler: so it's Texas. Okay. So there's fifty-four state associations. The state associations is what USYS is. So I'm in Missouri, Neil's, Georgia, Tyler's, Illinois. So Missouri is Missouri Youth Soccer. So Y S A, Georgia is GYSA, is if I'm assuming correctly, Illinois. So this is this is what has been in place for the longest time. They run State Cup, Presidents Cup. local leagues were
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: sanctioned by them for for the very longest time. So US Y S is is kind of the I would say the oldest the oldest it's what's everything it started, right? This was State Cup, what what most people know. And they're your state association. Then came US Club and 'cause I think let me back up US YS doesn't run any leagues prior to then one thing, right? In j in general they're j they're your state association. Do they run any local leagues?
Neil McNab: Some do. some do. yeah, and the state association that that re is a member of USYS is running their local leagues, the state league.
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: and those are the leagues that they govern. So they govern the ones that they that register under them and th and and then you had US Club and AYSO, Say Saka, U Triple SA. There's there's a ton of them.
Josh Tyler: Pa come back to go back to US Club though
Neil McNab: Yep.
Josh Tyler: for people. So US Club manages which leagues?
Neil McNab: the the most known leagues that US Club manages is the ECNL and the ECRL. the Elite Club National League and the and the and the regional version are are the two most prominent ones. But they also have other leagues. up until recently that was the the NPL that became
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: the N one. The N one is sanctioned under US Club. and so when you look at the governance there and and how the game is supported and served, when you have different verticals going up into US soccer that don't necessarily connect to each other. Right? Think think about it as the big bowl of spaghetti is US soccer. And
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: then each of these strands that come down, the individual pieces of pasta that come down, maybe it's getting near to lunchtime and I'm hungry. And each ones that come down, they they are not connected directly to some are close to, but they're not directly connected to. And so they're now competing over over clubs. The modern club may be registered in mul multiple places. Right? They might be registered as a USYS member, they might be registered as a US Club member, a U Triple SA member, if you're you know, Girls Academy or MLS or whom whichever programs that your club offers, they could be going up a different vertical or multiple different verticals that all have different governance requirements, different coaching standards, different playing rules as well. yeah.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Different recruitment different recruitment rules.
Neil McNab: Correct. And and so th
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: the aim here is to say, look, back in the day it was mostly US YS mostly. Not all. and depends on how far you want to go back. And the new leagues and governance have popped up and there's a criticism of US soccer for not leading at that time, for not caring enough about the youth landscape. This new version of of US soccer, the evolved version And having no no I know some of the staff that work there and also the leadership, Cindy, JT, Dan and the team, they care tremendously about the youth ecosystem. And I think that this is a wonderful opportunity to start defragmenting the the the network, right? Defragmenting the whole country and saying, Let's bring this together so that we can have less verticals. By the way,
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: with Within that those verticals, there's still gonna be all the different leagues and platforms because some areas there you need a different options. But if they all can be f if we can support them and serve them in a way that provides similar governance, safeguarding, coaching standards, support, all of this makes sense. And for our individual families over time, it would make a lot of sense to be playing more good competition, appropriate level competition, closer to home.
Josh Tyler: And then so prior to this, US soccer, so let's just take two years like US soccer, do they have really any control or influence over state organizations or or US clubs?
Neil McNab: I I don't think that's much control. I think that it's the opportunity is to collaborate with. and so yeah, there's there's not like well we can go in and do this and we don't like your league, we're gonna take it away. That that doesn't exist today. and by the way, I'm not sure that that's the motive, but it's more how
Josh Tyler: Maybe maybe control was the bad word. Was like you said, you had US Club, USYS, UAYSO, and and if US soccer a couple years ago would recommend hypothetically a a subbing, I'm making this up, a subbing restriction, right? All 9v9 can only sub to have three moments to sub, whatever that is. US soccer could say, we recommend this. US club, USYS could say, No, that's dumb. We're not doing that. Is was that like was that how disconnected they were? is that okay. Okay.
Neil McNab: Yeah, yeah, agree. Yes. That's very fair to say, and actually a r a better example of that would be the current age group change we just went through.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, okay.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: US Soccer did not make that decision. US Soccer actually said, we're gonna leave it up to our member associations. If you know if you remember what happened, AYSO,
Josh Tyler: Yes, that makes sense.
Neil McNab: US Club and USYS got together and said, Hey, we're we're gonna make the change back to the seasonal year, which closely aligns to the school year, as opposed to
Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: saying we're gonna do the sweeping change across the country. and and mandate it. And I think that we're not looking for the like the decentralization of the voices, right? So we're not looking for everything to be where it's US soccer dictating. I don't
Josh Tyler: Right.
Neil McNab: I I really believe that this is about collaboration. but they ultimately don't have the authority to tell some of the member associations exact you know what to do on a well you do it our way or the highway.
Josh Tyler: Got it.
Neil McNab: and I don't think that the consolidation is aimed about generating that amount of power. But I do think it's about generating collaboration and folks working together to better serve the game. And I think that's the where in lies the real opportunity here.
Josh Tyler: And and then one final dumb question here, is i i i I mean Tyler doesn't know this stuff. I'm just making sure Tyler knows. A AYSO, like here in Missouri, I don't think we have a what's the difference of a what what is AYSO? I I've heard that a lot, but what is AYSO?
Neil McNab: Yeah, American youth soccer organization
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: and they are big on the West Coast. And actually in some states they are the the biggest organization in in some states. and so these organizations popped up where there was a need. And you know, so if there was no soccer in your s in your state and in some places there wasn't much soccer, then something would establish and it would register and it would become an entity. And it grew. And in some places AYSO is is a big organization in some other states like Georgia too AYSO is quite small. you know, in some places Saka exists, in some others it doesn't. that's another governing entity.
Josh Tyler: Are you are you when you say that one is say S A Say Soccer. Okay. Soccer.
Neil McNab: S A Y, yeah. Say Saka. And they I think they have about a I think a hundred thousand players across the country.
Josh Tyler: okay. Okay.
Neil McNab: And so if you can imagine you know Rush soccer, we're here, you know, talking about CAP and and we're all connected to Rush. Rush has sixty-five thousand players. We're actually similar in size to some of the state associations or governing entities, right? So for for a membership base. and so we're represent but if you went through the Rush Nation, you'd probably see every league level platform and governing entity represented across our ecosystem. And
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: run being in the club world and trying to run clubs and manage competitions, when you're dealing with different requirements everywhere, it can be a challenge. You've got I've got a register players in different places, meaning now
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: they can't move between these leagues and entities freely. C the requirements for coaches are different. The sanctioning and the credentialing for coaches is different. Then the playing rules, I I I'll have games at my facilities this weekend that are playing in four different leagues. And so the referees that come out there might be refereeing four different sets of rules for the games that they're refereeing in. And so
Josh Tyler: Maybe.
Neil McNab: before we even look about taking away, and I don't think this is about taking away, the consolidation and the common sense approach to making it more consistent could really stand to make some tremendous benefits. for our players, coaches, referees, families, of course, in in how they experience the game of science.
Josh Tyler: Wow. Okay, so I'm 30 minutes in and I've only asked one of my questions.
Tyler: Ha ha
Josh Tyler: I have twenty-eight more to go. No. Tyler, before I kind of ask a couple questions, anything on on on this, because the say soccer was new to me.
Tyler: Yeah, me too.
Josh Tyler: AYSO, I definitely know. I knew the other one. The say soccer
Tyler: Yeah, I knew that.
Josh Tyler: w was was new to me. And so I I appreciate you breaking that down for for our listeners here. okay, so I here's my here's my prep. Questions here. This is gonna sound this super official. Are you ready for this? I better look I'm gonna look directly in the camera. US soccer becoming the sole voting member of USYS means a major governance transition for all fifty four states. From a Georgia soccer perspective, what does winding down separate government structure actually look like on the ground over the next two years?
Neil McNab: Yeah, so right now we're winding down USYS, which is our governing entity directly to you know, U US sorry, Georgia Soccer, and we're Georgia State Soccer Association and you mentioned that Missouri Youth Soccer Association. So we're a state soccer association, we actually have youth and adults, we're still a combined state in Georgia. so we have adult entity and we have the youth as well.
