The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will be crowning six different 2012 men’s and women’s soccer champions in the next few weeks. Sadly for many, even though the Women’s National Tournament (all levels) begins a week earlier than the men’s, most fans won’t have the opportunity to catch more than a match or so over the course of the next month. That’s an unfortunate identity of having overlapping tournaments and crowning of champions.
Given these concurrent dates, the issues plaguing soccer in America are significant and most of them are the root cause of why six different NCAA Championships are earned (not recognized) at almost the same-time.
Before we address these issues, please allow me to tell you a little story: Like many athletic children born in the 1970s and 1980s, there was one who spent his free time playing baseball, basketball and football, three sports that have long been popular with young athletes in the United States. His favorite sport was basketball; he idolized Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers basketball program and players such as Steve Alford, Damon Bailey, Keith Smart and Isaiah Thomas; as well as Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and he dreamed about going pro. However, when he was in the fourth grade this young athlete, who grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, had the opportunity to play soccer. Though he could not have predicted it at the time, soccer would end up shaping his future.
This game he fell in love with, known as “The World’s Game,” represents one of the few NCAA major sports categories in which specialty schools like Cornell, Princeton, the United States Air Force Academy and the US Naval Academy can run comfortably with (and score on) the big dogs from North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Stanford.
Will Football Ever Fully Go Mainstream?
In this fast-growing game, which is played all over the world, blue-chip American colleges and universities like Duke, Santa Clara, Florida State and Virginia are commonplace near the top of the NCAA’s rankings.
At a lower-level than the secondary schools are several high-school Football (soccer) programs across the United States that consistently contend for and win state championships...but, unless there are elementary-age players coming up through the youth club system, most kids might not ever touch a soccer ball until they reach high-school.
Both the United States Men’s and Women’s National Teams have participated in the last several respective Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cups and the Women have competed in and won both World Cup titles, as well as Olympic Gold...however, the Men failed to qualify for the recent London Olympics and are currently in a tight struggle to qualify for the 2014 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Brazil.
Regardless of the growth of year-round club ball, football is still an autumn tradition for thousands of players across the United States, but it is sometimes hard to tell what the state of the game is. Is the sport on its way up, is it the way the recent success of the Women’s National Team has kick-started an uprising in the number of youth playing the game, or is its popularity plateauing or even being chipped away at, because our men still have yet to show well on the International stage?
Setting aside their performance on the national platform, at the professional level, Major League Soccer (MLS) has begun to show stability and staying power in the competitive sports entertainment world.
Yet, MLS is still not in the position it needs to be. Let’s return to the story of the young man and his exposure to soccer, for a minute. The first league he played in was not well-organized. There was maybe one player at practice a week, if that. In spite of this, he was drawn to the speed of the game and how active participation is not only encouraged, but demanded by the game itself. Like basketball, every player on the soccer field has to play both offense and defense. Players are constantly in motion unless the ball goes out of touch (and even then, players are still in motion). It was fast and it was fun. You would get on the field and the odds were in your favor that the ball would be coming towards you at some point. This differentiated the game from baseball, in which players at certain positions could go several innings without ever getting the opportunity to field a hit. It was also different than American Football, in which a player is assigned to either the offensive or defensive side of the ball and depending on your position, a player may never touch the ball for an entire game…or in some cases, the entire season.
In high school it became apparent that his best sport might very well be soccer. He was only 150 pounds and 5’ 11”, so football was quickly eliminated as an option. Basketball was and always would be his first love, but topping out just short of 6 feet tall saw his basketball career go from a high-scoring point-guard, to a low-scoring two guard to a 6th man and ultimately to the bench. Everyone around him grew and he did not, so what he was able to do on the basketball court when he was younger, he could no longer do when he was older. He continued playing soccer through middle school and into high-school, but initially it was just to stay in shape for basketball. As a sophomore, junior and senior at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana; he spent his summers attending soccer camps and working to become a better player. It paid off: He earned a scholarship to play soccer at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana; a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Contender. He played soccer all four years in college and completed his collegiate career with numerous awards and accolades.
