Japanese football is experiencing a surge in interest following the recent international matches against Scotland and England, where Japan secured victories in both games. As a result, I have received numerous inquiries from around the world regarding my role in youth development in Japan.
I recommend checking out an in-depth article published by the New York Times and Athletic Magazine, which provides valuable insights into this topic. While the article is available online, access may be restricted in certain countries. 🙏⚽️🙇♂️
https://t.co/ascfkejVwV
I would suggest reading this White-Paper Study by the Scottish Football Federation. This is a comprehensive 133 page study regarding Youth Development after visiting many top Academies around the World.
https://t.co/jkJipmTAbj
There’s a growing obsession with pouring hundreds of millions into state-of-the-art sports facilities, as if elite players are manufactured by architecture and price tags. Football investors, in particular, love to unveil these massive projects with the same promise: this investment will pay for itself by producing top-tier talent. It sounds compelling, but it fundamentally misunderstands how player development actually works.
Elite players aren’t the product of pristine buildings or exclusive complexes. They emerge from repetition, freedom, and access, thousands of unstructured hours with the ball, often in small, tight spaces, long before they ever set foot in a high-performance center. By the time a player reaches one of these facilities, most of the real development has already happened.
If investors truly understood this, their strategy would look very different. Instead of concentrating resources into a single, expensive hub, they would decentralize access. They’d build dozens, hundreds, of small, free, local pitches embedded in communities. Places where kids can show up anytime, play without barriers, and fall in love with the game on their own terms.
Because the real lever isn’t luxury, it’s volume, accessibility, and environment. The next generation of elite players won’t come from marble-floored academies. They’ll come from the streets, the cages, and the small-sided pitches where the game is played constantly, creatively, and without permission.
Soccer in the U.S. is a sport dominated by wealthy families. The system is designed to extract as much money as possible, while many parents have no idea what real player development looks like. They end up spending thousands of dollars, only to stand on the sidelines frustrated, shouting, because despite the investment, their child struggles with basic skills like executing a simple one-two pass or changing direction with the ball, even without pressure. 🤷♂️⚽️
This is big.
Back when we all started with this Primal/paleo/real food stuff 20 years ago, did you ever think you'd see these words and phrases and recommendations in the USDA dietary guidelines?
"Nutrient-dense"
"Healthy fats from whole foods... eggs, seafood, meats, full-fat dairy..."
"1.2-1.6 grams per kg" of protein
"Colorful" fruits and vegetables
"traditionally prepared" grains...
"oats, rice, and sourdough preferred"
They even cut way back on grains. 2-4 servings of whole grains down from 8-11 in the old guidelines
There's no mention of seed/vegetable oils, but the implication is that they should be avoided
These are big wins.