Josh Tyler: Hang on, Paul, pause on that now. I'm so sorry. Okay. So let's go back to Missouri. So Missouri is Missouri. So so for so you guys, I never realized the difference. So you guys are Georgia State Soccer Association. So that means you cover. Here in Missouri, are if I'm in an adult are do we not have sanctioned adult leagues or is that a different sanction? Does that make is that my
Neil McNab: You are probably a different entity. If it's if if it's Missouri Youth Soccer, you may have Missouri Adult Soccer as well. But they are not in Georgia we're one and the same entity. We're combined. In certain states they're combined. I think it's twenty. about twenty states are combined. Several
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: are separate. Some ref the referee community is separate as well. In Georgia we're still combined, so we're we're actually all still in one youth, adult and referee. and some others they they could be separate from the state association. what it what it's gonna mean for all of those state associations, or the the youth portions of it as we stand today, because it was US YS that passed the vote, is that instead of going upstream into US YS and then into US soccer, we're removing one layer of that bureaucracy. So it'll be directly into US soccer. That the aim Is that the state associations would be reinvented as the local arm of the Federation? And so that's going to take some work because we've dealt with one entity here, nonprofit, being USYS. You now have up to 54 state associations, all with different governance, different bylaws, in different states with different laws. And so it's a massive undertaking to say, hey, can we How do we make Georgia State Soccer Association or Missouri Youth Soccer or Illinois soccer into being the local arm of the Federation? This work has already begun. It's already been going on for quite some time to try to design what the State Association of the Future would look like to become that local arm of the Federation. What we do know, and we've I've mentioned it several times on the call here with you guys, is the governance the coaching standards, the talent
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: ID, the referee, right? we do know that s from the World Cup and the Soccer Forward Foundation that is directly connected to US soccer is making a big push for soccer in schools. So
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: we know that the local arm of the Federation, the future of the state association, the interest to get involved in schools, Parks and Rec, and the unregistered population of s that's playing soccer all interested in playing soccer, we need to be able to deliver the game there as well. And so there's so much room for growth in serving the game and getting everybody into the s under the same umbrella, in the same house, makes a ton of sense and then being able to execute at a much higher standard than we ever have.
Josh Tyler: And you brought up you you y you were instrumental. Well obviously you're big on the world the World Cup committee. but you brought the soccer and schools in in so touch on that. I think that's a big initiative. We're doing it here in Kansas City. talk about that. I know you've been been big on that, the soccer and schools and then that initiative. 'Cause I think that's been that's been a really cool initiative there. talk about that briefly and and kind of what that what that does and how anyone listening, how they can get involved with it as well.
Neil McNab: Yep. well US Soccer is trying to get soccer in schools. They've this is part of the soccer forward foundation. They've got a soccer in schools staff now. that's actually one of the staff members is Madison Hayfetz that used to be a former player with us. So we love seeing the full having the full circle moment of a former player
Josh Tyler: how cool is how cool is that?
Neil McNab: yep, being part there and and on the staff. and they are they've built a soccer in schools website. There's equipment free for Title I
Tyler: That's cool.
Neil McNab: schools. There's free training. There's videos for PE coaches. for P teachers. Sorry. There's there's gonna be more activations in school where we take the game to the schools. cl we're gonna need club operators to be involved. We're gonna need state associations to be involved. and there's there's gonna be some funding available. It is a big sponsorship with Bank of America that is backing it, but there's gonna be training for the PE teachers, there's there's hopefully gonna lead to programming at schools, during schools and after schools. and I would say go look at the there is a soccer in schools website under US Soccer
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: to go check it out. You can create a free account there and get involved. you know when we look at the population of children that play organized soccer that that if we went round any typical classroom in the United States today And walked into a first grade, second grade classroom and pulled the children who is on a soccer team. The number is terribly low. The percentage is actually very low. We don't go into a classroom, but who's on an organized soccer team and 99% of the arms go up is actually very low. It's less than 20%. and that's just in my experience. And so, how do we get more of these kids involved in playing? They don't have to be on the competitive teams. They don't even have to be on a recreational team. There's a way for us to bring the game to them, and that is the soccer and schools initiative. Bringing the game to them where they're at, and the largest population of children in any given day during the school year is in fact in a school. And so let's take the game to them.
Josh Tyler: Y you mentioned twenty percent. I saw Tyler's eyes raised twenty percent. At one point, and maybe we just made this up in our own soccer minds, that that soccer was the is the largest youth sport in the United States. Is is that is that something we us soccer guys have told ourselves? Is that is that still true or do you know that stat?
Neil McNab: I th we are the largest sport for youth in the United States, but we also have no idea how many people are actually playing soccer because all
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: we've got is the registered number.
Josh Tyler: Got it. So if you're playing in your local rec league, we ha we don't know you exist.
Neil McNab: And even some of those we don't know where they exist b or who do they exist because we are have so many different governing entities.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Josh Tyler: Got it.
Neil McNab: And right now it's It is Gosh, we are in a situation where those players and the numbers it's like the honor system, Josh. It's the honor system to report it. So like we ask US soccer, how many pla USYS, how many players do you have this season? You know, and and so it's it's very much on the honor system, so there's no there's no there's no check and balance. So you're gonna hear things about a unified registration process. You're gonna hear things about the FIFA ID number. But these are these are things that are gonna come forward. We've not not even mentioned yet on this call, because we'll talk about kind of the big picture. But if you can imagine every player in the United States getting a FIFA ID, a r a singular number, think about it like your passport number or your social security
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: number, right? And if we had that number, now you can really track a player across all the different platforms that they might be playing in. And and then you would be able to follow a player's career, you'd also know how many play people are playing. Instead of it being like the honor system. well how many players you have this season? Well yeah, I've got a hundred players. And okay, well we'll send you the data. It's an opt-in to send the data upstream. It's not automatically f filtered up and then the data filtered back down again. And that needs to change so that we can then best support we don't know where the the deserts are. We don't know where soccer doesn't exist and where the need in that area might be for more qualified coaches at these age groups. So there's there's things that we're trying to work towards to make sure that we can have the information to make more informed decisions.
Josh Tyler: That's yeah. All that's very yeah. My my mind's got to go at yeah.
Tyler: Let me c can I ask a question, Josh?
Josh Tyler: Of course, Tyler, you're the co host.
Tyler: Yes. All right, so Neil, I'm a I'm a r a parent. I have a kid that's playing club soccer, at a pretty normal level in the United States. When I'm watching this, what is a takeaway that is my life going to change at all? As a as a parent of a club as a club player, you know, what what is my is this gonna change my life whatsoever? Am I just gonna go do the same stuff, go to the same tournaments, same leagues we've been in, and then yeah, you guys change things. Cool. Like w how has my life changed? Everyone wants a l the microscopic view.
Neil McNab: Yeah. Wha what does it mean for me, right? And
Tyler: Yep.
Neil McNab: you know, immediately nothing. And nothing nothing's gonna change in the immediate future. And what you're gonna find is that this is evolution, not revolution. And so the changes that are gonna happen, you're gonna see
Josh Tyler: Write that down.
Neil McNab: them incrementally over a long period of time, so that you might be watching your child play for the next two or three years, Tyler, and then there are things that have changed that you didn't even know. And hopefully obviously for the better, right? So If you're seeing now that there's more access for coaches with education or the referees or the playing rules across platforms start to align. you know, and some of these new programs pop up in the schools over time. They're not gonna happen overnight, but the
Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: because the incremental changes, not overnight big changes, you won't notice the evolution that's happening around you. and you know, I do think that part of the the journey here will be how the changes and the positive impact gets narrated. I think that it's gonna be important for USACA and USYS over the next two years to actually stop at certain moments and say, these are the steps that we've taken. Otherwise we're just gonna go about our journey, things will change over time, right? The same way that you you look back on pictures of our kids and you're like, my gosh, they've grown so much. And yet you knew that they grew. This isn't yor. Correct. Because it's happening in front of your face
Josh Tyler: But you just don't yeah, you don't see you don't see it until like grandma comes up and I haven't seen you in year. Yeah.
