Norway is Better: The Youth Sports Secret America Refuses to Copy

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Oregon parks make an Oregon summer, but what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon lottery game play helps. No matter the game, megabucks, video lottery or Kino, funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State Park's scratchits are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery, together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play, lottery games are based on chance to be played for entertainment only.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:30)
Ever notice how life's best stories don't happen in your living room? They happen on the open road, out on the water or parked under the stars. At Progressive, they get that you want to focus on the experience, not worry about the what-ifs. That's why they offer quality insurance designed for your ride, whether that's a boat, RV or motorcycle. Adventure with confidence. Visit progressive.com and see how easy it is to protect your favorite way to get away. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Not available in DC. Prices vary based on how you buy.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:01)
Ditch the clowns on the left and the jokers on the right and join Michael Smerconish right here in the middle.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:07)
This is The Smerconish Podcast for Independent Minds.

**Michael Smerconish** (1:12)
I watched on Saturday. The match was not without drama.
Jude Bellingham scored twice. England defeated Norway 2 to 1
Did that ball hit the guide wire, the guide wire for television? There's always something. There's always some human factor that plays a role in these games. And I think that's what, in these matches, pardon me, and I think that's what adds to a lot of the excitement. Norway said that it did strike it, but a FIFA chip apparently in the ball cast doubt on that in the end. Norway loses. Erling Haaland left the match halfway through extra time. England held on. And now it's England and Argentina on Wednesday, 3 p.m. Eastern time. Nevertheless, there is an amazing back story about Norway. And Ben Cohen and Joshua Robinson co-authored the story for The Wall Street Journal. Ben Cohen writes the Science of Success column for the Journal before founding his column in 2022 He was a sport reporter at the Journal for more than a decade. His first book is called The Hot Hand. It's an investigation into the mystery, the science, the magic, the fascinating psychology and real world consequences of streaks. This is Ben Cohen. Hey, Ben, thank you so much for being here. Tell me about Bryn FK. What is that?

**Ben Cohen** (2:38)
Bryn FK is a youth soccer club. It's a real soccer club with a youth component in this small town on the coast of Norway, where Erling Haaland happened to grow up.
The amazing thing about Bryn FK is that it was also the site of an experiment into the Norwegian philosophy of youth sports. About 10 years ago, a Norwegian sports scientist heard of this town called Bryn that was producing top-end soccer talent like world-class talent like Erling Haaland, while also keeping all of the boys in the program playing for a long time. You would think you shouldn't be able to pull off high performance and high participation like this one town does. And so he began going back in time and trying to figure out what exactly the secrets of Bryn were and how they were able to pull off this miracle where they were producing a bunch of kids who actually seemed to love playing soccer and played throughout their childhood into adulthood and also pulled off the greatest Norwegian soccer player in history.

**Michael Smerconish** (3:49)
As many as possible, for as long as possible, and as good as possible. What is that?

**Ben Cohen** (3:57)
Well, that's the Norwegian model of youth sports that is exemplified by the Bryn model. And it also happens to be just about the least American way possible.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:07)
Right. How so?

**Ben Cohen** (4:10)
Well, you know, Norway, youth sports are basically free. And then, you know, when the kids get a little bit older, they are maybe not free, but they are just remarkably cheap compared to how expensive American youth sports has become. They focus on participation more than high performance. Kids are not allowed to specialize at a young age. So you won't see kids who are playing soccer and only.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:42)
I lost Ben, hopefully he comes back.

**SPEAKER_7** (4:45)
Yeah, I don't know what happened.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:47)
I don't know. I don't know. Dan will reestablish, will reestablish connection. I'm sure.