Lots of kids are playing, but we need a real farm system. College ball is not the answer and Bradenton is too small for our entire country. Each MLS club needs to develop a local farm system.
True. One fact I like to point out is that hockey and baseball are mostly free of college recruiting scandals, because they have real farm systems. Kids who just want to get paid to play go get played to play -- they don't go through the motions of being a student as too often happens in football and basketball. If a college career became the only way to get to a lucrative MLS career, I'd worry about soccer scholarships screwing up the sport.
Unfortunately, I don't see the economics working. MLS just doesn't have enough money to spend on developing talent, and there aren't the small-town audiences for minor league soccer like there are for baseball and hockey. Promising soccer players are more likely to play overseas (as happens, to a small extent, in European Basketball and the CFL) and MLS money isn't on a par with what they can make at the top levels over there.
Of course, if enough Americans play for Man. U. and Real Madrid for pay and come back to team USA in international competition, that would still strengthen our World Cup chances.
If they have enough time to practice together. What killed USA Basketball in the last Olympics was that we had a handful of superstar players, and the other folks had teams.