Neil McNab: incrementally over time. And what we're gonna need to do is say, this is where we were two years ago, and these are the changes we're looking to make over the next two years. And you know, there's I think that this project, this evolution of soccer is going to be something that we're always working towards right if you can imagine if if we said what's the utopia? Well the utopia is our men's and women's teams competing for world championships all the time, that we've got every child playing, we're able to offer soccer at every level, hopefully at a very reasonable cost. We've reduced the travel, we've got the best coaches in the world, we've got the best referees in the world, we've got the best facilities in the world. Well, if that's the utopia by the way, every child has a wonderful experience every time they step on the field. everybody respects all the referees, all the coaches love to do it, and they're all super well qualified. Right? And so if that's the utopia, then we're always going to be working towards that. And so we gotta we're working towards it now, and there are a lot of great people out there, regardless of the platform or the member association or whom they fall under for governance right now, there are tons of great resources and great humans out there that want to see the game delivered in a positive way. What we are tasked with, and I think US soccer is tasked with, is getting them all on the same team.
Josh Tyler: B back to the the the how would this affect me, one of the things you I've read online is teller loves my love of these these parent Facebook groups is this this is a money grab. and I haven't I haven't grasped where their mind's coming from from that because it's not like i no one said they're starting a new league. But ha ha cost wise, like what is this what is this look what does this look like?
Tyler: And can I I'm gonna up we'll make it a two-parter here, Neil. So yeah, like, we're they're just doing this for money, money grab. And then what about the elitism side of soccer in the country as well? Right? You mentioned ECNL, MLS next, GA. There's this weird need that we have to have the elitism, those leagues, and they have to exist for us to be good or great as a country. How does that change affect You know, is this a money grab into well, where is the money really being spent and how is it affecting those high tier leagues?
Neil McNab: Yeah, look I think that I think it would be foolish to say that there isn't there isn't folks out there in the industry that are attempting the money grab. What I can say is that those folks are not US. Right, but they do exist. and we have to be all smart enough as parents and club directors to see where where some of those money grabs exist. I mean and we're in a four billion dollar industry and people are trying to make a buck out of it. And they could be making a buck out of it using technology, they could be making a buck out of it, offering private training camps, they could be doing leagues. There's the lots of different avenues.
Josh Tyler: Right writing a writing a book.
Neil McNab: There's yeah the right, there's so many avenues, right? And so I d I don't believe that this is a money grab by US soccer. I just I don't see it. I think that US soccer's attempt to make money from this is could only exist in the top level as full in the f as far as like sponsorships go from national brands, you know, which would then be money like Bank of America supporting the soccer in schools, which they want to see that's can those are conditional gives and things like that where they want to see it on the ground making an impact. Right, and putting their brands associated with it. I think having everybody on the same team and everybody under the same umbrella could lead to more investments, which could make the game the aim would be to make the game more accessible, at the grassroots level, make coaching education, referee education more accessible. The reality is that we're in a pay to play system, and that gets brought up too, by the way, if you go on all these forums. I'm gonna
Josh Tyler: all the time.
Neil McNab: I'm gonna argue that it's pay to play everywhere in the world. The biggest difference is somebody else is paying the bill. Right, the the the EPL
Tyler: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Fun funding it. Yeah.
Neil McNab: yeah, and the English FA put millions of dollars in a year, tens of millions of dollars into grassroots. And we in this country are paying I as a parent pay a fee and my kid gets to play. And in some places that's very reasonable. When my kids are playing rec soccer and I pay, you know, a hundred bucks, then I feel like that I'm getting what I pay for. Now to talk to your question, Tyler, about the elite platforms, there are there's We have to be very careful about changing the cost structure of soccer overnight because we also want to make sure that we don't devalue it. And there are certain cost and value perceptions right now with some of our elite leagues. And by the way, some of those elite leagues are actually giving a lot of value with the technology that they use to record games, with the coaching expertise, with the college recruiting aspects that go along with it, with the Travel elements that come, some of this actually comes with with a lot of value, some of it could be delivered better, but we don't know all of the nuances between all of the different ones because that actually some of them are competing for the same player base. You know, the ECNL boys platform might be competing with the same player base as MLS Next. So which one
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: they're actually competing with each other, and that in a in a market drives the prices up, not drives the prices down. I'm okay with prices where they are or even going up, I would be okay if the value went up with
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: it too. And that's just me speaking as a parent, not speaking as a league operator, right?
Tyler: Sure, sure. Yeah.
Neil McNab: But so but again, those changes are gonna happen incrementally over time. You can't go in and say, all right, all of you in this league, you now need to charge this or do this, right?
Tyler: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Neil McNab: Before we can ing before we can impact the ceiling, we have to raise the basement.
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: And so we have to raise the basement as far as the coaching ad, the accessibility, right? We have to be down we have to fix the basement before you can build another you know, level on your your house or whatever you want to look at.
Tyler: Another story.
Josh Tyler: Another another story. Yeah. Yeah.
Neil McNab: Yeah, exactly. Before you can add another story, you've got to make sure that the basement is is sound. The foundation is in place.
Josh Tyler: No
Tyler: Preferably not a Jack Handy S and L story.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. He he's gonna go Google it later. You're gonna like you're gonna like Jack Handy. Yeah, you would like Jack Andy. yeah, yeah.
Tyler: Neil would like that. That's his humor.
Neil McNab: I've got my homework assignment. Thank you.
Josh Tyler: Now it are one of the things that we've seen is this part of the you know, the in one collaboration i it it did a lot of the is that kind of one of the things that people can look at because you keep saying like the you know, accessibility in the collaboration and and local And keeping things local, which is I know what in that's what N one is is that's their big thing. Can you get quality games locally? I is that one of the integrations that we'll continue to see, is that kind of the idea that's trying to happen?
Neil McNab: Yeah, competitions is one one area, right, that's where we impact the game and it's probably as parents where you see it the most. And by the way, competition could be your child playing in an in-house four v four, three v three rec league.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: but it also could exist at the top of the the food chain with MLS next or ECNL. N1 actually came about before, right? It's bec it came before this vote, right? And this was US Club and USYS working together. It's an example of collaboration. I think that it depends on which state you're in, on how it's impacting that local market currently, right? But but it is an example of areas that could be could be considered and be worked on together. and so US Club, USYS kudos to them for getting in the room and trying to do something collaboratively. as far as how the execution goes, only time will tell. on on how that pans out. But it is it that actually happened before the the vote. It wasn't a byproduct of it, it but it is an example of governing entities trying to work together to improve the game. And only the consumers of that league will be able to tell us if in time it's a s a success, and and a continued success. but hopefully it leads to more discussion, more collaboration. and better standards for for for all, right? And and
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: I think it's just the beginning.
Josh Tyler: Got a final question on from my side is is what what advice do you give club leaders? 'Cause 'cause you get this dual role. You're a club leader and a state director. so what advice can you give club leaders, coaching directors, who are trying to prepare staff, families kind of for this full integration by by twenty twenty eight?
Neil McNab: Yeah, I mean even that full integration it's a USYS integration by twenty twenty eight. I think others other dominoes may fall between now and then. I would I would say and I think the large majority of people care deeply about soccer and want to see it succeed. And to be involved at a club level I think you have to care about children, and and the game. And and so My advice to club leaders is to be involved. If if you consider yourself one of the good guys out there, get involved. Get involved with your state association, get involved with your governing entities, right? say yes to to lending a hand. because the closer you can get to the source, if if you want to see positive change, you have to be in the room when the the change is being discussed. you have to be in the room when the votes are being made, right, and being cast. So The the opportunity for our for our club leaders, our state directors, our league operators is if you if you're one of the good guys, then r help out. Be part of be part
Tyler: Wait.
Neil McNab: of the change that you want to see. and you know, I'm not coming on here claiming to be better or worse than anybody around. You know, I don't know more or less than than my competitors. I I want to see this game succeed. I've got young children that play it. And I feel a a sense of responsibility to my community and the and the expanded communities to be involved. I think that I want to s help this country have the best soccer experience that we can have. I think that we owe it to our children that play the game to do that. I think we owe it to the f future generations. and if you asked me a a few years ago, Josh, are we gonna leave this in a better place than we found it? the answer would have been a hard no.