In college his love of the game continued to grow and after graduating with a two undergraduate degrees in Sports Medicine and Sports Management, he decided to return to his roots. He began coaching varsity soccer at a local high-school and soon joined the staff of a small club. He is now coaching professionally and is not surprised that his once overlooked sport is increasingly becoming the favorite pastime of young athletes across the United States. Young kids (both boys and girls) like to be aggressive and physical, and that’s an aspect of the game they enjoy.
In last week’s blog I diagnosed some major issues affecting the future growth of soccer in the United States. Diagnosing is fine, but if you diagnose something, you then need to offer some options to improve it. So, let’s now turn in that direction.
As we do so; let’s begin to make the turn around the corner from a diagnosis to a cure, for just a moment set all of the facts I have presented (and will present) aside. Once we do that; what I find very intriguing on the surface, is the astounding, almost exponential growth of the participation levels in this team game. As we start to peel back the layers and let the game draw us backwards into its history for a spell, we discover that soccer was invented by the original people of the land. Like a fast-spreading prairie fire, we can easily predict this sport has the surging capacity to emerge as a future revenue challenger to the other grass-based sports that North Americans cherish. We’re not the only ones watching soccer: In a recent survey of 60 sporting goods industry experts, half picked soccer as the sport most likely to generate sales growth, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association’s State of the Industry Report.
It starts with the children
How interesting is it then that we might see North Americans return to their original athletic roots to play the oldest and most popular game on the planet? You see - rather than read about sport’s owners and players threatening a strike or lockout, this sport is springing back to life with little concern for the haphazard U.S. economy or competitive initiatives of far larger league-driven games.
BUT, if football (soccer) coaches are going to have a successful program, and if football is going to remain a major part of the national sports scene, children need to be involved at a young age, as soon as they are physically able.
Thus, it should be no surprise that one factor in growing, stabilizing and improving the game of football in the United States is getting kids to play before even before they start kindergarten.
We MUST have programs for and get as many kids as possible introduced to the game as early as we can.
There is quite a bit of exclusive evidence that if a sport builds and maintains a strong youth system around the country, there will be a trickle-up effect to creating an international power. This is seen in many nations overseas with football, but also in other sports such as Cricket and Rugby.
This concept hasn’t gone unnoticed, however. There are a growing number of soccer programs that are starting to work with kids as early as two or three years old. Look at what the Women’s National-level Soccer Program has accomplished; Two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and three straight Olympic Gold Medals. All of that accomplished with a generation of players who were exposed to the game at a much later age and without a domestic professional league. Imagine what can be accomplished in the future if we keep grabbing children early, placing a soccer ball at their feet and let them develop.
In addition to America stocking a trio of Gold Medals courtesy of Women’s Soccer, on their mantle, Women’s Basketball has placed a quintuplet set right next to them. So, there is no question that the United States has world-class athletes coming up in each generation.
However, getting preschoolers to play football; even in the most basic sense, can be more complicated than having them play baseball or basketball.
When kids are that young they’re still developing their motor skills. For many of them it is easier to swing or throw than to kick a soccer ball.
Still, there are an increasing number of youth programs that are attracting these young players. The key is having the Professional Staff to best develop, manage and teach children of that age. Several of the top soccer clubs in the world are doing this.
While it is mostly boys whom are going through those programs, especially outside of the United States; girls are gaining ground on their male counterparts and youth development program for young girls are popping-up all over the world.
The Entire System MUST be Unified
That’s nice to write; let’s do so again, because it feels SOOOOOO well: The Entire System MUST be Unified! Now, that I’ve shaken that off my shoulders, I have to admit that I certainly recognize that suburban participation doesn’t necessarily equate to high-performance, television ratings and blanket avidity. Soccer, with its massive youth participation numbers in the United States and Canada, still continues to trail the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball League (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) at the professional level.
This movement cannot be just a local phenomenon. The United States Soccer Federation (US Soccer) must unify the different Regions under its jurisdiction and get them all lined-up with the same development system, the same ladder of progression, the same level of coaching and the same curriculum.
Australia’s current system is a very good example and one that other nations could learn from. While young in its age, the results are starting to be seen by the younger players who are now stepping into the limelight as both professionals and Internationals.
