Courtesy of Rush Soccer
We are officially in a World Cup year, which means we are also in arguably the biggest year ever for American soccer.
And however it plays out — from the U.S. Men’s National Team’s success (or lack thereof) to legacy investments to creating new fans — will likely have a significant long-term impact on youth soccer nationally.
Justin Miller is a good person to discuss the latter with. He is the CEO of Rush Soccer — the world’s largest youth soccer organization with over 55K athletes. Rush was acquired by Pioneer Sports (which also owns Surf Soccer) last year.
Miller discussed Rush’s next steps, private equity, growth opportunities, developmental models and much more. Below is the full Q+A, lightly edited for clarity:
What is next for Rush after the Pioneer acquisition?
It’s the classic line, but it’s true for us — we really are just trying to grow the sport. We are super excited about the World Cup, obviously. It’s a marquee moment. This is really the golden age of soccer in this country. World Cup, Olympics, Women’s World Cup, so much interest from private equity, major brands are now interested in getting in at the grassroots level. We are uniquely positioned, I think, to help in a real impactful way. We’re just excited about adding clubs to the network and furthering growth from existing clubs.
For someone with a soccer background — what has it been like to see all this business interest pouring into the sport?
It’s good to see, because you need more infrastructure. And infrastructure needs resources and financing. That’s really encouraging. But one thing I’m really hopeful for is that the sport stays with real soccer people
You don’t have some of these other groups coming in and buying things without a sport-focused plan. The other thing I hope happens, because you are seeing these types come into the space, I just really hope long-term it corrects itself. Because I don’t think they are going to win at the end of the day. I think if you don’t have a sports-minded person leading these dollars and strategies, ultimately it will fail. But it’s really exciting because you want more infrastructure, you want more resources and then there is a little bit of trepidation around who is in control.
You want to make sure you’re protecting the sport and that it stays with the people who have gotten it to this pivotal moment. It’s all about the people providing experiences for families.
What do you view as some of the big growth opportunities for youth soccer in the next 5-10 years?
It’s definitely at the grassroots level. I think we are doing a poor job of maintaining numbers after a certain age. Everyone puts their kids in soccer and then there is not a good connection into more competitive or traditional soccer environments after this entry point. That is what Rush is focusing on, this connectivity from very first entry into an age where you are falling in love with the sport and actually playing a sport. That is the biggest opportunity and that has not been put together well because there has been this insane overemphasis at the 1% in this country for the longest time.
The great work that all of these elite leagues are doing — they’re all doing great for the sport, but it’s way too focused on the 1%. And the rest of the industry has been following their lead and trying to pursue this when in actuality only 1% is going to be playing at this level. The whole industry has been so focused on the highest level of play pathway. It’s gotten disjointed from ages 3 to 10 and making sure we are providing an excellent product to maintain and stay, so you have them at ages 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. That’s the biggest place for opportunity and we’re trying to build roadmaps and strategies for our clubs to focus on that area.
Who is in charge of America’s youth soccer developmental system? And who should be in charge?
It should be the federation. Everyone in soccer knows that. And they were making great inroads with the [Development Academy] before they closed it in 2020. They were really starting to put a foothold there.
Everyone wants some sort of aspirational goal. All of the leaders in youth sports, we all want to be aspirational and march in one direction. And clearly the only thing we can all get behind would be the American flag and U.S. Soccer’s badge and that logo.
From a branding perspective: That is the only logo that can unify the entire country. Because everyone else has opinions on every other organization. That’s who it should be. Who’s really in charge? It depends on what region, what day of the week and who you are talking to, what gender.
Who should be in charge? U.S. Soccer. Who is in charge? Unfortunately, no one. That’s why you have the wild, wild west.
But’s it’s rumored the federation is stepping in and trying to force a clearer pyramid. You’ve got to give them grace and time. That entire leadership group is pretty new. And you can only hope they realize everyone here wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves and the only unifying factor is them. Hopefully they’re going to get us on a right path and marching toward one goal.
Is geography an issue where there is just never going to be a total fix? How can kids in Maine and kids in Hawaii do the same thing?
Americans hate hearing the word “no,” so I’m not going to say we can’t figure it out. But the size of the country poses a huge challenge. I do think with the right structure and right incentives, you could make a perfect scouting network state-by-state that fed into something national. But that takes a ton of resources, a ton of time and a ton of desire by the federation to step in and build something. Because no one else could build a proper scouting network. They would have to want to do that.