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: If you ask me that question today, I think we we have a chance. Let's leave it better than we found it. let's help it grow, let's make sure that it's set up for success in the future. And so to all the coaches, s s club directors, state association leaders, we we need everybody to make this the best that it can be. we get to compete on the field, but when we're in the boardrooms, when we're in at these symposiums and the AGMs, we're actually all on the same team together, and that is the team of soccer. I that sounds like cliche and and whatnot. Come come by our and and we're allowed to have the tough conversations, we can argue about it, but at the end of the day, we're all on the same team trying to make soccer the best that it can.
Josh Tyler: Well, I appreciate this. we're closing on an hour, so I greatly appreciate your time, Tyler. Any any final words, comments for
Tyler: No, I I I you know, I like a lot of the way that Neil says things and and gives us the bigger picture and, you know, helps us understand w building from the ground up was a great analogy and I think that and in the step by step, you know, evolution, not revolution was, you know, a great way to to say it just so everyone can understand what we're dealing with and how we're going through. So I you know, once again we appreciate your time.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Neil, thanks for joining us. There's a million things that I'm sure we we c I I can always dive into. I got to three of my questions I wanted, so that's
Neil McNab: Mm-hmm.
Josh Tyler: but good good conversation. Thanks for thanks for taking the time of of joining us here on CapChat Live and for everyone out there that's dealing with the heat, stay cool everyone.
Tyler: Yeah it's raining raining here. We it's like this water's coming from the sky.
Josh Tyler: is someone crying?
Tyler: I I mean, I've never seen anything like it. It's been so long.
Josh Tyler: Do you remember Jack Handy from SNL? Yeah, and that
Tyler: S and L. Yes, I do.
Josh Tyler: was one of the things that he told his kids. I tell my kids, why is it raining? It's because God's crying at something you did wrong.
Tyler: My gosh.
Josh Tyler: He was the one that would say, like, let's pull our kids up to he said we're gonna go to Disney World. And they'd wait till he falls asleep. They fall asleep and he pulls up to a burned down house, like, sorry, Disneyland burned down or something like that.
Tyler: my I appreciated even at a young age the dark humor that existed
Josh Tyler: I did too. I d yeah.
Tyler: within the Jack Handy lessons life lessons that we got on SNL. That's a that's a great a great throwback for a lot of our parents watching. sorry ch sorry kids.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. I actually had I had a I had the book. Jack there's a book of Jack. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like the bathroom
Tyler: yeah, was like a bathroom book? Yeah. I
Josh Tyler: book you the t Ted Lasso bathroom book you gave. I need to I need to regift that by the way. But pay it
Tyler: Yeah. Yes, keep pay it pay it forward, baby.
Josh Tyler: for it, my friend. Yeah. Hey, cool guest. I I actually a good friend good friend of ours is gonna it's gonna be Neil McNabb and talking about th this whole shakeup, but Wanted to ask you before before we bring Neil in is ha half the country right now is is during high school season and going on. So I wanted to ask your opinion. One of things that we see a lot through through CAP is when high school season hits, kids kinda go, I I'm done with recruitment, I'm only high school. What are some and I got my tip 'cause obviously I'm prompting this, but what give give us a quick tip of what you should be doing during high school season. Knowing that you're like I c bring it from a college coach perspective, because I know you're in season as a college coach, but what what's your advice to give kids when you're in high school season to continue the recruitment process?
Tyler: Well, the first thing is from a college coach perspective, this is not a one way street. and they're not saying that, but a lot of college coaches are acting like, I'm done with recruiting, season is in session. And
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: so the communication between players and coaches goes down.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: And so, I'm working with several players right now that are getting frustrated because they're not hearing back promptly from college coaches like they used to be. Now, I will tell them that let me tell the I'll I'll talk to the college coaches for a second. You're losing kids in this
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Tyler: because the players that I'm working with, I'm working with a kid that he wanted a division three school. And so he targeted several and he went after those schools right now in this time of year. And he didn't hear back. Well now he shifted to, you know, D two and NAIA schools and he's starting to hear back a little bit.
Josh Tyler: Interesting.
Tyler: So sorry D threes, but they they they're lost they lost a kid maybe.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Tyler: or they're going to lose a kid. And so I would say my advice would be do that. Continue your persistency. utilize film. A lot of high schools film, they stream their games. This is a normal thing now in high school. Yeah.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, yeah HUDL yeah yeah, correct.
Tyler: And so it yeah, huddle focus on the on the stadium wall like it's easier now. And so utilize that film, add to your collection, continue communicating to coaches. If you have a huge game, invite them out. Right? So I don't take it different. Just you you know change your approach a little bit to the competition level that you're at now and utilize it that way. That's my advice.
Josh Tyler: That was a good one. I yeah, I I'd for for me I was I I want to say it is great point on on the slow communication. Cause it is it is a grind in during season. But two, it is if it's a school you're interested in, go watch them play. You know,
Tyler: Mm, that's good advice, yes.
Josh Tyler: go if there's if if especially if you're close or even an hour drive, and I know you're in the middle seasons, so it's hard, but for sure go watch them, get on campus, watch them play. And when you said invite into games, I told a couple players is is an AI does this. Take your schedule and their schedule and make it easy for 'Cause if you just send a schedule, they're gonna forget. But if you say, Hey, Tyler, I see you coach, I see you have a game on on the sixteenth. We play at home on the seventeenth, maybe you'd be able to make that game because maybe practice will be lighter. And But I I I think getting on campus and going to watch games right now is vital. Like it shows the coach you you you care. that's my that's my advice. Get g get get on campus and find and and pick a game that they could watch.
Tyler: I gave the craziest advice I've ever given, I think, to a kid the other day. I said, I know, you wait for this, Josh. I said, you know, did you ever call their admission Did you ever call their admissions office to set up a visit? The family was like, Admissions office? We're just waiting for the coach to respond. And I said, Guys, this is so old school of me. But what if you call
Josh Tyler: Have you written a letter?
Tyler: what if you emailed or called the admissions office or went into their here's like their schedule online where you can sign up for a visit and did it through there because guess what they'll do? They'll contact the coach.
Josh Tyler: They'll let the co yeah.
Tyler: A recruit is coming to campus. I and I
Josh Tyler: That's true.
Tyler: Josh won honestly with Cap we haven't talked about that enough probably that it there is another way to visit the campus other than just come contacting the college coach, especially in season when they're got a million things going on. Go through the admissions off. Yeah. Yeah.
Josh Tyler: And they probably during in season they probably appreciate it more. I know I I did. Hey and and then I could just swing by and say hi and then the middle season. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler: Yes, inter and now you got a handshake, now you gotta talk, and you got a quick second. Maybe they'll even set up a twenty minute meeting with you and the coaching staff.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Sweet.
Tyler: G it's another way in, guys. Admissions offices, that's their job.
Josh Tyler: That is true. They have they have to admit you in. Admit it. Admit it.
Tyler: Yeah. Now what I will say one one came back and said, Well, they only do group visits, so I have to go on like a Saturday or like a d a whole group that and I'm like, Well that's that
Josh Tyler: I've heard that for smaller colleges. William Jewel does that as well. Just they're
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: small, understaffed, and and yeah. We we we're
Tyler: I get that, but I'm like well that
Josh Tyler: not rolling with the Missouri State budget here. Just come whenever you want, kids. Come on,
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: come on down. All right. Hey, let's
Tyler: That that was the follow.
Josh Tyler: let's get to this. I'm gonna but this is we got a cool guest coming up next. Is that this is Cap Chat Live. All right, welcome, welcome. We we're back. Cap chat live,
Neil McNab: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: Tyler, myself, we got Neil McNabb here. If you've been following the world of soccer over the past week, we you know that we are standing really, I think, at a historic turning point for youth sports kind of in in this country. so and we're trying to make sense of of it all. So effective and I'm gonna obviously Neil's gonna talk more about this, but effective September first US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, which is USYS, announced a two-year integration plan to bring roughly two point seven million players, fifty-four state associations, and ten thousand local clubs under a single umbrella by two thousand twenty-eight. And so we have Neil here to help us make sense what this actually means for families, club directors, college-bound athletes. so Neil sees this Transition from every angle. Neil, here you go, Neil, a former professional player with roots in the Man City youth system. His dad was a legend at Man City, Portsmount FC, and today serves as the president and executive director of Georgia soccer and as well as executive director of Rush Union in Atlanta, which is the new home of US soccer. So Neil, how's that from the intro, man? Welcome.
