Hard to argue with you when you keep including HS. Firstly you give participation rates in post #447 which states 8-17 age group...now you claim its 6-17. Which is it? Secondly HS soccer was already a major sport throughout the US in the 80s but I'm talking about PRE-HS participation rates (which you appear not to have understood). Same for registrations...I have six kids (3 boys/3 girls) and they all played youth soccer (AYSO/CYSA traveling) and T-ball/baseball/softball from the age of 6....they could NOT be registered with more than one team at a time. I ran one of the largest youth soccer (pre-HS) leagues in SoCal with teams from LA County to Ventura to Santa Barbara County. We issued registration cards for specific teams (one only at a time)...play for another team at the same time and coach/player was banned. Your playing history refers to young adult/HS competition...14 and unders did not play in Babe Ruth/Legion/and obviously HS. Today many HSs around the country are dropping American football because of potential legal liabilities. Soccer field complexes for pre-HS kids in most communities far outnumber football fields. Parks and Rec departments dont want the financial risks. As an aside beyond HS and those who get recruited for College and ultimately go Pro how many American adults actually play American football...very few. Yet hundreds of thousands continue playing soccer in mens and womens soccer leagues around the country as I did (to the age of 52) just as they do in England and Europe. Americas women soccer players are already the best in the world as they crush Japan today. As the quality of MLS steadily improves and more Americans play internationally the US mens team will increasingly become a force to be reckoned with . Anyhow enough on this subject. Back to the World Cup.
The numbers and age ranges differ because the study I was quoting from was talking about a different issue and not the one I was talking about. It was specifically talking about the drop in participation rates by age and gender in specific sports year after year and how it influenced the rise in rates in the 14-17 year old age bracket. Soccer is the least participated sport in the U.S. in the age bracket right before people enter high school. So that's why my typing changed, it wasn't manipulation on my part. The work that the study was saying needed to be done was in the years in between the early youth years and the high school years as that is where the greatest number of people drop off. By the time I was on pro sized fields at age 12 I was on multiple teams a year, by the time I was in HS I didn't even have practices except for HS we all just went to games as the same set of people played on every team I was on. So everyone on my hs team was on the traveling team, the team that went to the World Series etc. Our women dominate due to the 740,000 high school girls who play high school soccer. I imagine that number is one of the highest in the world for the 14-17 age bracket. Back to the World Cup.
FAO CANADATIGER and ellewoods Despite the growing grass-roots level in "soccer" in the US ( boys & girls), IMO it is highly unlikely that at a pro level "soccer" will ever surpass baseball, basketball or football. These 3 sports are too deeply engrained in the American psyche & American "dream" and money will never flow from those three sports into "soccer". Their 4th sport, ice hockey, despite expansion in recent decades, has started to dwindle. Corporate investment for the beautiful game will never take off - sadly. Which in itself may stunt the growth of the US men's national soccer team development. Not so the ladies as they gravitate more towards "soccer" than than the other 3 sports.
You're banned - politics verboten. Have to admit, I was tempted earlier myself after the 4th goal went in.
I actually agree with Canadatiger we just might disagree a bit on where we are now, but we agree on where we will end up. Hockey as a youth sport was always regional anyway.
Brilliant display of incisive attacking football by the US ladies...particularly the first 15 minutes...4 goals and game effectively over. If we could find a player with the strike rate of Carly Lloyd...great with both feet and in the air...we'd be a clear promotion candidate. I'm almost tempted to say...sign her!!
I saw the first couple of goals go in then turned off, had to sleep, missed the best of the bunch of course, a half-way line goal. For once Jonathan Pearce was accurate with his commentary, what the hell was the defender marking Lloyd doing at the corners? Shame England couldn't have got past the Japs, we might have given the US a better match
South African women's football captain after scoring 100th goal for South Africa - "I dream of being able to buy a house".
The official England Twitter account have now deleted this rather ill-advised tweet from this morning... please log in to view this image
It beggars belief they even considered putting that out. Twatishly done by our FA. Not really surprised though.
Come to Texas and I'll take you to a shooting range. You haven't lived until you've shot a .44 magnum.
Kinnel... Fourth Official @FourthOfficial_ BREAKING: Liverpool Ladies goalkeeper Danielle Gibson has undergone surgery on a brain tumour.
