EAMONN SEARLE'S BIG FOOTBALL SHAKE-UP

In response, reader and fellow former player Jerry Webb then stood up and asked parents to stop putting pressure on their children and trying to shape their "football careers". He feared too many were not being allowed to enjoy the game.

He and experienced non-league player Gary Young said they suspect youth football produces too many young players who cannot take criticism, lack bottle and are not interested in discussing with older players how they might improve and learn.

Colin Smith has played and also provided sport in Worthing. He was a goalkeeper for his works team at the town hall and he was an always diplomatic, visionary and pragmatic owner of Worthing Bears. His son-in-law, a local County League footballer, took his daughter to live in the United States and what they discovered, he realised, said something about youth football here.

Smith felt compelled to let us know and ponder this in the debate:

"THE comments of Jerry Webb in the recent Herald Sport Speakeasy struck a chord with me. I rarely put pen to paper, so to speak, these days, but how right he is to suggest that over-enthusiastic parents should relax, stop being pushy, don't get involved, and just let their kids play soccer for the love of the game.

"My days as a very ordinary club player in the Worthing League ended 35 years ago and having watched few games recently, I cannot fairly comment on the current local scene at adult level.

"But I have "experienced" enough junior soccer (sometimes from a distance . . .) to recognise the pressures put on young kids these days. It seems that no junior game can take place without the air being full of constant shouting, screaming, swearing and petty criticisms, and that's just from the parents. The impression given is that enjoyment comes only from winning '” fine, perhaps, for adult players but surely not for kids. No wonder so many drop out early.

"But contrast this with what seems to happen in the USA. There, while the winning ethic is everything, the opposite applies in kids' soccer. My daughter, Jacqui, and her husband (Nigel Sopp, an ex-Worthing United player) settled in the Dallas area of Texas 12 years ago.

"The major professional sports '” American football, baseball and ice hockey '” are followed fanatically in Dallas but soccer, particularly at junior level, is by far the biggest participatory sport. Come the weekend the soccer playing areas, usually of 10 or more pitches, are in all-round use by teams under the control of local junior soccer leagues for both girls and boys, ranging from under-five upwards.

"As in England, all the matches are competitive and hard-fought, particularly the girls' games, but there are some significant differences. Firstly, instead of joining one particular club, players register directly with the league body which then randomly allocates kids to local clubs thereby theoretically providing each team with a fair mix of abilities.

"Matches tend to be five or six-a-side, comprising four quarters and every player in each team (that's 10 or 12 players) must play two quarters. The match scores aren't submitted to the league so there are no league winners and no losers; every kid receives an end-of-season medal to recognise their participation in the league.

"And "participation" perhaps is the important difference '” "winning" is less relevant.

As a result all the kids '” the good players and the not so good '” really seem to enjoy the sport. They have less pressures from their parents to excel and when they come to make up their mind, in later years, whether to play at a more senior level, they haven't burnt themselves out and grown into "prima donnas", as Jerry Webb calls them.

"You might think this makes it sound a bit of a soft sport but I promise you it isn't.

"The kids are fully committed and shirk nothing. They seem to be well coached and are technically proficient. My grandchildren love the sport but as yet don't understand the concept of pot-hunting and winning at all costs. That's for individual sports like gymnastics and swimming, not soccer.

"I carry no candle for the "great American way of life" but when it comes to soccer, the USA are no slouches. Their women's team are world champions and their men's team will continue to improve as their Major League Soccer set-up matures. The way they approach junior soccer can't be all that bad '” perhaps we in England can learn from it."

American footballers are already good enough to keep English players out of FA Premiership teams. Think of Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanera (both Fulham), Tim Howard (Manchester United on loan at Everton), Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City), and Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey (Reading).

Have the Americans got it so right that they are going to really embarrass us in the coming years?

Does absolutely nothing at all need to be done?