Neil McNab: Well, don't I I don't even know who that guy is, but I want to meet him.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, he sounds super cool.
Neil McNab: Thanks thanks for having me on guys. Yeah, there's been a lot going on. There's a lot to dive into. I don't think we have all the questions today, but I think that we've been referring to it as as Domino One. you know, there's been a lot of work go on behind the scenes to get to that point. but official vote did happen at the end of August with the USYS membership vo voting almost unanimous, ninety nine percent to one percent, in favor of some pretty big bylaw changes that went through that essentially gives US soccer the the voting rights to USYS and and will initiate this integration plan over the next two years. and the craziest thing is people didn't even know they're like, what do you mean US youth soccer wasn't part of US soccer? that
Josh Tyler: That's fair fair.
Neil McNab: that was one of the questions that were like, what do you mean? They're not pot one and the same thing. no they were not. They were they are independent entities, both nonfor profits. one established in Tennessee and I think the other one established in the Midwest. And so dealing with a lot of different technicalities, way above my pay grade. but it was a yeah, it was a monumental moment and I was excited to be in the room as the vote as the vote passed. And as a voting member, since I am the president of Georgia State Soccer Association, I was I was holding the fob for Georgia. And I can tell you that I was in the ninety nine percent, I wasn't the the one percent side of the vote.
Josh Tyler: Let me ask you let me ask you this as you is and I don't need I don't know I don't need to know what state or anything like that. Wha what's the to see this such overwhelming vote as massive and and w what was the concern of of the one percent? Or they just just wanted to be different?
Neil McNab: I don't know. I don't I don't know who the one percent was, either, Josh. I think that yeah. Who knows, right? Who knows? maybe we'll never know. it will come out in in years to come. It will be US Y S Gate. I don't know, maybe it'll come out. But
Josh Tyler: It was Montana, admit it. Montana. No, I don't know. It's probably better you don't. Yeah. Yeah.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: you know, I think from where they were to where they we ended up, like in discussion with US soccer and US Y S and state associations, there was definitely a time where Just getting the vote to pass at 66% supermajority, two-thirds vote on a bylaw change, was a big challenge. And so we went through a series of of meetings with US soccer leadership, US YS leadership. This has been ongoing work for well over a year, as far as my involvement's been for for Georgia soccer. but I know these discussions have been going on for the last two years, and and many of you will know that US club soccer. already have a management services agreement with us soccer that was bought out with them. So the back of the house services with US Club, right, which is another governing member under US Soccer, but not part of US soccer. And then USYS actually signed a letter of intent to go in and do a similar thing and then it it turned into more of this well hey how do we become one and the same? And I think that when you look at it from the big picture, 'Cause it's hard to get down in the weeds, right? We get lost in the weeds. But looking at it from the big picture, having a unified system across our youth landscape makes a ton of sense for soccer. And so people get concerned about what it means for them in the moment, right? There's jobs, there's uncertainty, there's it's scary. Change can be scary, but I tell you what scared me even more was not changing. When we look at the current ecosystem, right? We look at how it's structured currently. It's so fragmented. There's so many different leagues, levels, platforms. As a parent, and I have children playing myself, and I know you guys do as well. Like it is very, very tough to navigate, and we live it every day.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: And so l w living in this fragmented system to say, well, hey, if we could bring it all together, or at least we can bring some of it together, before you dive into the the nitty gritty. From looking at it from 30,000 feet, yes, a unified system makes sense. And so if we know that a unified landscape and ecosystem makes sense, let's go ahead and start doing it. And this was Domino One. And I do know that US Soccer is in conversations with the other member associations too, right? US Club, AYSO, SASOcca. We've got the adults and USASA as well. I mean, there's lots of different groups out there, and hopefully. This is just the beginning of a a a unified pathway for the player from, you know, the beginning of their youth career all the way through to their adult.
Tyler: What about the naysayers of it's were too big? I that had to have come up quite a bit on just the geography of the United States and and population.
Neil McNab: Yeah, for for sure. Look the it's
Josh Tyler: Naysayers.
Neil McNab: it's gonna require it's gonna require yeah, thank you, Josh. I just got that. Sorry, maybe it was on a time delay here. the
Tyler: Get the get that get that guy an apple.
Neil McNab: I will say that it's gonna take everybody to make it happen. And so there's a lot of different operators out there, right? You've got a lot of different leagues, platforms, and they're competing for the f some are competing for the same membership base, some are serving a need. And so You can't make decisions on behalf of different members who fall under different governance and have different structures when they're competing for some of the same membership. and so I don't see the the leagues, the levels, the platforms going away. what I do see is a unified governance to help support them. Right? If but if everybody was playing by the same rules, no matter where you are across the country, then that would enable us To be able to deliver a better product to everybody. If we're and and I don't just mean the playing rules, but that is one of them. If we're if we're under the same safeguarding guidelines, if we're under the same coaching standards, if we're under the same refereeing development standards, if we're under the same talent ID. You want to talk about the size of our country and not able to keep up? Talent ID is a massive area. We don't even know what talent we have in this country because there's no actual unified way to identify it. And you guys are talking here about the college stuff a little while ago. I got lost a little bit on the Saturday Night Live elements. but you're talking about the the college recruiting world. And
Josh Tyler: They didn't make it across the pond.
Neil McNab: and yeah, that's right. And you know, but trying to funnel players through to the youth national teams and then to the full national team, we don't even know who's in the country. Let's be honest, we don't. And and it this all came about with FIFA. The World Cup that we just hosted, amazing. we did an amazing job hosting this World Cup. I think we had tons of fun. I think everybody here had tons of fun that came to to the US and they're like, hey, we've who's in your system? And we just heard you say two point seven million in USYS, but there are a lot of people playing soccer in all of the other member associations. And then what about the ones that aren't in any? What about the unregistered population?
Josh Tyler: Where where do the and I I want to come back to actually let me let me back this up. I I think we're throwing a lot of acronyms here and I'll steal a term from Smartless when he always refers to his sister Tracy, who doesn't understand. let's break this down, I guess, a a little bit here. Is currently for there there's fifty four state associations, which I'm confused on that part. I'll come back to that because there's there's fifty states, but I think California split into two.
Neil McNab: So it's Texas.
Josh Tyler: so it's Texas. Okay. So there's fifty-four state associations. The state associations is what USYS is. So I'm in Missouri, Neil's, Georgia, Tyler's, Illinois. So Missouri is Missouri Youth Soccer. So Y S A, Georgia is GYSA, is if I'm assuming correctly, Illinois. So this is this is what has been in place for the longest time. They run State Cup, Presidents Cup. local leagues were
Tyler: Yeah.
Josh Tyler: sanctioned by them for for the very longest time. So US Y S is is kind of the I would say the oldest the oldest it's what's everything it started, right? This was State Cup, what what most people know. And they're your state association. Then came US Club and 'cause I think let me back up US YS doesn't run any leagues prior to then one thing, right? In j in general they're j they're your state association. Do they run any local leagues?
Neil McNab: Some do. some do. yeah, and the state association that that re is a member of USYS is running their local leagues, the state league.
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: and those are the leagues that they govern. So they govern the ones that they that register under them and th and and then you had US Club and AYSO, Say Saka, U Triple SA. There's there's a ton of them.
Josh Tyler: Pa come back to go back to US Club though
Neil McNab: Yep.
Josh Tyler: for people. So US Club manages which leagues?
