Landon Donovan was right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

Here comes this dumb nonsensical argument again.

Yeah being 6'10 or 275lbs and can run through a brick wall are the traits of all the top soccer players.

Tyreek Hill is 5'10
Ladanian Tomlinson is 5'10"
Deon Sanders is 6'1"
Travis Hunter is 6'1"
Champ Bailey is 6'0"
Austin Ekeler is 5'9"
Desmond Howard is 5'10"

Adam Gemili spent 7 years in Chelsea’s academy and had a couple of shots to go pro…when that didn’t materialize, he switched to track and came in 4th in the 200M at the 2016 Olympics. There are plenty examples of fast athletes in Europe who couldn’t hack it in soccer…you, and apparently many others, just don’t realize it.

i wasn't talking about these players being fast and they weren't the biggest or stronger meat head, i was saying they're athletes (some play multiple positions and 1 played multiple sports professionally) that were at the top of their game - athletes as in people with an athletic ability that exceeds the common person. If they focused their training and skills in soccer they might of been amazing, there could also of been total crap, we'll never know what could of been. How good could Barry Sanders or Deebo Samuel of been if they decided to play soccer instead of football? the point is, our best athletes (again people with an athletic ability - not the biggest, strongest, fastest) don't play soccer. Pulisic is our best player right now and he doesn't even top the world's top 100 footballers - every other sport we have players that are considered the best in the world - you're going to sit there and say it's the training is too hard to master? ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

Soccer jerseys are more popular in my kids schools.
So if we're going off non scientific personal observation

As for your kids playing informal football everywhere. Please make videos and post the links.

Are they wearing jerseys of American players?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

Soccer jerseys are more popular in my kids schools.
So if we're going off non scientific personal observation

As for your kids playing informal football everywhere. Please make videos and post the links.

You must be living in some kind of weird soccer bubble. Even if that’s true, you must know that your experience is very exceptional in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

Here comes this dumb nonsensical argument again.

Yeah being 6'10 or 275lbs and can run through a brick wall are the traits of all the top soccer players.

Tyreek Hill is 5'10
Ladanian Tomlinson is 5'10"
Deon Sanders is 6'1"
Travis Hunter is 6'1"
Champ Bailey is 6'0"
Austin Ekeler is 5'9"
Desmond Howard is 5'10"

Adam Gemili spent 7 years in Chelsea’s academy and had a couple of shots to go pro…when that didn’t materialize, he switched to track and came in 4th in the 200M at the 2016 Olympics. There are plenty examples of fast athletes in Europe who couldn’t hack it in soccer…you, and apparently many others, just don’t realize it.

i wasn't talking about these players being fast and they weren't the biggest or stronger meat head, i was saying they're athletes (some play multiple positions and 1 played multiple sports professionally) that were at the top of their game - athletes as in people with an athletic ability that exceeds the common person. If they focused their training and skills in soccer they might of been amazing, there could also of been total crap, we'll never know what could of been. How good could Barry Sanders or Deebo Samuel of been if they decided to play soccer instead of football? the point is, our best athletes (again people with an athletic ability - not the biggest, strongest, fastest) don't play soccer. Pulisic is our best player right now and he doesn't even top the world's top 100 footballers - every other sport we have players that are considered the best in the world - you're going to sit there and say it's the training is too hard to master? ok.

Oh, our athletes own all the World and Olympic records in every sport and are listed as the GOAT in every sport?

Didn't know that.

If only the best cricketers in England played soccer, they would have won another World Cup
If only the best swimmers in Australia played soccer, they would be a soccer powerhouse.
If only the best rugby players in New Zealand played soccer, they would be top tier.

THE ARGUMENT IS STUPID!

Every US athlete you named would have been raised in the same weak youth soccer culture and environment that exists.
So what is athleticism going to do? Make them lose faster?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

If you are a college coach then you are the problem. It was college coaches decision to ONLY recruit out of club that allows a Bethesda to prosper: listen to what they promise: not pro but an Ivy League entrance made easier.

[Anonymous]

The day these colleges decide to recruit from high school is the day most of these clubs fold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The day these colleges decide to recruit from high school is the day most of these clubs fold.

Hahaha

Yes, PE teachers and a 3 month a year season is the answer to our problems.

