It is much tougher than it used to be. At the "D" license level they actually have a 33% rate of "Not Ready" evaluations. Another fraction of the candidates only receive state level certification and must re-test to achieve national certification. In the old days (20 years ago), if you showed up you pretty much just passed.

Additionally, any license above D now requires a 9 day residency program for completion. The content and emphasis on how to coach and team management is real. The expected level of technical and tactical proficiency is pretty high. This was not the case before Klinnsmann took over.

I have heard people complain that high-level US soccer is a sport for the upper-middle class (and that includes coaching...that the coaching certificate has become very expensive) and, although, there are a few programs that provide "scholarships" to under-privileged kids, most of it is out of the reach of the vast majority of Americans. Would you agree with this? That seems to be pretty much the case in my area. I see the Hispanic kids playing soccer in the parks but rarely are they on top-level teams. It is even rarer to see a black kid on one of those teams. Would you agree.

My kids chose not to play soccer, instead opting for baseball, basketball and track, so I could be way off here.

There are occasssionally Hispanic players that get scholarship opportunities with top clubs, but most play in the Sunday "Mexican" league in our area (South Orange County). I did not use quotes to be derogatory - that's actually how the league is referenced.

Club soccer in SoCal costs between $2,000 - $3,000 / year plus travel, uniforms, etc... The problem we have is that field space is extremely expensive.

You are correct with regard to the US Soccer certifications as well. They cost around $1300. That's because the instructors get paid, field space is rented, etc...

The pay to play model for youth club soccer could be fixed if / when the clubs are allowed to recoup the cost of player development by owning the future rights to the player. There are a large number of issues with this without even approaching the employer / employee aspects of the relationship, but someone eventually needs to figure this out. Right now it is just another soccer career path that requires funding on a large scale - hence the cost to the player.

licensing component far more than the USSF.

I would say these the biggest things done during his tenure (whether directly from his input or not, it's hard to tell):

With the youth:
- The expansion of the US Developmental Academies that offer high quality training at reduced or eliminated prices
- The recent addition of the U12 level at multiple of said DAs, soon to be in all of them
- The initialization of the Doublepass audit of the youth soccer system in the USA and in the MLS

With the senior team:
- Increased recruitment of dual nationals who are key to success at the international level
- Emphasized competing in Europe as a path to spots on the National Team
- Put real pressure on the MLS to increase their standard of play

What is still to be done:
- Youth academies must be able to recoup fees via training compensation and solidarity fees
- A better network of scouting and developing talent in such a decentralized country must continue to be developed and perfected
- College soccer needs to get on board with player development. The biggest help would be adopting a year-long college soccer season.

Some of these things will take 5-10 years before we see the results in the National Team. That said, they're already happening; firing Klinsmann doesn't undo what he's done thus far. If there's a better option available, now is a perfect time to cut ties with him.

Assuming that the changes have been positive, and I don't know either way, is there evidence that the direction is his? I seem to recall some questions about his actual involvement.

has made a big difference in elevating US Soccer. I am no expert on the system, but folks I know who have had kids go through it have not spoken fondly of the way talent is identified and then trained. We are still light years behind European and S. American programs.