Neil McNab: the the most known leagues that US Club manages is the ECNL and the ECRL. the Elite Club National League and the and the and the regional version are are the two most prominent ones. But they also have other leagues. up until recently that was the the NPL that became
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: the N one. The N one is sanctioned under US Club. and so when you look at the governance there and and how the game is supported and served, when you have different verticals going up into US soccer that don't necessarily connect to each other. Right? Think think about it as the big bowl of spaghetti is US soccer. And
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: then each of these strands that come down, the individual pieces of pasta that come down, maybe it's getting near to lunchtime and I'm hungry. And each ones that come down, they they are not connected directly to some are close to, but they're not directly connected to. And so they're now competing over over clubs. The modern club may be registered in mul multiple places. Right? They might be registered as a USYS member, they might be registered as a US Club member, a U Triple SA member, if you're you know, Girls Academy or MLS or whom whichever programs that your club offers, they could be going up a different vertical or multiple different verticals that all have different governance requirements, different coaching standards, different playing rules as well. yeah.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Different recruitment different recruitment rules.
Neil McNab: Correct. And and so th
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: the aim here is to say, look, back in the day it was mostly US YS mostly. Not all. and depends on how far you want to go back. And the new leagues and governance have popped up and there's a criticism of US soccer for not leading at that time, for not caring enough about the youth landscape. This new version of of US soccer, the evolved version And having no no I know some of the staff that work there and also the leadership, Cindy, JT, Dan and the team, they care tremendously about the youth ecosystem. And I think that this is a wonderful opportunity to start defragmenting the the the network, right? Defragmenting the whole country and saying, Let's bring this together so that we can have less verticals. By the way,
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: with Within that those verticals, there's still gonna be all the different leagues and platforms because some areas there you need a different options. But if they all can be f if we can support them and serve them in a way that provides similar governance, safeguarding, coaching standards, support, all of this makes sense. And for our individual families over time, it would make a lot of sense to be playing more good competition, appropriate level competition, closer to home.
Josh Tyler: And then so prior to this, US soccer, so let's just take two years like US soccer, do they have really any control or influence over state organizations or or US clubs?
Neil McNab: I I don't think that's much control. I think that it's the opportunity is to collaborate with. and so yeah, there's there's not like well we can go in and do this and we don't like your league, we're gonna take it away. That that doesn't exist today. and by the way, I'm not sure that that's the motive, but it's more how
Josh Tyler: Maybe maybe control was the bad word. Was like you said, you had US Club, USYS, UAYSO, and and if US soccer a couple years ago would recommend hypothetically a a subbing, I'm making this up, a subbing restriction, right? All 9v9 can only sub to have three moments to sub, whatever that is. US soccer could say, we recommend this. US club, USYS could say, No, that's dumb. We're not doing that. Is was that like was that how disconnected they were? is that okay. Okay.
Neil McNab: Yeah, yeah, agree. Yes. That's very fair to say, and actually a r a better example of that would be the current age group change we just went through.
Josh Tyler: Yeah, okay.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: US Soccer did not make that decision. US Soccer actually said, we're gonna leave it up to our member associations. If you know if you remember what happened, AYSO,
Josh Tyler: Yes, that makes sense.
Neil McNab: US Club and USYS got together and said, Hey, we're we're gonna make the change back to the seasonal year, which closely aligns to the school year, as opposed to
Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: saying we're gonna do the sweeping change across the country. and and mandate it. And I think that we're not looking for the like the decentralization of the voices, right? So we're not looking for everything to be where it's US soccer dictating. I don't
Josh Tyler: Right.
Neil McNab: I I really believe that this is about collaboration. but they ultimately don't have the authority to tell some of the member associations exact you know what to do on a well you do it our way or the highway.
Josh Tyler: Got it.
Neil McNab: and I don't think that the consolidation is aimed about generating that amount of power. But I do think it's about generating collaboration and folks working together to better serve the game. And I think that's the where in lies the real opportunity here.
Josh Tyler: And and then one final dumb question here, is i i i I mean Tyler doesn't know this stuff. I'm just making sure Tyler knows. A AYSO, like here in Missouri, I don't think we have a what's the difference of a what what is AYSO? I I've heard that a lot, but what is AYSO?
Neil McNab: Yeah, American youth soccer organization
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: and they are big on the West Coast. And actually in some states they are the the biggest organization in in some states. and so these organizations popped up where there was a need. And you know, so if there was no soccer in your s in your state and in some places there wasn't much soccer, then something would establish and it would register and it would become an entity. And it grew. And in some places AYSO is is a big organization in some other states like Georgia too AYSO is quite small. you know, in some places Saka exists, in some others it doesn't. that's another governing entity.
Josh Tyler: Are you are you when you say that one is say S A Say Soccer. Okay. Soccer.
Neil McNab: S A Y, yeah. Say Saka. And they I think they have about a I think a hundred thousand players across the country.
Josh Tyler: okay. Okay.
Neil McNab: And so if you can imagine you know Rush soccer, we're here, you know, talking about CAP and and we're all connected to Rush. Rush has sixty-five thousand players. We're actually similar in size to some of the state associations or governing entities, right? So for for a membership base. and so we're represent but if you went through the Rush Nation, you'd probably see every league level platform and governing entity represented across our ecosystem. And
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: run being in the club world and trying to run clubs and manage competitions, when you're dealing with different requirements everywhere, it can be a challenge. You've got I've got a register players in different places, meaning now
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: they can't move between these leagues and entities freely. C the requirements for coaches are different. The sanctioning and the credentialing for coaches is different. Then the playing rules, I I I'll have games at my facilities this weekend that are playing in four different leagues. And so the referees that come out there might be refereeing four different sets of rules for the games that they're refereeing in. And so
Josh Tyler: Maybe.
Neil McNab: before we even look about taking away, and I don't think this is about taking away, the consolidation and the common sense approach to making it more consistent could really stand to make some tremendous benefits. for our players, coaches, referees, families, of course, in in how they experience the game of science.
Josh Tyler: Wow. Okay, so I'm 30 minutes in and I've only asked one of my questions.
Tyler: Ha ha
Josh Tyler: I have twenty-eight more to go. No. Tyler, before I kind of ask a couple questions, anything on on on this, because the say soccer was new to me.
Tyler: Yeah, me too.
Josh Tyler: AYSO, I definitely know. I knew the other one. The say soccer
Tyler: Yeah, I knew that.
Josh Tyler: w was was new to me. And so I I appreciate you breaking that down for for our listeners here. okay, so I here's my here's my prep. Questions here. This is gonna sound this super official. Are you ready for this? I better look I'm gonna look directly in the camera. US soccer becoming the sole voting member of USYS means a major governance transition for all fifty four states. From a Georgia soccer perspective, what does winding down separate government structure actually look like on the ground over the next two years?
Neil McNab: Yeah, so right now we're winding down USYS, which is our governing entity directly to you know, U US sorry, Georgia Soccer, and we're Georgia State Soccer Association and you mentioned that Missouri Youth Soccer Association. So we're a state soccer association, we actually have youth and adults, we're still a combined state in Georgia. so we have adult entity and we have the youth as well.
Josh Tyler: Hang on, Paul, pause on that now. I'm so sorry. Okay. So let's go back to Missouri. So Missouri is Missouri. So so for so you guys, I never realized the difference. So you guys are Georgia State Soccer Association. So that means you cover. Here in Missouri, are if I'm in an adult are do we not have sanctioned adult leagues or is that a different sanction? Does that make is that my
Neil McNab: You are probably a different entity. If it's if if it's Missouri Youth Soccer, you may have Missouri Adult Soccer as well. But they are not in Georgia we're one and the same entity. We're combined. In certain states they're combined. I think it's twenty. about twenty states are combined. Several
Josh Tyler: Okay.
Neil McNab: are separate. Some ref the referee community is separate as well. In Georgia we're still combined, so we're we're actually all still in one youth, adult and referee. and some others they they could be separate from the state association. what it what it's gonna mean for all of those state associations, or the the youth portions of it as we stand today, because it was US YS that passed the vote, is that instead of going upstream into US YS and then into US soccer, we're removing one layer of that bureaucracy. So it'll be directly into US soccer. That the aim Is that the state associations would be reinvented as the local arm of the Federation? And so that's going to take some work because we've dealt with one entity here, nonprofit, being USYS. You now have up to 54 state associations, all with different governance, different bylaws, in different states with different laws. And so it's a massive undertaking to say, hey, can we How do we make Georgia State Soccer Association or Missouri Youth Soccer or Illinois soccer into being the local arm of the Federation? This work has already begun. It's already been going on for quite some time to try to design what the State Association of the Future would look like to become that local arm of the Federation. What we do know, and we've I've mentioned it several times on the call here with you guys, is the governance the coaching standards, the talent
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: ID, the referee, right? we do know that s from the World Cup and the Soccer Forward Foundation that is directly connected to US soccer is making a big push for soccer in schools. So
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: we know that the local arm of the Federation, the future of the state association, the interest to get involved in schools, Parks and Rec, and the unregistered population of s that's playing soccer all interested in playing soccer, we need to be able to deliver the game there as well. And so there's so much room for growth in serving the game and getting everybody into the s under the same umbrella, in the same house, makes a ton of sense and then being able to execute at a much higher standard than we ever have.