Not to mention the HS squads with less than half being high level players

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Have you tried hitting a 99 mph fastball or a curve ball that starts at your shoulders and ends at your ankles with a wooden stick or shoot a ball into a hoop that is only slightly larger from 30 feet away? Soccer is no harder to master than any other sport...golf is probably the hardest sport to master yet the US seems to be pretty good in that area.

Golf, even baseball, isn’t really relevant to this conversation. Let’s stick with sports with similar worldwide popularity both by audience and people playing it.

Keep moving the goal posts - "soccer isn't popular because it's harder to master" is complete crap

Baseball is popular in Latin America where i think soccer is pretty popular there too

I just checked, immigrants are allowed to play on the National teams, have gotten noticed and have been for a long time. Let's be better than stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

Soccer jerseys are more popular in my kids schools.
So if we're going off non scientific personal observation

As for your kids playing informal football everywhere. Please make videos and post the links.

You must be living in some kind of weird soccer bubble. Even if that’s true, you must know that your experience is very exceptional in this country.

So one personal observation is more valid than another?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

If you are a college coach then you are the problem. It was college coaches decision to ONLY recruit out of club that allows a Bethesda to prosper: listen to what they promise: not pro but an Ivy League entrance made easier.

Weird post. Most kids are playing soccer to go to college not pro. 98% true on the girls side. Tougher for college on the boys side but that is why most are playing. Most are not interested in pro. Sure if they were at a super high level they would think about it. But most know they are not.

On the girls side it is an almost exclusive college play. So yes ---any Ivy leauge recruit is why they are there. That is the end game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

We're also forgetting that most children can play high school baseball, basketball or football and still have a chance to play in college. The same can't be said for soccer, there is no free path to playing at the next level in soccer like there is in other sports.

So kids don't go from HS to college who play club soccer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Soccer also seems to appeal to the unathletic parents of not very athletic kids who want a “safe” sport not like football.

The NFL and MLB and NBA fans that are parents look more like Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson to me.

I don't know where you're getting this fable that a bunch of Mister Olympia are what NFL fans represent 😄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

We're also forgetting that most children can play high school baseball, basketball or football and still have a chance to play in college. The same can't be said for soccer, there is no free path to playing at the next level in soccer like there is in other sports.

So kids don't go from HS to college who play club soccer?

I think Pps point is that no one goes pro in soccer from college. A few do but that’s not the traditional path like it is for football and basketball

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people really arguing that soccer is somehow different than the other sports, more complicated, harder to master, and that's why dynamics that work fine in this country for football and basketball and baseball and tennis and golf and hockey and lacrosse and gymnastics and all the other sports we are competitive against the rest of the world, but those same dynamics don't work in soccer because it's harder to master and complicated? Same parents, same money culture, same winning mentality, it works for everything except soccer and that's the reason?

I think some of those sports aren’t relevant to the conversation but yes, it’s a factor among many factors.

Would also add that the global bar is raised much higher by others' singular focus on soccer. Most European and South American kids grow up knowing one sport and one sport only. They don't dabble in other sports - competitively at least. We have the variety and some would argue luxury to have a boatload of choices. The US sports landscape produces great athletes...not pure masters of soccer. You don't have to be a freak athlete to play soccer at the highest level. Look at the guys on Barcelona and other clubs. Athletic in a fitness and skills sense. But none of those guys are winning a decathlon.

Guess you didn't see all those athletes from the countries you say only play one sport at the Olympics not playing soccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

Soccer jerseys are more popular in my kids schools.
So if we're going off non scientific personal observation

As for your kids playing informal football everywhere. Please make videos and post the links.

You must be living in some kind of weird soccer bubble. Even if that’s true, you must know that your experience is very exceptional in this country.

So one personal observation is more valid than another?

Everyone knows soccer is more popular in the US. All those stadiums filled with 75-100k people are watching soccer every week, not football. All those fantasy league drafts this week were for soccer, not football. Supermarkets have many chips & salsa & beer displays all over the place for the big soccer games starting this weekend. Lots of kids watch their high school soccer games, they don’t go to friday night football games. Walmart and Target have way more DC United team gear for sale than Commanders and Ravens and VT. But these observations could just be one perspective inside my soccer bubble.