Like most nations, there is one governing body. In Australia it is the Football Federation Australia (FAA). Underneath the FFA umbrella are 9 different regions (almost exactly falling in line with the different States that make up Australia). Each region has its own separate governing body. I live in Western Australia and the governing body for my part of the country is named “Football West.” What’s unique about this set-up is that each Sub-Federation is given ownership of what they do without having to “report” to the overall governing body, the FFA. This independency allows the State federations to run their youth development system and programs in the best way to fit the demographic needs of where they are located and also of those who live there.
Now, let’s also realize that there is a national curriculum and a national developmental system and process that the FFA develops and hands down to each respective State Federation. These State Federation then hands down the info and helps what are called Regional State Federations (Football Federation South West is a regional federation under the umbrella of Football West).
The size of Australia is very similar to the size of the United States and both countries have their areas of high population density and their areas of less. What is proving to be so successful in Australia is one, whole unified system and curriculum that everyone follows, regardless of where they are located. US Soccer already breaks the United States down into six different Regions, so why can’t they expand upon that and do the same? Leaving each region to do whatever they want tilts the level of power across the country and leaves the entire youth development system open to failure on many different fronts. I am from the Midwest area of America and within my home state alone, there are at least five different areas of football and all five have different philosophies and ideas. While there is no problem with each having their own identity, some players are being properly developed while others are not. Of those who are not, how many future International Stars are we overlooking by simply not having one unified system of Identification?
In Australia, they have an answer to that, as well. Each State Federation has their own National Training Centre (NTC), where the best players in each State Federation are called up to attend. This affords a direct route to being able to identify the best possible talent nationwide. This is something that I think the United States needs to do. Establish a National Training Center for each region, thus eliminating the Olympic Development Program (OPD) and any other current identification process. In place of ODP and ID2, for example, would be the NTCs. If Jürgen Klinsmann and Tom Sermanni only had to observe six different NTCs with the best players from that region on display, the phenomenon of overlooked players would really be negated.
Soccer’s Growth and What WE MUST Learn From It
In fall 2009, a Sport Finance course at Syracuse University was built around a project in soccer. Among the facts the students uncovered:
* Participation in U.S. high school soccer grew 828 percent between 1990 and 2008, as per the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS).
* In 2007, it was estimated, by a survey authorized by the National Sporting Goods Association, that 2.4 million Americans older than age 7 had played soccer.
* By recent accounts, there are more than 250 men’s and more than 450 women’s college soccer teams playing in Division I, II and III.
* US Soccer reports suggested that in 2009, total soccer participation included more than 820,000 players, an increase of 16.8 percent from 2008 and more than double the 2001 number.
An estimated 530,000 of those players were youths. US Soccer membership numbers (those players who are registered) hit 593,846 in 2008, a growth rate of 756 percent since the organization’s inception in 1913.
Jim MacKenzie, the integrated marketing manager at New Balance Team Sports, which includes soccer brands such as Brine, has said that soccer is “the growth sport for team sports in North America.”
“The speed and strategies of the game and how the game is played matches up great with the other sports American kids are playing,” he said. “Soccer has elements of basketball and ice hockey as well as the constant movement of players love. It’s natural in the changing of seasons for kids to move from one sport over to soccer. And playing soccer lets a young person carry their identity with them. Their ball is a part of who they are. Kids can bring their individual personalities to the game and it’s really encouraged. Size and shape don’t really matter.”
So, in taking the input of the student research and MacKenzie’s expertise, plus some of my own knowledge, I have taken a crack at not only diagnosing the growth drivers for soccer, but also potential solutions.
NORTH AMERICA'S FIRST GAME
To really offer possible solutions to what burdens the game in America, we need to return back…way back…to a point in time, where there was no American History. Invented by early cultures, such as the Mayans, Incas, etc…, Native Americans in North America where the first to play the game in what is the present-day United States. Football is considered by many Sport’s Historians to be North America's first sport. However, its rich history is unfamiliar to many sports fans today. Soccer was football Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown's favorite sport. Along with Lacrosse, soccer is now considered the official summer game of Canada and Wayne Gretzky is a noted soccer enthusiast. American soccer has historically been concentrated in New England, more specifically New York City and also the St. Louis, Missouri area, where it has been played by immigrants as early as World War I. However, after World War II, its popularity really began to grow and that growth accelerated during the 1970s.
