That might seem harsh. After all, U.S. Soccer has overseen the game's tremendous, decades-long growth in the United States, and there are numerous examples of black players who have made their mark for the national team. But the federation has done little to improve the basic model of youth soccer, which ensures that elite clubs are accessible mostly to kids whose families are rich enough to buy entry. There is a swirl of socioeconomic and cultural reasons so few African-Americans play our sport, but the bottom line is that soccer requires less equipment than almost any other game — and yet in the United States, it is one of the costliest to play.