Bayern's Malik Tillman has chosen the US over Germany. I don't know much about him except he's mostly plays with the Bayern reserves so he seems to be a bit away from regular 1st Team USMNT minutes. That said, its amazing how many offspring of African-American Military fathers and German mothers play for the USMNT. It would be really interesting to see how the percentage of this uniquely specific combination compares to like, say, an American pay for play kid born to 2 non-immigrant parents. I mean being born and raised in Germany to an African-American military dad and German mom has to give you an exponential advantage to play for the USMNT. Its really amazing how such a small pool of players end up playing for USMNT at some point
Another
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
Are you suggesting it gives them an athletic advantage over the children of other American military personnel born and raised in Germany? I don’t think that is it at all.
When I was in the military in Okinawa, a large percentage of American soldiers who had married Asian women and had children with them chose to spend the rest of their military careers in Asia. They would do all of their long (36 month) tours in Asia. If they had to do an unaccompanied (12 month) tour, their family would remain in military housing at their last long tour post. Those that I personally knew did that primarily to avoid the racism they believed their children would encounter in the United States.
My Sergeant Major, for example, had four children with his Japanese wife. None had ever lived in the United States. They only had been there on holidays to visit his family. His oldest child, for example, had lived 7 years in Japan, 5 years in Okinawa (not part of Japan back then) and 3 years in the Philippines. The family remained in Japan while the Sergeant Major was stationed in Korea and in Okinawa while he was in Vietnam.
I suspect a lot of African-American soldiers today believe their children will experience less racism growing up if they do all of their tours in Europe (which mainly means Germany) rather than at large American Army installations, most of which are in the South. In part that is because the military bases and schools will have a significant number of mixed race students. I suspect a much lower percentage of Caucasian soldiers who marry Caucasian Europeans and have children with them choose to spend the rest of their military careers in Europe. To me, that is the most logical explanation of the “phenomenon” of the higher percentage of good soccer players among mixed race military children raised in Germany.
When I was in the military in Okinawa, a large percentage of American soldiers who had married Asian women and had children with them chose to spend the rest of their military careers in Asia. They would do all of their long (36 month) tours in Asia. If they had to do an unaccompanied (12 month) tour, their family would remain in military housing at their last long tour post. Those that I personally knew did that primarily to avoid the racism they believed their children would encounter in the United States.
My Sergeant Major, for example, had four children with his Japanese wife. None had ever lived in the United States. They only had been there on holidays to visit his family. His oldest child, for example, had lived 7 years in Japan, 5 years in Okinawa (not part of Japan back then) and 3 years in the Philippines. The family remained in Japan while the Sergeant Major was stationed in Korea and in Okinawa while he was in Vietnam.
I suspect a lot of African-American soldiers today believe their children will experience less racism growing up if they do all of their tours in Europe (which mainly means Germany) rather than at large American Army installations, most of which are in the South. In part that is because the military bases and schools will have a significant number of mixed race students. I suspect a much lower percentage of Caucasian soldiers who marry Caucasian Europeans and have children with them choose to spend the rest of their military careers in Europe. To me, that is the most logical explanation of the “phenomenon” of the higher percentage of good soccer players among mixed race military children raised in Germany.
I mean what I'm saying is that the very specific combination of African-American military dads and German moms seem to produce an exponentially high percentage of USMNT players.....or maybe pro soccer players in general. It just seems like a such a statistical outlier that I find it interesting. I think what gives them the advantage in making the USMNT is the growing up in Germany part. What you said about African-American service member being more likely to stay in Germany after marrying makes sense and is something I have never thought of.
He also has a brother who plays for a team that was just relegated out of the Bundesliga. He hasn't represented the US yet but has expressed an interest in doing so. Probably not a primary option but he could also add depth to the talent pool.