Today, soccer is considered the fastest growing team sport in America. According to an annual survey produced by the United States Youth Soccer Association, the number of registered youth soccer players increased from 253,931 in 2001 to 524,593 in 2010. That figure doesn’t include the estimated 325,000 players above 18 years of age (these figures differ from the figures reported in the Syracuse study as they were gathered from a different source). To put those figures in perspective, in 2010 The New York Times reported that over one million boys and girls play basketball, making it America's most popular youth sport. However, basketball and other team sports cannot rival soccer’s explosive growth over the past several decades, which have occurred at every level of competition. The NCAA Division I Men's and Women’s College Cup Finals now regularly draws crowds that are smaller only than those at the men's basketball championship and certain bowl games. There is an established professional league in North America with 19 franchises (MLS) franchises in Columbus, Ohio and Toronto, Ontario, Canada regularly have an attendance of more than 25,000 fans.
So why has the sport with the incredibly marketable nickname "the world’s game" exploded in popularity in recent years? The more pressing question is can football transform itself from a sport with niche appeal to a commodity that is well-known and popular with casual sports fans across the country?
Ronald D’lisher, author of Football: A History of the Game says that unlike other American team sports, soccer was plagued by limited access to match officials and open, close proximity green-space in the highly congested metropolitan areas during the 19th and 20th centuries and this inhibited its growth. In the late nineteenth century, manufacturers such as Albert Spalding provided America with a large supply of baseball bats, balls, and gloves. Conversely, virtually every American soccer player's shin-guards (if they even wore them) were produced by themselves. Small pieces of anything ranging from slips cut from cardboard boxes to pieces of plastic rummaged from the trash were used by those who chose to try and protect their shins. The limited availability of match officials, proper equipment and open, green space effectively kept soccer’s growth in check until the 1970s when mass-produced equipment, such a balls, shin-guards, jerseys, portable goals, etc… hit the market. This combined with the school systems at both the primary and secondary level realizing what an easy and low maintenance sport soccer was and in turn, adding programs right and left. This allowed more players easier access to the game.
Another factor that inhibited the sport's popularity with mainstream sports fans in the 20th century is that it was pigeonholed as a sport for the affluent. "Throughout much of the twentieth century, the prototypical American soccer player was a college student who then went on to a career in a profession requiring a bachelor's degree," says D’lisher. Soccer players attended good schools and then worked in esteemed professions such as law, medicine and finance. As a result, young athletes who saw other sports as potential pathways to fame and fortune avoided it.
D’lisher also argues that the men who controlled soccer during the 20th century—the college coaches, referees, and former players who ran post-graduate soccer clubs and wrote rulebooks among other things—were steadfastly devoted to the amateur ideal of sport. They saw soccer as a game for gentlemen and valued the idea of sport for sport's sake. They wanted no part of the commercialization other American team sports embraced. "I suspect for many soccer players part of the appeal of the sport is that unlike baseball, football and basketball, their sport has long been a players' game—rather than a spectator's game or an owner's game or an advertiser's game," says D’lisher. So while football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey players were embracing the idea of professionalization and the increased popularity that came with pro leagues, soccer players were resisting it.
Today, the idea of a sport and its players resisting professionalization seems alien. Over the last 25 years mainstream sports culture has embraced professionalization and all but forgotten the ideal of amateur sport and the values once ascribed to it. The Olympic charter no longer makes the distinction between amateur and professional, elite college players increasingly treat Division I basketball and football as stepping stones to the pros and talented baseball, tennis and golf prodigies join pro circuits as soon as possible. Rarely, if ever, does one hear an elite athlete espouse the values of sport for sport's sake, but it's not uncommon to hear an athlete express a contrasting opinion.
