"The Bench" | How America Named Its Youth Soccer Crisis — And Did Nothing

In December 2025, the United States Congress held its first-ever hearing on the crisis in American youth sports.The title of that hearing — officially entered into the public record — was one word.BENCHED.Six months later, the FIFA World Cup opens on American soil. Billions of viewers. 48 nations. A global celebration of the beautiful game.And in the shadows of those stadiums — millions of American kids are still sitting on the bench.Not because they lack talent.Not because they lost interest.Because the system was never built for them.In this first episode of BENCHED, hosts Cole Merritt and Dana Whitfield go inside the congressional hearing room of December 16, 2025 — and trace the broken machinery of youth soccer in America back to its source.Three barriers. Documented. On the record.① The price architecture — $4,000 to $15,000 per child, per year, to access serious youth soccer development.② The coaching gap — a system built on unpaid, unregulated volunteer parent coaches with no accountability mechanisms.③ The racial filter — Latino and Black kids are three times more likely to quit soccer because they feel unwanted. Not unskilled. Unwanted.Sources used in this episode :→ U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce — official hearing "Benched: The Crisis in American Youth Sports and Its Cost to Our Future" — Dec. 16, 2025 democrats-edworkforce.house.gov→ Tom Farrey testimony (full PDF) — Executive Director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program edworkforce.house.gov→ McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility — "Unlocking the growing power of Latino fans" October 13, 2025 mckinsey.com/institute-for-economic-mobility→ Aspen Institute State of Play reports — aspenprojectplay.orgThis is not a soccer story.This is an American story.—BENCHED is a documentary podcast seriesproduced across the 2026 World Cup summer.New episodes every week — June through August.Subscribe so you don't miss Episode 02 :"Follow The Money" — Who built this system, and who profits from keeping it exactly as it is.