The Evolution of Youth Soccer in America
Any given Saturday, at parks and soccer complexes across the nation, you can see hundreds of kids running around small soccer fields in their matching uniforms with parents yelling for their child to shoot with every touch. This is the norm for youth soccer in the United States, but according to a Wall Street Journal article, the US Soccer Federation stated that youth soccer participation has hit a plateau in recent years. In that same article, the high school federation shows there has been an increase in participation at the higher levels.
In the last twenty years, soccer clubs in the United States have evolved from small volunteer-led clubs, to large organizations complete with a Board of Directors, paid coaches, and age groups from U8 up to U18. Many factors over the years have helped shape how we view youth soccer in America, as well as the transition of youth soccer over the last several years in the states, so let’s take a look at some.
1994 World Cup
The United States had the privilege of hosting the most important tournament in the soccer universe back in 1994, when they hosted the FIFA World Cup Finals. Despite their lack of recognition among your typical American sports fan, the chance to see some of the world’s best athletes up close and personal would forever change a generation, and the way their children would learn the game.
The ’94 World Cup provided a glimpse into a sport that had been previously viewed as un-American, and something that was only played in countries that were not good in the main sports invented in the US. It gave those of us that played as teenagers the chance to quiet the older generation about how it wasn’t a “real game.” We watched American Soccer players like Alexi Lalas and Tony Meola play on the biggest stage, and were able to witness the US national team upset the best team at the time in Colombia. That summer marked the beginning of a transformation in the American sports landscape that would have an impact all the way to the lowest levels of the sport.
Major League Soccer
Following the 1994 World Cup, Major League Soccer was born. It was an inferior product when compared to what was seen in the summer of ’94, but it was progress. With its unique Americanized rules (remember the crazy shoot out rule?), it sprawled on the scene and immediately signed most of the stars that donned the denim flag jersey in that ’94 World Cup. Yes, MLS was here, but it was far from being accepted.
MLS was a professional league with big hopes, but it was always going to be compared to the old North American Soccer League that had stars such as Pele and Beckenbauer. It took MLS longer to attract the big name stars, such as David Beckham and Thierry Henry, but it has shown the ability to draw some of the world’s best talent, and also be seen as a spring board for the young guys such as DeAndre Yedlin. In order for this league to not suffer the same fate, it would have to show a controlled growth over a period of time, and one of those benchmarks would be the impact on Youth Soccer.
Most MLS clubs have developed, and put a huge financial and tactical focus on, youth academies and homegrown players. In Europe, every team has a youth academy that feeds the senior club when necessary, but more importantly it allows the youth to develop their skills in a professional environment. MLS has taken this model and adapted into the US Youth Soccer landscape, which has also altered the trajectory of the youth players in this country. The biggest adaptation that this has created is with the clubs that are not affiliated with a professional team and how their organization is run internally.
From the long haired out cast kids that played the sport during the launch of MLS, it gave us a new opportunity to play domestically and a desire to have better training and understanding. For today’s youth players, it provides an opportunity to learn and possibly play domestically or abroad. The sky, for the youth soccer players of today, is the limit.
TV Rights for Foreign Leagues
There has never been any doubt that MLS is not on the same level as the English Premier League, Bundesliga or other European leagues. The question has always been how the game can grow in America, and ultimately the answer is to provide the best games to the country with the most growth potential. Thus, this created the opportunity for the leagues that are flung far across the globe to partner with network companies domestically and provide unbridled coverage. NBC and the EPL recently signed a six year extension for exclusive coverage rights in the US. Fox Sports signed a deal to broadcast the German top league and ESPN seems to have a deal to broadcast whatever they feel. With these exclusive rights, it has allowed American fans the opportunity to follow their stars in other leagues, but also to attach to a team in one of these leagues, and as a result, ever-expanding the game in this country.
With these TV deals for the best leagues in the world, we have the ability to see the best players on a weekly basis, which is huge for today’s youth players. Back before the MLS, and even the first few years of its existence, the only time we could see an EPL match would be on ABC’s Wild World of Sports on a Saturday morning, or during a World Cup. Even the Olympics barely showed the sport because the lack of interest. But today, you can see the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Rooney play every weekend. Watching the sport helps develop the love and passion that the rest of the world has for the game, but something that has been in the making since 1994 when it made an impression on the father’s and mother’s of today’s youth soccer player.
USWNT Success
There is no doubt about it; the US Women’s National Team is the standard that all women’s teams across the globe look toward as the right way to play. Many have looked toward our players just being better athletes, but an even bigger factor is gender equality in the US. It is not where it should be, of course, but it is light years ahead of other countries and the USWNT is treated with respect from the US Soccer Federation.
This has contributed to the USWNT being 3-time World Cup Champions and inspiring young girls across this country. The success has also spawned several attempts at a women’s league in the US, with the latest inception taking a page out of the handbook that MLS utilized; slow and steady growth.
In 1999, with the likes of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Brandi Chastain, the United States had a National Team win the World Cup on home soil. Little girls every where were obsessed with the sport, and youth soccer clubs jumped at the opportunity to grow the game even more. Up until then, there were some girls teams within the clubs, but nothing of any substance or potential growth. By creating more dedicated women’s coaches and training regimes, the youth soccer movement in the United States was in a state of transition. One that would bring more money, more exposure, and more development to the beautiful game in a country that was ready to take the next step.
Better Coaching
With the professional leagues and exposure that are now standard in the United States, there has been an influx of talented players who have retired their joints and ligaments from the daily grind of playing, for the cerebral side of the game. The understanding and knowledge from playing, coupled with the overhauled US Soccer Federation Coaching Curriculum, have given the youth players a new asset for development that was virtually non-existent twenty years ago. Soccer clubs across the country have noticed this trend, and have capitalized by bringing these coaches on as paid staff.
Setbacks
It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses since the 1994 World Cup. Major League Soccer has had three clubs go defunct in the course of their existence. Granted, this has been replaced by more organized and well run expansion clubs now, but the fact remains that these three clubs could not make it work in the United States soccer scene. FIFA decided to play an entire Women’s World Cup on nothing but turf fields, which not only degraded the integrity of the women’s game, but brought a lawsuit that was spearheaded by arguably the most famous Women’s player on the plant in Abby Wambach. The lawsuit was eventually dropped, but the black-eye remained on the game. While the setbacks have been present, the willingness and controlled growth of the game in the United States has proven to buck the past transgressions and history.
Today’s youth soccer environment has become a huge profit machine from running tournaments, to player fees to large sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike, Adidas and Under Armour, just to name a few. Add to the mix the apparel and uniform costs, and you have a youth sports conglomerate that rivals most medium sized businesses.
The standard youth soccer club that many of us remember from the 1990’s, that housed a recreation program and maybe a travel team or two, is long gone. Today, there are fewer clubs, a larger player pool, more competitive teams, more competitive divisions, boys and girls’ teams, and better coaching. Those of us that were around to watch the evolution of youth soccer in the US should not be shocked by how different the landscape is now. After all, the pieces of the puzzle have been right in front of us this whole time, and it has meticulously been assembled right before our eyes.