Josh Tyler: And you brought up you you y you were instrumental. Well obviously you're big on the world the World Cup committee. but you brought the soccer and schools in in so touch on that. I think that's a big initiative. We're doing it here in Kansas City. talk about that. I know you've been been big on that, the soccer and schools and then that initiative. 'Cause I think that's been that's been a really cool initiative there. talk about that briefly and and kind of what that what that does and how anyone listening, how they can get involved with it as well.
Neil McNab: Yep. well US Soccer is trying to get soccer in schools. They've this is part of the soccer forward foundation. They've got a soccer in schools staff now. that's actually one of the staff members is Madison Hayfetz that used to be a former player with us. So we love seeing the full having the full circle moment of a former player
Josh Tyler: how cool is how cool is that?
Neil McNab: yep, being part there and and on the staff. and they are they've built a soccer in schools website. There's equipment free for Title I
Tyler: That's cool.
Neil McNab: schools. There's free training. There's videos for PE coaches. for P teachers. Sorry. There's there's gonna be more activations in school where we take the game to the schools. cl we're gonna need club operators to be involved. We're gonna need state associations to be involved. and there's there's gonna be some funding available. It is a big sponsorship with Bank of America that is backing it, but there's gonna be training for the PE teachers, there's there's hopefully gonna lead to programming at schools, during schools and after schools. and I would say go look at the there is a soccer in schools website under US Soccer
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: to go check it out. You can create a free account there and get involved. you know when we look at the population of children that play organized soccer that that if we went round any typical classroom in the United States today And walked into a first grade, second grade classroom and pulled the children who is on a soccer team. The number is terribly low. The percentage is actually very low. We don't go into a classroom, but who's on an organized soccer team and 99% of the arms go up is actually very low. It's less than 20%. and that's just in my experience. And so, how do we get more of these kids involved in playing? They don't have to be on the competitive teams. They don't even have to be on a recreational team. There's a way for us to bring the game to them, and that is the soccer and schools initiative. Bringing the game to them where they're at, and the largest population of children in any given day during the school year is in fact in a school. And so let's take the game to them.
Josh Tyler: Y you mentioned twenty percent. I saw Tyler's eyes raised twenty percent. At one point, and maybe we just made this up in our own soccer minds, that that soccer was the is the largest youth sport in the United States. Is is that is that something we us soccer guys have told ourselves? Is that is that still true or do you know that stat?
Neil McNab: I th we are the largest sport for youth in the United States, but we also have no idea how many people are actually playing soccer because all
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: we've got is the registered number.
Josh Tyler: Got it. So if you're playing in your local rec league, we ha we don't know you exist.
Neil McNab: And even some of those we don't know where they exist b or who do they exist because we are have so many different governing entities.
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Josh Tyler: Got it.
Neil McNab: And right now it's It is Gosh, we are in a situation where those players and the numbers it's like the honor system, Josh. It's the honor system to report it. So like we ask US soccer, how many pla USYS, how many players do you have this season? You know, and and so it's it's very much on the honor system, so there's no there's no there's no check and balance. So you're gonna hear things about a unified registration process. You're gonna hear things about the FIFA ID number. But these are these are things that are gonna come forward. We've not not even mentioned yet on this call, because we'll talk about kind of the big picture. But if you can imagine every player in the United States getting a FIFA ID, a r a singular number, think about it like your passport number or your social security
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: number, right? And if we had that number, now you can really track a player across all the different platforms that they might be playing in. And and then you would be able to follow a player's career, you'd also know how many play people are playing. Instead of it being like the honor system. well how many players you have this season? Well yeah, I've got a hundred players. And okay, well we'll send you the data. It's an opt-in to send the data upstream. It's not automatically f filtered up and then the data filtered back down again. And that needs to change so that we can then best support we don't know where the the deserts are. We don't know where soccer doesn't exist and where the need in that area might be for more qualified coaches at these age groups. So there's there's things that we're trying to work towards to make sure that we can have the information to make more informed decisions.
Josh Tyler: That's yeah. All that's very yeah. My my mind's got to go at yeah.
Tyler: Let me c can I ask a question, Josh?
Josh Tyler: Of course, Tyler, you're the co host.
Tyler: Yes. All right, so Neil, I'm a I'm a r a parent. I have a kid that's playing club soccer, at a pretty normal level in the United States. When I'm watching this, what is a takeaway that is my life going to change at all? As a as a parent of a club as a club player, you know, what what is my is this gonna change my life whatsoever? Am I just gonna go do the same stuff, go to the same tournaments, same leagues we've been in, and then yeah, you guys change things. Cool. Like w how has my life changed? Everyone wants a l the microscopic view.
Neil McNab: Yeah. Wha what does it mean for me, right? And
Tyler: Yep.
Neil McNab: you know, immediately nothing. And nothing nothing's gonna change in the immediate future. And what you're gonna find is that this is evolution, not revolution. And so the changes that are gonna happen, you're gonna see
Josh Tyler: Write that down.
Neil McNab: them incrementally over a long period of time, so that you might be watching your child play for the next two or three years, Tyler, and then there are things that have changed that you didn't even know. And hopefully obviously for the better, right? So If you're seeing now that there's more access for coaches with education or the referees or the playing rules across platforms start to align. you know, and some of these new programs pop up in the schools over time. They're not gonna happen overnight, but the
Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: because the incremental changes, not overnight big changes, you won't notice the evolution that's happening around you. and you know, I do think that part of the the journey here will be how the changes and the positive impact gets narrated. I think that it's gonna be important for USACA and USYS over the next two years to actually stop at certain moments and say, these are the steps that we've taken. Otherwise we're just gonna go about our journey, things will change over time, right? The same way that you you look back on pictures of our kids and you're like, my gosh, they've grown so much. And yet you knew that they grew. This isn't yor. Correct. Because it's happening in front of your face
Josh Tyler: But you just don't yeah, you don't see you don't see it until like grandma comes up and I haven't seen you in year. Yeah.
Neil McNab: incrementally over time. And what we're gonna need to do is say, this is where we were two years ago, and these are the changes we're looking to make over the next two years. And you know, there's I think that this project, this evolution of soccer is going to be something that we're always working towards right if you can imagine if if we said what's the utopia? Well the utopia is our men's and women's teams competing for world championships all the time, that we've got every child playing, we're able to offer soccer at every level, hopefully at a very reasonable cost. We've reduced the travel, we've got the best coaches in the world, we've got the best referees in the world, we've got the best facilities in the world. Well, if that's the utopia by the way, every child has a wonderful experience every time they step on the field. everybody respects all the referees, all the coaches love to do it, and they're all super well qualified. Right? And so if that's the utopia, then we're always going to be working towards that. And so we gotta we're working towards it now, and there are a lot of great people out there, regardless of the platform or the member association or whom they fall under for governance right now, there are tons of great resources and great humans out there that want to see the game delivered in a positive way. What we are tasked with, and I think US soccer is tasked with, is getting them all on the same team.
Josh Tyler: B back to the the the how would this affect me, one of the things you I've read online is teller loves my love of these these parent Facebook groups is this this is a money grab. and I haven't I haven't grasped where their mind's coming from from that because it's not like i no one said they're starting a new league. But ha ha cost wise, like what is this what is this look what does this look like?
Tyler: And can I I'm gonna up we'll make it a two-parter here, Neil. So yeah, like, we're they're just doing this for money, money grab. And then what about the elitism side of soccer in the country as well? Right? You mentioned ECNL, MLS next, GA. There's this weird need that we have to have the elitism, those leagues, and they have to exist for us to be good or great as a country. How does that change affect You know, is this a money grab into well, where is the money really being spent and how is it affecting those high tier leagues?
