Book Review: Switching Fields by George Dohrmann
As I write this the US Men’s National Team is currently the 16th best team in the world according to FIFA rankings and has the same odds of winning the 2022 World Cup as Mexico and Poland. Given America’s population that isn’t a crazy accomplishment but it is a step up from the USMNT’s past history and there are other signs that the US soccer talent pipeline has improved. Shortly after the USMNT failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in an embarrassing loss to Trinidad and Tobago, the under-17 US team made the quarterfinals of the 2017 U-17 World Cup after failing to qualify for the previous two competitions. That year’s team, which ultimately fell to an England squad that boasted the likes of Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho. The US soccer talent development system has come a long way over the last 60 years, and George Dohrmann chronicles the shift in his new book Switching Fields, out in time for the World Cup. It’s a fine book even if it’s a bit short and probably would work better as a magazine article.
Dohrmann was a long-time Sports Illustrated writer who now writes for The Athletic. Quick plug: Dohrmann’s 2009 book Play Their Hearts Out , about the exploitation of youth basketball players, is one of my top-five favorite sports books ever. I think he excels at drawing compelling human stories out of complicated investigations. This is more of a straightforward book, but Dorhmann clearly did a good amount of research and is passionate about the state of soccer in the US.
Switching Fields is not one of my top-five favorite sports books ever, but it’s alright. There just isn’t the same degree of depth or insight. I’m not a huge USMNT fan by any means but I like soccer and have followed enough of the US soccer scene to already have some grasp of understanding what changes the sport has undergone over the last few decades. Basically, unlike in most other countries, elite soccer in America was largely the playground of wealthy families who could pay exorbitant participation fees. Lower-income and minority players were shortchanged and played on teams with much lower levels of resources.
Thanks to better management and great work done by people on all levels of grassroots soccer, the game has now opened itself up to way more Americans and there is more structure across all levels to help develop the talent pipeline. Dohrmann profiles some of the key figures who helped make that happen and the more free-wheeling origins of grassroots soccer of the sixties and seventies.
Overall, Switching Fields is decent but there really isn’t a ton of depth, and I think that a lot of that is due to the topic not requiring a ton of explanation. I would have appreciated either more focus on the women’s game (there is some coverage but I wouldn’t have minded more, especially given how much more dominant the USWNT is vs. the USMNT) or just shortening the book to a magazine article.
6/10