Considering that young soccer players have grown up in a sports culture where professional athletes command all the attention and carry the most cultural cachet, it's reasonable to surmise that these players will not harbor the dedication to amateurism held by previous generations. If there is a chance to get paid, athletes today will jump at that opportunity. As it stands, however, the only professional soccer league in the United States, the MLS, is not as large and does not attract nearly as much revenue as the four major American team sports. Consequently, the players do not make as much money as other professional athletes. However, as soccer continues to attract young players who have the potential to grow up to become paying fans willing to buy tickets, watch the sport on television and buy products from sponsor companies, the chance that professional soccer can grow more relevant in the United States will increase.
Now, after all that, let’s take a look at six specific ideas that I feel establish the foundation of what is needed to get the game in America moving in the right direction.
1. Soccer has an original history and devout grass-roots following that is busting out of its seams to do its part; yet it fairly remains un-tapped? These original niche markets MUST receive more attention and be tapped for players, fans and overall support for the game.
2. Soccer is generally a high-paced game that is played and enjoyed by both men and women. These are a portion of the demographics that we are taking for granted and thus, not giving them enough attention.
3. Soccer is a relatively easy game to learn and understand. Kick ball. Receive ball. Pass ball. Ball in the net equals one goal. Running, dodging, jumping, sliding and shooting are frequent actions. Yet, these basic aspects of our game aren’t be used to market it. Just simplify the marketing strategies for the game and promote the game for what it is – the game of soccer!
4. Soccer can be played in a low-cost way. True, the full competition game requires a ball, shin-guards two goals and two nets, but recreationally, other than the ball, the game can be played on any piece of grass with two makeshift goals. A decent game can be played with as few as six people, and two people can knock a ball back-n-forth almost anywhere. That’s your basis for grass-roots marketing, right there.
5. Soccer has caught the attention of big-time sports apparel and equipment companies who are helping grow the game while extending their team businesses. Continue to jump on this angle and ride it like you’re winning the rodeo.
6. Soccer is benefiting NCAA athletic departments as they deal with the complexities of gender equality because it provides a large-number participant team sport for women. Without really spending any money or resources, there’s an active, built in commercial base right there. Now, unless I’ve completely missed the message; I have yet to see the MLS or any of the past Women’s Pro Leagues begin to even tap into that FREE commercial base.
The future is in the future…so, deal with the present!
US Soccer has been developing talent through ODP, which helps top-level players develop their skills further, while being identified and evaluated for selection to higher-levels of play and ultimately the Full US National Teams. Recently, there have been other entities jumping into the evident void of a better way of identifying, evaluating and developing the top talent; such as US Club Soccer’s ID2 process, which basically moves players in the same direction as ODP. While these systems help local players on local squads get more attention and opportunity for development, there are so many flaws in any of the systems that are currently in place, there are still way too many players with high-levels of potential being overlooked. To be blunt; whenever I think about or look at the current process of identification, evaluation and development in the United States, all I see or envision is a jumbled, confusing mess with no rhyme or reason to it…and this is coming from someone who has been involved in the game at basically every-level in the United States. If I am unable to put my head around it, then how do we expect players, parents and less experienced coaches to do so?
Now, I certainly understand that any time a player can play with other strong players, it helps develop their game. The better they become will then help their present and future teammates, because it makes everyone around them stronger…but…at what cost and even more-so, how many of these Developing Players are getting lost and falling through the cracks of a discombobulated and totally inefficient identification process?
These systems, programs, processes or whatever you want to call them, were supposed to help nationally as potential Youth National and Full National team members could be trained and evaluated. Well, just look at the recent failure of the US Men’s U-23 National Team to qualify for the London Olympics and the recent failure of the US Women’s U-20 National Team to not advance further in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Those two examples, along with several others prove that these systems are just not working and need to be changed!
If there was one unified system mandated and overseen by US Soccer, then the odds of local players being overlooked by inexperienced local coaches who don’t have any idea what type of player has the potential to be successful at the next-level will diminish greatly. The current structure causes more frustrations and inhibits players more than it should as they are continually forced into an ever-changing different approach to playing, with different players and learning different styles. Many will argue that this is part of a Player’s Development, to have to adapt to these changing environmental constraints. I agree with that whole-heartedly, however, how much is a player’s potential hidden by their constant adaption to a system that never shows any evidence of constancy?