Neil McNab: Yeah, look I think that I think it would be foolish to say that there isn't there isn't folks out there in the industry that are attempting the money grab. What I can say is that those folks are not US. Right, but they do exist. and we have to be all smart enough as parents and club directors to see where where some of those money grabs exist. I mean and we're in a four billion dollar industry and people are trying to make a buck out of it. And they could be making a buck out of it using technology, they could be making a buck out of it, offering private training camps, they could be doing leagues. There's the lots of different avenues.
Josh Tyler: Right writing a writing a book.
Neil McNab: There's yeah the right, there's so many avenues, right? And so I d I don't believe that this is a money grab by US soccer. I just I don't see it. I think that US soccer's attempt to make money from this is could only exist in the top level as full in the f as far as like sponsorships go from national brands, you know, which would then be money like Bank of America supporting the soccer in schools, which they want to see that's can those are conditional gives and things like that where they want to see it on the ground making an impact. Right, and putting their brands associated with it. I think having everybody on the same team and everybody under the same umbrella could lead to more investments, which could make the game the aim would be to make the game more accessible, at the grassroots level, make coaching education, referee education more accessible. The reality is that we're in a pay to play system, and that gets brought up too, by the way, if you go on all these forums. I'm gonna
Josh Tyler: all the time.
Neil McNab: I'm gonna argue that it's pay to play everywhere in the world. The biggest difference is somebody else is paying the bill. Right, the the the EPL
Tyler: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Fun funding it. Yeah.
Neil McNab: yeah, and the English FA put millions of dollars in a year, tens of millions of dollars into grassroots. And we in this country are paying I as a parent pay a fee and my kid gets to play. And in some places that's very reasonable. When my kids are playing rec soccer and I pay, you know, a hundred bucks, then I feel like that I'm getting what I pay for. Now to talk to your question, Tyler, about the elite platforms, there are there's We have to be very careful about changing the cost structure of soccer overnight because we also want to make sure that we don't devalue it. And there are certain cost and value perceptions right now with some of our elite leagues. And by the way, some of those elite leagues are actually giving a lot of value with the technology that they use to record games, with the coaching expertise, with the college recruiting aspects that go along with it, with the Travel elements that come, some of this actually comes with with a lot of value, some of it could be delivered better, but we don't know all of the nuances between all of the different ones because that actually some of them are competing for the same player base. You know, the ECNL boys platform might be competing with the same player base as MLS Next. So which one
Josh Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: they're actually competing with each other, and that in a in a market drives the prices up, not drives the prices down. I'm okay with prices where they are or even going up, I would be okay if the value went up with
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: it too. And that's just me speaking as a parent, not speaking as a league operator, right?
Tyler: Sure, sure. Yeah.
Neil McNab: But so but again, those changes are gonna happen incrementally over time. You can't go in and say, all right, all of you in this league, you now need to charge this or do this, right?
Tyler: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Neil McNab: Before we can ing before we can impact the ceiling, we have to raise the basement.
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: And so we have to raise the basement as far as the coaching ad, the accessibility, right? We have to be down we have to fix the basement before you can build another you know, level on your your house or whatever you want to look at.
Tyler: Another story.
Josh Tyler: Another another story. Yeah. Yeah.
Neil McNab: Yeah, exactly. Before you can add another story, you've got to make sure that the basement is is sound. The foundation is in place.
Josh Tyler: No
Tyler: Preferably not a Jack Handy S and L story.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Yeah. He he's gonna go Google it later. You're gonna like you're gonna like Jack Handy. Yeah, you would like Jack Andy. yeah, yeah.
Tyler: Neil would like that. That's his humor.
Neil McNab: I've got my homework assignment. Thank you.
Josh Tyler: Now it are one of the things that we've seen is this part of the you know, the in one collaboration i it it did a lot of the is that kind of one of the things that people can look at because you keep saying like the you know, accessibility in the collaboration and and local And keeping things local, which is I know what in that's what N one is is that's their big thing. Can you get quality games locally? I is that one of the integrations that we'll continue to see, is that kind of the idea that's trying to happen?
Neil McNab: Yeah, competitions is one one area, right, that's where we impact the game and it's probably as parents where you see it the most. And by the way, competition could be your child playing in an in-house four v four, three v three rec league.
Josh Tyler: Yeah.
Neil McNab: but it also could exist at the top of the the food chain with MLS next or ECNL. N1 actually came about before, right? It's bec it came before this vote, right? And this was US Club and USYS working together. It's an example of collaboration. I think that it depends on which state you're in, on how it's impacting that local market currently, right? But but it is an example of areas that could be could be considered and be worked on together. and so US Club, USYS kudos to them for getting in the room and trying to do something collaboratively. as far as how the execution goes, only time will tell. on on how that pans out. But it is it that actually happened before the the vote. It wasn't a byproduct of it, it but it is an example of governing entities trying to work together to improve the game. And only the consumers of that league will be able to tell us if in time it's a s a success, and and a continued success. but hopefully it leads to more discussion, more collaboration. and better standards for for for all, right? And and
Tyler: Mm-hmm.
Neil McNab: I think it's just the beginning.
Josh Tyler: Got a final question on from my side is is what what advice do you give club leaders? 'Cause 'cause you get this dual role. You're a club leader and a state director. so what advice can you give club leaders, coaching directors, who are trying to prepare staff, families kind of for this full integration by by twenty twenty eight?
Neil McNab: Yeah, I mean even that full integration it's a USYS integration by twenty twenty eight. I think others other dominoes may fall between now and then. I would I would say and I think the large majority of people care deeply about soccer and want to see it succeed. And to be involved at a club level I think you have to care about children, and and the game. And and so My advice to club leaders is to be involved. If if you consider yourself one of the good guys out there, get involved. Get involved with your state association, get involved with your governing entities, right? say yes to to lending a hand. because the closer you can get to the source, if if you want to see positive change, you have to be in the room when the the change is being discussed. you have to be in the room when the votes are being made, right, and being cast. So The the opportunity for our for our club leaders, our state directors, our league operators is if you if you're one of the good guys, then r help out. Be part of be part
Tyler: Wait.
Neil McNab: of the change that you want to see. and you know, I'm not coming on here claiming to be better or worse than anybody around. You know, I don't know more or less than than my competitors. I I want to see this game succeed. I've got young children that play it. And I feel a a sense of responsibility to my community and the and the expanded communities to be involved. I think that I want to s help this country have the best soccer experience that we can have. I think that we owe it to our children that play the game to do that. I think we owe it to the f future generations. and if you asked me a a few years ago, Josh, are we gonna leave this in a better place than we found it? the answer would have been a hard no.
Josh Tyler: Mm.
Neil McNab: If you ask me that question today, I think we we have a chance. Let's leave it better than we found it. let's help it grow, let's make sure that it's set up for success in the future. And so to all the coaches, s s club directors, state association leaders, we we need everybody to make this the best that it can be. we get to compete on the field, but when we're in the boardrooms, when we're in at these symposiums and the AGMs, we're actually all on the same team together, and that is the team of soccer. I that sounds like cliche and and whatnot. Come come by our and and we're allowed to have the tough conversations, we can argue about it, but at the end of the day, we're all on the same team trying to make soccer the best that it can.
Josh Tyler: Well, I appreciate this. we're closing on an hour, so I greatly appreciate your time, Tyler. Any any final words, comments for
Tyler: No, I I I you know, I like a lot of the way that Neil says things and and gives us the bigger picture and, you know, helps us understand w building from the ground up was a great analogy and I think that and in the step by step, you know, evolution, not revolution was, you know, a great way to to say it just so everyone can understand what we're dealing with and how we're going through. So I you know, once again we appreciate your time.
Josh Tyler: Yeah. Neil, thanks for joining us. There's a million things that I'm sure we we c I I can always dive into. I got to three of my questions I wanted, so that's
Neil McNab: Mm-hmm.
Josh Tyler: but good good conversation. Thanks for thanks for taking the time of of joining us here on CapChat Live and for everyone out there that's dealing with the heat, stay cool everyone.
