I set off on my American Soccer Road Trip yesterday. I’m on my way to San Diego in a completely stuffed Honda Civic and with a Watford lunch box (courtesy of a friend who supports the Hornets) to carry my munchies.

Check back tomorrow for the first stop on my trip outside of the Washington area.

Note: This is the second part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

One the most important factors shaping people’s lives in the 21st century is the ever-increasing pace of globalization. We are familiar with many of the changes globalization has brought: the multitude of products manufactured in China, information available on-demand on the Internet, and people increasingly moving to different countries in search of a better life. But sometimes, globalization brings about a change that is totally unexpected.

When DC United signed forward Nicolas Addlery at the beginning of the season, I read in the press release that the Jamaican had spent the previous year playing in Vietnam. How strange, I thought. How could a player from Jamaica end up playing in a country halfway across the world from his homeland? Well, the short answer is globalization, but the long answer is far more interesting.

Nicholas Addlery sat down with me recently and talked about how he ended up playing in Vietnam and what he took away from his time playing and living there. (more…)

Note: This is the first part of my American Soccer Road Trip, which will involve me traveling across the country, finding stories that exemplify the diversity that exists in American soccer. Check back soon for further updates.

Few American soccer writers have the resume to match Grant Wahl. He has worked at Sports Illustrated for over ten years, and during that time has cultivated a wide variety of sources, experiences, and knowledge about the world game. Wahl is often the man foreign reporters turn to when they want an insider’s perspective on American soccer (he has appeared on Times Online’s TheGame Podcast), and for good reason. If anyone can be called an expert on American soccer, it is surely Grant Wahl (for more information on the man, check out Adam Spangler’s in-depth discussion with him at This is American Soccer).

As I embark on my American soccer road trip looking at the diversity in American soccer, I wanted to begin with a discussion which would provide an overview of this topic. Grant Wahl was kind enough to meet with me in Baltimore recently and offer his insights on this subject.

Grant Wahl (photo: Sports Illustrated)

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Despite the relative lack of updates recently, I have been working hard on future posts for the site. My idea to make my cross-country trip from Washington, DC (where I live now) to San Diego (where I’ll be starting graduate school next month) into an American Soccer Road Trip has just about become reality and I want to update you on what to expect.

My route, more or less. Click here for a more detailed map.

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