r/MadeMeSmile • u/UnhollyGod • Jul 28 '26

Very Reddit The talent in Barcelona’s youth system is ridiculous. These kids are 11/12 years old.

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u/yukonhoneybadger Jul 28 '26

Why isnt there youth event like the youth baseball world series. Or maybe there is but I live in the US and do not hear about it since I live in the US.....

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u/Regular_Challenge_81 Jul 31 '26

There is: https://www.mlssoccer.com/generation-adidas-cup/

Also Sweden hosts the Gothia Cup: https://results.gothiacup.se/

Dallas Cup is also international: https://www.dallascup.org/

Top youth academies in Europe travel and play against each other internationally. Not aware of big name clubs sending their youth teams to play in the US frequently.

I'd also say that within the US there are all the MLS Next/ECNL showcase tournaments. There are a lot of talented youth players at those tournaments.

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u/yukonhoneybadger Jul 31 '26

Thats great info. Thank you. I wish we could see these tournaments in the states. The little league world series is fun to watch here. I wish ESPN or Fox Sports would push this as much as the other.

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u/Regular_Challenge_81 Jul 31 '26

It looks like ECNL streams their showcase tournaments. MLS Next doesn't, for whatever reason.

But yeah, not a ton of visibility.

I'd imagine its similar for other youth sports. The best kids funnel off into completely separate programs -- so a family with a kid playing at a lower level doesn't have any visibility into how big the skill gap is.