A question about MLS — can a professional sports league that wants to operate its business on a global scale really play a major role in U.S. talent ID and development? The league also has a vested interest in Canada and Mexico’s national teams, right?
Commercialization is always going to be paramount for these leagues, so from a player development standpoint, I agree. But the counter would be that with MLS now changing its calendar, it is now more poised to have a sporting side of the business and do more business with the rest of the world. And if that is going to be true, it bleeds into commercialization and there may be a little bit larger focus on development. But right now the incentives are not fully aligned for them to focus on this player development piece.
How big of an impact can the MLS schedule shift have on youth soccer, if any?
I think it’s going to have a huge impact. Rush Soccer used to have a professional team — Penn FC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There is a genuine appetite for some of these countries to do business level on a player level with the United States. It’s too large of a challenge to talk players in unopen windows in Europe, for example, so there is no interest. The quality of young American men in MLS Next, it’s high. And I think it’s worth these European teams taking a risk on getting them at certain ages. I think this change is potentially monumental. It remains to be seen if the MLS wants to allow these players to go to Europe or will they want them to stay here and build popularity in their domestic leagues. But aligning the calendars, it’s everything. Let’s see what happens.
There is so much buzz about the moves USL is making. Can it seriously challenge MLS in the next 10 years?
I really like the Papadakises. Justin (Papadakis, the USL COO) is a visionary, a really smart guy. I’m not counting the USL out, but it really complicates the pyramid.
What they are doing is helping the national infrastructure, going in economically with these professional teams and building facilities. From a youth soccer leadership standpoint, more field access and having a pro team adjacent to build interest, I can’t complain about that. They’re building some pro teams with multi-field facilities in rural areas.
When you talk about the challenge of growing the sport and the expansiveness of it — there is only one professional team in Colorado (the MLS’ Rapids). Rush has an incredibly strong club in Colorado Springs (an hour away) — incredibly strong, great talent, they’d love to go to a professional game. Colorado is the size of European countries that have 100 pro teams. The USL is filling a void — now there’s a pro team, there’s interest, there are fans, which hopefully grows the sport. They have their place in the pyramid. I don’t know exactly where, but I’m happy they are filling a space.
What is the biggest challenge facing youth soccer?
One is facilities. We have a ton of Rush clubs that have a lot of interest and they don’t have the field space to grow. Working with municipalities and trying to build private-public partnerships to expand facility space is something we are working on. It’s a huge need in this country, especially in dense metropolitan areas.
The second is specialization. We’re hurting other sports by encouraging our players to focus on soccer at the youngest age possible. That’s not good for the child and families as they go through their youth sports experience. But it’s a retention threat too. There are other challenges too; some would argue accessibility and the pay-to-play model, although I go a little antithetical on that one.
How so?
I think that it’s propping up the sport in the country. It is undeniable that it is expensive. But I also think it’s undeniable that this sport in this country has birthed from the grassroots. Soccer is now tied for the fourth-most popular sport in the country. It was not in the conversation 20 years ago. So many fans of the sport are created because they either played soccer at one point or they put their kid in it.
Every general sport is driven by the pro leagues and media attention. Soccer is not there, there is not a natural interest in the sport. The most participation is in the grassroots, but you can’t fuel the grassroots without a pay-to-play model. It’s a little bit of a chicken-or-the-egg. I hope that changes some day, because I think the base of the pyramid is the most important part. I hope this country is so in love with the sport that there are a ton of eyes on the pro level and that is what is building interest.
Five years from now, 2029, when the World Cup is in the rear-view mirror — what is your biggest prediction for its impact on the youth soccer ecosystem?
There are so many numbers out there about registered players. Let’s go with 4.5 million. If America doesn’t go crashing out of the group and has a successful World Cup, I think it’s a catalytic moment for the sport and our goal would be to have 8-10 million registered players in a sanctioned league.
One other prediction would be the level of interest in professional soccer is going to grow too. I think there will be a larger surge beyond, “Messi is in town.”
People are actually going to want to watch quality soccer and will understand what that looks like more and more. It’s not just a spectacle, it’s the sport. I think we’re on an upward trajectory right now and as long as all these factions in the sport keep working together.
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