In nearly every corner of the youth football ⚽ soccer world—from the sprawling complexes of the United States to the historic pitches of the UK—the spotlight is fixed squarely on the individual player. Player stats. Player highlights. Player development programs. Player rankings. Everywhere you turn, youth football is being treated like a professional scouting ground, long before most players have even hit puberty.

And while developing individual talent is undeniably important, the obsession with solo success has come at a cost: the underdevelopment and undervaluation of teams.

A System Built Around Individuals

Let’s take a look at how this plays out in different regions.

In the United States:

The youth soccer infrastructure is flooded with pay-to-play academies promising exposure and scholarships. Parents are encouraged to invest in private trainers, elite showcases, and platforms like TopDrawerSoccer that rank players based on performance in isolated matches. Player stats like goals, assists, and minutes played are obsessively tracked—often without context of team contribution or match quality.

In the United Kingdom:

Youth academies affiliated with professional clubs operate with high stakes and huge budgets. Talented young players are scouted early, enrolled in intensive development programs, and measured constantly through physical testing and match statistics. Meanwhile, countless local clubs focus on their standout player while team cohesion and collective development take a backseat.

And in both cases, tournaments and matches often become platforms for players to stand out—not necessarily for teams to grow together. The result? A fragmented view of success that neglects the role of the team in shaping better, smarter, and more resilient players.

The Team Is the Missing Metric

It’s ironic: soccer/football is the ultimate team sport, yet most youth systems don’t measure the strength of the team itself. There’s no easy way to assess whether a team plays cohesively, trains effectively, or competes at an appropriate level. Without this, how do coaches find fair opponents or track their team’s development?

This is where YTSI steps in.

YTSI Shifts the Focus Back to the Team

The Youth Team Skills Index (YTSI) is a new, global solution that evaluates teams, not just players. It gives every youth team a score from 0 to 100, based on a short survey completed by the coach. That score reflects qualitative factors like training structure, player experience, match results, and even the local development environment.

This shifts the focus from the individual to the collective. With a YTSI Score:

- Coaches can find fairly matched opponents, avoiding mismatches that ruin development.

- Tournament organizers can place teams into brackets that reflect true team strength.

- Clubs can track team growth over time—not just player stats.

And best of all, YTSI is free, global, and inclusive. No paywalls. No complicated data entry. Just a quick, honest evaluation of how your team stacks up.

A Better Future for Youth Soccer/Football

We’re not saying individual development doesn’t matter. But in youth football, too much focus on individual performance can lead to burnout, inflated egos, and a skewed understanding of the game. By shifting at least some attention back to the team—the real unit of growth—we develop smarter players, stronger clubs, and a healthier culture for youth football everywhere.

YTSI makes that possible. One score. One language. One team at a time.

👉 Get your team’s free YTSI Score now: https://www.ytsi.net and help bring the game back to what it’s really about— playing together.