Being exposed to different styles of play through a consistent program is a very good thing. It also offers players who have been through it before a more comfortable and familiar environment for them to feel more free to play.
While a complete overhaul of an incompetent system may be the key for the national programs, many high schools benefit more from local clubs that let more players play more during the year, regardless of their ability. The needed identification events would only entail a couple weeks periodically throughout the year for athletes that are perceived to be top-notch. Clubs take a larger range of players and play more often. Honestly, I think players gain so many positives by playing with local clubs, because they play all year round.
From my experience at both the high-school and club-level, I’ve seen how local clubs have a positive effect on high schools programs and their success. The club systems are a tremendous asset at the grass-roots level in spreading out talent and giving every team quality players.
In addition, I must also point out that regardless of what type of system is put in place, it should never be a requirement that a soccer player must go through the system to make a national team. There are qualified soccer players with a tremendous celling for growth that enjoy playing multiple sports such as Basketball and Baseball or Softball. If they have the goods, then they should be given the chance. Thus, identification is of vital importance. That is one area the United States severely lacks in – identifying every possible player…and…with the ample resources at US Soccer’s exposure that is inexcusable.
FROM THE FRINGE TO THE MAINSTREAM
The success of a professional sports league depends upon more than grassroots support from fans. Often times it takes the help of an external event to put a particular sport on the path to mainstream relevance. Professional soccer, which has a long and complex history in the United States and according to Michael MacCambridge, author of America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured A Nation is the best recent example of a fringe sport that has found what he calls "a foothold in a glutted American sports market."
America's current love affair with soccer can be traced back to the 1994 FIFA Men’s World Cup, a tournament hosted by the United States in sold-out stadiums throughout the country. "I think the 1994 World Cup was a milestone moment, because it allowed the U.S. soccer audience to get a sense of its own potential, and put the rest of the world on notice that this was a market that could no longer be ignored or blithely dismissed," says MacCambridge. Two years later the MLS started its inaugural season, and 17 seasons later the league continues to grow in popularity.
The MLS is, however, not America's first professional soccer league, and the league has maintained its success partly by learning from the mistakes of its somewhat infamous predecessor. One year after the 1966 FIFA Men’s World Cup received good television ratings in U.S. markets, two professional soccer leagues commenced play. They merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), which in its heyday featured soccer legends like Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer. Teams like the New York Cosmos played in front of sold out crowds, but the NASL failed to sustain its success and folded in 1984, casting doubt on whether professional soccer could ever succeed in America.
When discussing the differences between the MLS and the NASL and why the latter failed, MacCambridge says the number one advantage the MLS has is that it has more stadiums specifically designed for soccer. NASL teams often played in stadiums and arenas designed for American football and baseball, and these venues did not provide fans with good vantage points or create an exciting atmosphere. MLS stadiums like Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, are soccer specific-venues that create better viewing experiences for soccer fans. Such arenas consistently draw enthusiastic crowds and this level of fan dedication at the stadium level helps make the MLS more appealing from a television perspective as well, something that is critical to sustaining the league's success. "Do you have a core group of committed fans who will turn up on a Saturday night to watch the home team play? That is really the ultimate test. Because then you have a scene at the stadium, and it's a scene at the stadium that will televise well," says MacCambridge.
When asked if Professional Soccer could follow in the other major sport’s footsteps and move from the fringe to the mainstream, MacCambridge conceded that it was possible but said that soccer will have to continue to find venues that are suitable for the game and can draw an enthusiastic crowd. He also added that like all niche sports currently vying for popularity, soccer faces the unenviable task of trying to attract the attention of casual American sports fans. "I don't know that there's a lot of people who call themselves sports fans who are sitting around going, 'You know the problem is there's just not enough sports to watch.'"
Basketball and Soccer: Opponents or Allies?
As one sports season begins, one of the biggest issues for sports in general is the move from one season into another. On the surface, the main concern seems to be the number of athletes club teams can get out year-round, as that consistent under-fabric of players is vital for a club’s stability. However, when there is an overlap between numerous clubs, the friction of the two clubs overlapping can sometimes make things uncomfortable for both sides. However, when soccer overlaps with another sport; like basketball – on either end and sometime during – that level of friction too often explodes into an earthquake of frustration, politics, disappointment, broken hearts and even anger. Trust me, I know. I’ve been on all sides of the situation and I can understand where all sides are coming from. Trust me, it usually doesn’t end pretty.
