I was reading an article today that was talking about The American Dream and it got to me to thinking about The American Soccer Dream. According to Wikipedia (I love Wikipedia) The American Dream “is a belief in freedom that allows citizens of the United States to achieve the goals in life through hard work.” Typically people think of this when moving to the US and having the freedom and opportunities to pursue a better life.

But how does this apply for young American soccer players. Take a poll of young players around this country and ask them what their goals are, and I would say that a majority of them say that their goal is to go abroad and play soccer in Europe. I know when I was growing up that was my American Dream. This got me to thinking about whether or not there are any other careers that young Americans aspire to have growing up that sees them wanting to leave the US for greener pastures. There might be others, but nothing besides playing professional soccer seems so glaringly obvious.

When Dunny and I were kids, MLS didn’t exist. It wasn’t until we were in college that MLS even became an option. Dunny was actually one of the originals, signing one of the first Project 40 deals ever (anyone know who signed the first). MLS has obviously grown since those early days, and American soccer fans, including yours truly couldn’t be any happier. We remember the days when MLS didn’t exist and when options were few and far between to have a career as a professional soccer player.

I know that young American players are now having the dream to play in MLS, they have teams that they have been supporting since they were young and that they grew up with the league. But I have to believe that the American Soccer Dream still revolves around going to Europe and that MLS is often the second option. I look forward to the day when young Americans around this country have no other goal than signing pro terms with an MLS side, and not looking elsewhere to fulfill their American Dream. Will this happen anytime soon? Probably not, but it is my new American Soccer Dream.

-beans