Of course. American varsity soccer players play ~5 times a week for four months a year, August through November.
February through April is the Spring season and varsity teams are forbidden from playing too much. D1 and D2 teams can only train 8 hours per week, of which at most 4 hours per week may be coached!
And then 4 months of the year are off-season and there is no structured training at all!
This is a ridiculously small amount of time compared to a 15 year old Spanish kid playing in a farm team.
And they're doing this part-time stuff until they're 22 or 23. A typical European professional player would have been playing full time since they were 16.
> college soccer is essentially another international semi-pro league
... except no where near at the level of European farm teams.
Of course. American varsity soccer players play ~5 times a week for four months a year, August through November.
February through April is the Spring season and varsity teams are forbidden from playing too much. D1 and D2 teams can only train 8 hours per week, of which at most 4 hours per week may be coached!
And then 4 months of the year are off-season and there is no structured training at all!
This is a ridiculously small amount of time compared to a 15 year old Spanish kid playing in a farm team.
And they're doing this part-time stuff until they're 22 or 23. A typical European professional player would have been playing full time since they were 16.
> college soccer is essentially another international semi-pro league
... except no where near at the level of European farm teams.