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Brando Babin - Youth 4 Youth FC founder joins the SportsEpreneur podcast to chat with Eric Kasimov and talk youth soccer in the US
Brando Babin - Youth 4 Youth FC founder joins the SportsEpreneur podcast to chat with Eric Kasimov and talk youth soccer in the US
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Why Youth Soccer Needs Player-Led Pathways | Brando Babini of Youth 4 Youth FC

Why player-led pathways matter, why youth soccer needs better access, and what the next generation can build.

Brando Babini started Youth 4 Youth FC when he was 16. He had played through different levels of academy soccer and watched friends make professional debuts. At some point, he realized his own path was shifting.

That shift became the idea behind Youth 4 Youth FC: player-led pathways to pro and college soccer. Brando saw what he wished existed when he was younger — mentorship, brotherhood, real guidance, free showcases, and people who had lived the journey helping the next group through it.

Eric Kasimov and Brando talk about youth soccer, college recruiting, MLS, pay-to-play, international players, parents, leadership, content, and why soccer in the United States is at a strange but exciting point. Brando is still at Brown University while building Youth 4 Youth FC, which describes itself as a player-led soccer program powered by Nike, with training, mentorship, recruiting, and staff across MLS, Ivy, ACC, and Big East backgrounds.

What Brando Babini and Eric Discuss:

  • Why Brando started Youth 4 Youth FC at 16
  • The need for player-led mentorship in youth soccer
  • What recruiting looks like now in college soccer
  • Why goalkeepers face one of the hardest recruiting paths
  • How international players affect the domestic college soccer system
  • Why MLS and USL both matter for the future of American soccer
  • How the World Cup can help build soccer infrastructure in the U.S.
  • The problem with pay-to-play and expensive showcases
  • Why players need real game time without creating a handout culture
  • How parents can support without owning the journey
  • Why leadership and teammate habits matter early
  • How Youth 4 Youth uses content to reach players
  • What Nike Toma and street soccer can bring back to the game

Youth Soccer Today

Brando Babini built Youth 4 Youth FC around a simple question: what did he wish existed when he was a youth player? The answer was not just more training. It was guidance from players who had been there. It was a sense of brotherhood. It was someone close enough to the journey to help young players avoid the same mistakes.

That idea now runs through Youth 4 Youth FC. Brando talks about serving close to 1,000 players across multiple states, with professional and college players providing training, mentorship, recruiting help, and showcases. The goal is not just to build better soccer players. It is to help players understand the path, the pressure, the decisions, and the responsibility that come with trying to play at a higher level.

Eric and Brando also get into the larger soccer system in the United States. College soccer recruiting has changed. The transfer portal matters. International players are changing rosters. Goalkeepers face a brutal path. MLS is growing, USL is pushing, and the World Cup could bring more attention and money into the game. The question is whether that money gets poured into the right places.

A big part of the conversation is access. Brando pushes on pay-to-play, costly showcases, and the idea that talent should be able to be seen without a family writing another check. He also talks about why profit incentives are not automatically bad if they help clubs invest in talent instead of just using players as cash flow.

The conversation keeps coming back to player ownership. Brando believes young players need to take charge of their journey by 13 or 14. Parents matter, but they cannot carry the player forever. The player has to learn how to talk to coaches, handle playing time, lead teammates, and control what they can control.

Notable Quotes

  • “It should be free to show your talent.”
  • “Once a kid turns 13 or 14 years old, they need to be in charge of their journey and their destiny.”
  • “You need to control everything that you can control, and anything that’s out of your control, leave it.”
  • “The people that you meet and the professors that help you, the access that you get, that’s what makes college worth it.”

Chapters in This Episode

00:00 — Brando Babini, Youth 4 Youth FC, and building while at Brown
00:50 — Starting Youth 4 Youth at 16 (Y4Y)
02:15 — A winding recruiting journey and choosing a different soccer path
03:23 — When the pro dream shifts into something else
04:13 — What Brando wished existed when he was younger
05:05 — Street soccer, Nike, and expression beyond exposure
05:45 — College soccer recruiting and the transfer portal
07:00 — International players and eligibility questions
08:00 — Protecting the domestic player pathway
08:36 — The goalkeeper recruiting problem
11:26 — Building a better domestic soccer system
12:00 — MLS, USL, and the future of soccer in the U.S.
14:13 — Charlotte FC, accessibility, and the live soccer experience
16:20 — Where MLS fits compared to global leagues
19:13 — How the World Cup can change U.S. soccer
20:00 — Breaking pay-to-play barriers
23:08 — Showcases, costs, and why talent should be free to show
24:00 — Profit incentives, player development, and investment
27:00 — Subsidizing players and creating access
28:00 — Game time, competition, and player development
31:20 — Parents, pressure, and letting players own the journey
34:05 — Scaling Youth 4 Youth through regions
36:10 — Brown University, professors, and entrepreneurial flexibility
38:00 — Why college can still matter
40:30 — Leadership, teammates, and mental toughness
43:00 — Internal control and handling adversity
47:00 — Content, visibility, and Youth 4 Youth’s growth
49:00 — Nike Toma, street soccer, and culture
51:00 — Messi, Ronaldo, the Premier League, and global soccer
52:50 — Best players in the world today
54:38 — World Cup predictions and the U.S. path
57:00 — How to find Youth 4 Youth FC

About Brando Babini

Brando Babini is the founder of Youth 4 Youth FC, a grassroots, Gen Z–led training and recruiting platform reshaping youth soccer development in the U.S. The 21-year-old Brown University student and New York native launched the company to address the high costs and limited access within the traditional pay-to-play system.

With a network of active college and professional players serving as coaches and mentors, Youth4Youth FC is creating a new pathway for player development, one rooted in accessibility and real-time experience.

Over the past year, the organization has worked with more than 1,000 players across eight states, generated 30M+ organic social content views, partnered with Nike, and hosted the largest free college soccer showcase in U.S. history, resulting in 51 college offers at no cost to players.

Prior to founding Youth4Youth FC, Brando played across multiple levels of New York City soccer, including DUSC, Brooklyn FC, Met Oval Academy, and Manhattan Soccer Club.

Connect with Brando Babini | Youth 4 Youth FC (Y4Y):
Brando Babini on LinkedIn | Instagram
Website | Youth 4 Youth FC

Connect with Eric & SportsEpreneur:
SportsEpreneur.com | X | LinkedIn
Eric on LinkedIn | X

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