Brad Friedel says he is determined to lift the quality of youth level soccer in the United States.
The 42-year old Tottenham goalkeeper has been spending part of the Premier League offseason taking coaching courses for youngsters in Berkeley, California for El Cerrito FC and says he is enjoying the challenge of improving these budding youngsters.
"I'm doing my UEFA A license now to get into senior management, head coaching, technical director that's where my ambitions lie," he said in an interview with Soccer America.
"However, while I've been playing I've taken a huge interest in the betterment of youth development.
"We have far too big a population here in the United States not to be producing more talent.
"Yes, we are light years ahead of where we were when I was a youth player. A lot of good things have happened, but I still think there needs to be a lot more focus on coaching at the grassroots level. All the way down to the 9s.
"Too many people are focused the 16s, the 18s. And by that time we're still behind when you look at the quality around the world. I'm not saying we don't produce any good players - but we should have a conveyor belt of talent.
"With the athletes we have here, the likes of (USA national team manager) Jurgen Klinsmann should have more players to choose from."
