Yahoo story: Why the world's game is a white game in the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US is mainly white. Did you know polo in China is dominated by Chinese people, and it can be further separated by economics and weather.

The US is 1/2 white if that's what you mean by mostly.

Per the census bureau, 60.1% is pure White (Non-Hispanic and Non-Latinos).

[Anonymous]

Anything wrong to rename "Travel Soccer" to "Private Soccer" and "Rec Soccer/High School Soccer" to "Public Soccer", that would solve the branding problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very true particularly for Girls Soccer. I see very few minorities. But when my DD played in an indoor soccer league at the Sportsplex in Rockville, she played against a couple of teams that had all Hispanic players. They were pretty good teams too. I don’t know if it’s the cost or they prefer to play for Hispanic coaches that focused on technical skills, etc.

the same is true of the Sportsplex in Springfield. Team America is pretty heavily hispanic now and focuses their Ulittles on indoor

[Anonymous]

Unless you are talking about college soccer - men's soccer 88% non-white - women's soccer 60% non-white
Just pull up a few rosters....see for yourself

[Anonymous]

I think if you have more Hispanic coaches or Spanish-speaking coaches, there might be more Hispanic players. Some parents can’t speak English that well so they might be reluctant or uncomfortable to have their DC play for non-Spanish speaking coaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US is mainly white. Did you know polo in China is dominated by Chinese people, and it can be further separated by economics and weather.

The US is 1/2 white if that's what you mean by mostly.

60.7% if you really want to pick nits, but lower I am sure if we counted properly

[Anonymous]

if you just want to play, why would a kid care if they play "travel" or not? If soccer isn't doing it for you, try basketball.

Shouldn't be hard in DC, just go to ANY local basketball court and ask for someone to show you how to shoot. not that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless you are talking about college soccer - men's soccer 88% non-white - women's soccer 60% non-white
Just pull up a few rosters....see for yourself

Where did you get these stats from? It is certainly true that high level men’s soccer in the US is very diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of valid points here, and rings true all over the DMV

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-privilege-of-play-why-the-worlds-game-is-a-white-game-in-the-us-150024228.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw

I have to say this hasn't been my experience in Northern VA. I don't think my daughters ever played on a single team which was all white. Nor did the majority of the girls on the team attend private schools - in fact I can only remember three girls - in fifteen years - who did, although I may have forgotten one or two here and there. In general my daughters' teams had anywhere between one and three black girls on the roster - which is about proportionate.

For boys it's even less true with huge numbers of central and south american kids playing, especially at the higher levels of youth soccer. My son's team for example has three black kids, four hispanic kids, one asian kid, and nine or ten white kids.

And pretty much all soccer programs offer financial aid to kids who could not otherwise afford to play. In some cases this is 25% or more of the roster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of valid points here, and rings true all over the DMV

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-privilege-of-play-why-the-worlds-game-is-a-white-game-in-the-us-150024228.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw

I have to say this hasn't been my experience in Northern VA. I don't think my daughters ever played on a single team which was all white. Nor did the majority of the girls on the team attend private schools - in fact I can only remember three girls - in fifteen years - who did, although I may have forgotten one or two here and there. In general my daughters' teams had anywhere between one and three black girls on the roster - which is about proportionate.

For boys it's even less true with huge numbers of central and south american kids playing, especially at the higher levels of youth soccer. My son's team for example has three black kids, four hispanic kids, one asian kid, and nine or ten white kids.

And pretty much all soccer programs offer financial aid to kids who could not otherwise afford to play. In some cases this is 25% or more of the roster.

seems to mirror what the article is saying

It’s disproportionately white and upper-middle-class

Girls soccer isn't all white or all UMC, it's just disproportionally so - 25% on scholarship means 75% not and scholarships may or may not cover actual travel expenses and certainly don't free up parents to get kids to practices and games. My DD has never played on an all white team, but she's also never played on one (and rarely against one that is minority white or even close to it).

[Anonymous]

No player gets turned away for race. Why aren’t <group of people> doing <activity>? Because individuals chose not to and patterns form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US is mainly white. Did you know polo in China is dominated by Chinese people, and it can be further separated by economics and weather.

I hear soccer in South America is dominated by Latinos. Go figure.

In the US, all players are Americans.

No, no, no! You're supposed to divide "Americans" into different socio-economic and racial groups and then pit them against each other! Did you not get that memo from the media?!?

[Anonymous]

It’s more of a wealth issue. Soccer costs money and to be in a league is expensive. Some families can’t swing it financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:seems to mirror what the article is saying

No - it is the opposite of what the article was saying.

Article:
"It was pretty much all white girls,” she says.
"It’s disproportionately white and upper-middle-class"
"Then he’d look around soccer boardrooms, and out onto fields, and wonder: “Why doesn't soccer in America look like America?”"
Me:
That's not my experience. My daughters' teams have been mixed reflecting the general population. My son's teams have been disproprtionately high in minority kids.
Others on this thread have pointed out that when you lok out onto college and MLS soccer fields you find predominantly minority players,

It’s disproportionately white and upper-middle-class

Girls soccer isn't all white or all UMC, it's just disproportionally so - 25% on scholarship means 75% not and scholarships may or may not cover actual travel expenses and certainly don't free up parents to get kids to practices and games. My DD has never played on an all white team, but she's also never played on one (and rarely against one that is minority white or even close to it).

I would agree that girls teams are rarely minority white - but that's what one would expect from the raw numbers.
It is much more common for boys teams, especially at the higher levels of play.

[Anonymous]

if you go to any inner city environment, soccer has a different makeup compared to suburbia soccer.

In the inner city, there's 1 public turf field and everyone wants to use it. The land is probably valued in the millions, so there's only a very limited amount of turf space.

In suburbia, you can go to any elem/middle/high school field and kick around on off-hours.