It will continue the upward trajectory of participation, but the U.S. Sadly won’t be competitive until we stop with all the silly rules meant to try and protect the kids.
Agree about the silly rules for kids. To begin my explanation, I am 100% USA and did not play soccer for real until college — in my era, soccer was called speedball and you could use your hands on an airborne ball. It was played during PE. There were no high school soccer teams until I started a league where I worked as a teacher. The FB and BaseBall coaches hated me for this.
I like soccer because it only needs a ball and a field to play — in grade school we played on a dirt field.
I also like it because for some reason my foot coordination and quick speed developed before my hand and eye coordination developed. Hence I was a poor BasketBall and FB player although I did learn to like the American games. I just liked soccer because I was better at it than my fellow sports friends. (Played in college and lettered) Now soccer was not my only sport, I also liked cross country - I did play FB one year and got by “bell rung” and was jocked out of my shorts a few times. Not good for the ego. It turns out that after my running I was even better at soccer, because I could still run near the end of the match. Also I said quick speed, I could not run fast and far, but my first two steps were faster than most players. Guess what, soccer is a game where the victor is often determined in the first two steps.
End of rant, I love the game and played it well into my 50’s. I had a friend who loved FB and appreciated this fact, because after college he not longer was involved in a sport except as a fan and a coach, he missed the action on the field. BTW, I became an asst coach for him and learned how to coach Def Backs (so I do appreciate the sport of FB even though I would sit down for a soccer match too. How come there are no city teams that have uniforms and equipment so that FB enthusiasts who are not good enough to play in the NFL have a way to continue. There are many of these for soccer players. The reason (cost) has already been mentioned.
Agree about the silly rules for kids. To begin my explanation, I am 100% USA and did not play soccer for real until college — in my era, soccer was called speedball and you could use your hands on an airborne ball. It was played during PE. There were no high school soccer teams until I started a league where I worked as a teacher. The FB and BaseBall coaches hated me for this.
I like soccer because it only needs a ball and a field to play — in grade school we played on a dirt field.
I also like it because for some reason my foot coordination and quick speed developed before my hand and eye coordination developed. Hence I was a poor BasketBall and FB player although I did learn to like the American games. I just liked soccer because I was better at it than my fellow sports friends. (Played in college and lettered) Now soccer was not my only sport, I also liked cross country - I did play FB one year and got by “bell rung” and was jocked out of my shorts a few times. Not good for the ego. It turns out that after my running I was even better at soccer, because I could still run near the end of the match. Also I said quick speed, I could not run fast and far, but my first two steps were faster than most players. Guess what, soccer is a game where the victor is often determined in the first two steps.
End of rant, I love the game and played it well into my 50’s. I had a friend who loved FB and appreciated this fact, because after college he not longer was involved in a sport except as a fan and a coach, he missed the action on the field. BTW, I became an asst coach for him and learned how to coach Def Backs (so I do appreciate the sport of FB even though I would sit down for a soccer match too. How come there are no city teams that have uniforms and equipment so that FB enthusiasts who are not good enough to play in the NFL have a way to continue. There are many of these for soccer players. The reason (cost) has already been mentioned.