I was the Head Women’s Varsity Soccer Coach for a Catholic, college-preparatory school and we were developing the program in the direction of a State-Power. The school’s basketball team was struggling. We were winning much more than we loss and we had enough players to form three teams. Basketball was losing more than they won and they barely had enough players to form two teams. So, whenever there was a soccer player who also played basketball, you can only imagine the friction that was generated. At that school there was no question that it had an impact on basketball. The basketball coach was pressuring players to choose and as a result, most of the players chose to stay with soccer.
Never-the-less, at other schools, the results were less drastic.
Sometimes the numbers were a little lower for one sport or another, but not because of kids swaying from season to season, but rather them choosing one sport over another some who chose soccer were plagued with the issue of having to face those classmates who would’ve been their basketball teammates every day at school. It is the kids that are going to play both sports that tend to get lost in the shuffle because everyone is “fighting” over the ones who are going to have to choose. What’s ironic is that they wouldn’t have to choose and the others wouldn’t get lost if the coaches would just step-back and let them do what they wanted
There is a deeper issue for the soccer side of this, though. Because there are similarities between the two sports, having players who played soccer since they were three helped basketball programs. Even if soccer was an athlete’s first choice, the abilities that made them successful on the soccer pitch could also translate into success for a school’s basketball squad. Without opening up the can of worms that is “athlete specialization,” I have seen that this type of conflict ends up being a disappointment for both sports. The players aren’t going to get the training in the other sport that they need to continue their proper development.
SPEED OF THE GAME
What soccer has going for it is that it combines elements of several established sports. Soccer players don’t don helmets or padding similar to rugby players. Like ice hockey, players have to play both offense and defense in a very fluid, unpredictable and ever-changing environment. Soccer appropriates certain terminologies and offensive sets that are common in basketball. Outdoor soccer, which is played on long open fields, has a similar aesthetic to American football. In this sense, soccer has no single sport that it must compete with for attention. It is unique but can attract fans by being somewhat similar to other sports they are already familiar with. In addition, it’s fast pace is a good fit in a world where every life moves quicker by the year.
George Kirsch, a professor of sports history at Manhattan College and author of Golf in America, says sometimes a sport can catch on if its characteristics mesh with larger societal trends. For example, the golf boom that took place in America in the 1890s was helped by increased suburbanization that was taking place in many parts of the country. Golf requires space, and new suburban developments allowed for the construction of private courses. At that same time cities began building municipal courses in public parks where the working class could play. And golf's popularity was also helped by the fact that it fit nicely with country's burgeoning business culture: Executives could easily discuss business affairs over a round of golf and thus the marriage between business and golf was born.
When asked why young athletes like soccer, O'Neill says it's the speed of the game. There's no doubt that culture today moves faster than ever via a constant stream of Tweets, status updates and text messages, so it may only be a matter of time before slower, more deliberate team sports such as baseball and football seem antiquated and fans start gravitating towards sports like soccer, basketball and lacrosse, where movement is constant. If that happens, soccer holds a slight advantage over the other two since it incorporates some of the physical contact prevalent in football and ice hockey.
National differences
Other countries do not seem to have trouble identifying younger players for the future. I took a tour of the Netherlands several years ago and observed some of their academy and older training practices. I saw the underlining of the KNVB system and saw that many Dutch kids as young as 10 were taking a soccer ball with them in their book bags, hands or even at their feet; to and from school.
Part of it is simply a cultural difference. In European and South American countries, teams need police escorts because they’re famous. Thousands of people come to their games. Our best soccer players can go wherever they please without the need for any sort of security (unless your name is David Beckham and you’re on Rodeo Drive).
That perception has a tangible effect on the game, in terms of what facilities and playing surfaces are available.
In Europe, everything is natural grass and in soccer-specific stadiums. They have professionally manicured fields that are better than most golf courses, for their teams of five-year olds. Many times in America we can’t even get proper field space for all of our high schools.
