ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights several potential examples of ways talent development and human development models could coalesce into a more singular and symbiotic version of youth development. Though many observers tend to assume the differences are simply deficiencies, for present purposes they are opportunities to recognize variations in the way soccer can mix with youth development. Potential points of consilience in American soccer between talent development and human development models begin with the fact that, for all the socially and culturally distinct ways Americans link sports with education, Americans also like to win. Despite growing segmentation in American soccer, there are many other potential examples of consilience between the ways people talk about youth development beyond just avoiding early specialization and improving access. American soccer could, for example, better accommodate maturational differences by making soccer experiences more age appropriate; attend to general youth well-being in a way that avoids early burn-out.
