The sad thing is that the biggest challenge to this kind of idea is political. Youth soccer is a billion dollar industry and folks won't go quietly into that good night.There are a number of ideas that we can borrow from the most successful European set ups and experiment with here in the US. In Germany, professional teams organize and run local youth leagues, costs are reimbursed by the FA. Youth can't sign with academies until age 12, but the youth leagues provide both training and scouting opportunities for clubs. In Iceland, there has been a major push to ensure every youth team is coached by someone with a UEFA license, and the FA has constructed numerous turf fields under plastic domes in close proximity to schools. In Belgium, teams across developmental levels play in a 4-3-3 create a shared tactical foundation for players to grow up in.
I half sketched the idea above, but I think USSF can do this on a pilot basis with the MLS clubs in LA, NYC, Chicago, Dallas, and Seattle (to quickly pick 5 major cities). Pay the MLS Academies in each city to organize youth leagues with trained, credentialed coaches. Have them all play in a set formation - 4-3-3 is nicely flexible. And have them focus on a few community areas in their metro regions, prioritizing Latino and recent immigrant communities where interest in soccer is high but ability to pay is low. And do it for boys and girls.
This will definitely cost USSF some dough to roll out in 5 cities for 5 years as a pilot, but this is the kind of next step that's necessary to strengthen the pipeline of talent. We need a bold experiment on this front.
FWIW, the Development Academy has recently expanded to younger levels (U13 and U12) in specific metro areas. At this level, there are more clubs in smaller geographic areas, so travel isn't too crazy. Only the relative heavyweights field teams in the U17 and U19 divisions, so the best U12/13 players can be funneled to bigger clubs as they get older. A U12 map can be found here for reference. Where your idea improves on this is in the funding, of course. I am also unsure how much oversight there is into the quality of soccer and training that's part of the U12 DA league. Since these leagues consist of independent clubs, there's the worry that all the clubs aren't prioritizing development the way a professional club would. Nevertheless, a lot of these little clubs are forming partnerships with MLS academies that hopefully have the same effect. Time will tell how effective it will be.
We should also talk about coaching development, which IMO is THE SINGLE BIGGEST ISSUE facing US soccer. USSF coaching licenses are more expensive to obtain than equivalent licenses in European countries. The USSF should take the revenue hit and lower prices. It's one thing to create a more streamlined and consistent structure from ages 12-18. It's another to figure out how to raise the level of players by the time they show up to the DA as 12 year olds. Too many kids age 6-12 are being coached by a Random Dad who knows nothing about the game. We don't need these coaches to be Marcelo Bielsa, but being able to provide kids coaching that could help them better improve technique and start to think in terms of basic tactical awareness would be huge.
There are good youth coaches in the US, but it's a big country and we don't have nearly enough. While I think it is especially true from 6-12, it's definitely an issue from 12-18 as well.
The USSF National F license is a two hour course for $25, geared towards coaching kids age 5-8. I might do it one of these days just to see what it's like and how useful it might be. They should make it free, though, and -- assuming it's not totally worthless -- encourage youth leagues all over the country to have their parent coaches do it.
I'm doing a little more exploration here.
- E license course (2 days; $125)
- D license ("36-40 hour course over two weekends", $325)
- C license (duration of 2-3 months, seems to vary but in the $1500-$1800 range)
- B license (duration of 4-5 months, $3000)
- A license (duration of 5-6 months, $4000)