One issue facing many soccer programs, especially those located in major metropolitan areas is some fields are grass and some fields are turf. Because of this, the game changes as you move from one surface to another and the risk of injury increases dramatically, as well.
To compound this problem, there are some schools that do have artificial turf, but it is only available to soccer teams some of the time. At most high-schools, soccer teams will play their matches on the turf of their school’s football stadium. For many of these programs, that is the only time they are able to get on the turf, being forced to train on grass.
The difference with turf is that it speeds the game up. It reduces the focus on technical ability and opens up the itch to play more direct than you’d prefer.
If that faster game, that sometimes seems based more on fluke bounces on a hard, cushiony-type field than by the skills of the athletes, is all players are exposed to, it could reduce their interest in the sport. But…what if they could see the game at its best?
Soccer players of all ages have had access to almost as many matches as they’d want through increased television coverage and streaming via the internet. There are some high-schools that are live streaming their soccer matches now. The presence of the game on television is a learning opportunity, but not enough people take advantage of it.
Even though some of the games in Europe, etc…are either late at night or early in the morning due to time zone differences, only a select few coaches and players take the extra effort to find a way to get something from the contests.
I can hop onto a computer with internet access and find links to almost every game possible within a half-hour. Yet, very few watch the game on television as they should. I have never played football, yet I love American College football and the NFL. When I was living in the States, I would plan my weekend around college football on Saturdays and the NFL on Sunday’s. Since I have moved to Australia, I now plan my free-time around soccer (football). However, I can count on one-hand the number of people I know that do the same.
It isn’t just a learning experience to see the best take on the best. It is also that players watching on television or through the internet, be they in youth, club, middle school, high school or college; were seeing professionals play their sport.
I would think most players would look up to these professional players and want to be like them…building an excitement that pushes them out the door with a soccer ball in their hands. Yet, that just isn’t the case?!?!?!
Maybe that will be the key for soccer’s future. Not the age the players start at or which programs they play in or what leagues they compete in. In the long run, maybe the biggest difference between soccer continuing to go on the rise or falling back into being a niche sport will be if the players today can both have a passion for the game and make that passion contagious to the next generation.
FROM PARENT TO CHILD
Innovation in sports can be a slow process, and it often takes a significant amount of time for a sport to gain traction with the mainstream. One reason for this is that a love of a particular sport is often inherited from a parent or older sibling. Kids who grow up playing catch with their fathers in the backyard are likely to have an affinity for baseball, just as a daughter whose older sister played basketball may feel drawn to that sport from an early age.
Now that I think about it, many of my friends who grew up on the cusp of soccer's current surge in popularity are now passing their love of the sport to their children. They are signing their kids up for “Juniors” programs that can start as early as kindergarten and taking them to games. Recently a close friend of mine was looking for a way to spend a Saturday afternoon with his children when he realized there was a soccer game taking place at the University of Maryland. So they went to Ludwig Field, bought three tickets for less than $10 each and were able to watch a quality soccer game between two college teams ranked in the top 20. "They had a blast," my friend said. Experiences like that are where a love of a particular sport begins, and if more players who were on the front end of the current soccer boom pass the love of the game down to their children, the sport could grow even more exponentially over the next decade.
To the untrained eye, a soccer match may look like barely organized mayhem, but watch enough games and you are bound to witness the breathtaking athleticism displayed by its practioners. While it still exists on the fringe—popular in certain areas of the country and somewhat unfamiliar in others—it is growing. US Soccer lists California and Ohio as two states with a significant concentration of youth players.
Whether soccer can capitalize on its recent growth and morph into a major American sport that can rival one of the four major American team sports remains a question mark. Making a professional sports league work takes a lot more than a large potential fan base. However, considering that the sport has grown so strongly at the grassroots level with the help of the type of exposure that comes from a major world tournament, it would be foolish to overlook even more of soccer’s potential. If the sport's popularity continues to grow, there's no doubt the demand for televised soccer games and a more prominent professional league, for both genders, will follow.
Soccer has huge momentum behind it and is making notable moves to become a choice sport of the future. At many locations, this is obvious. The trick is getting into the living-room of the average sports fan. It may soon be that way everywhere, as well.
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