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70 to 75 % of players leave soccer by age 13 in the USA
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Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
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Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostGreat article, thanks for sharing. However it would be interesting to see if this attrition rate is similar in other sports. As compared to football, basketball and baseball, soccer has FAR FAR FAR less on field/court instruction. So if those other sports have more pressurized instruction yet have lower attrition rates, then what's the issue with soccer?
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostMy theory involves RUNNING. America does not have a running or fit culture. Soccer involves running a lot after U13.
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Football and basketball will draw the boys away in HS. My son stayed with basketball/football because everybody goes to those games to watch/cheer and only parents go to soccer games, he wants the spotlight. Look at attendance to college soccer games, dreadful. You play soccer at higher levels because you love the game, not for the peanut scholarships or excited fans.
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Here is an interesting read on sports participation
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9...-espn-magazine
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostHaha, take your soccer kids to a true high level football or basketball program and they will learn about running.
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostMy theory involves RUNNING. America does not have a running or fit culture. Soccer involves running a lot after U13.
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostHere is an interesting read on sports participation
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9...-espn-magazine
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Originally posted by Unregistered View PostThanks for sharing! The statistics are excellent. We should be out exercising more instead of on TS. Kid obesity at 16.9% in 2010! Adult obesity projected to be at 42% soon even with all the youth sports. Kids are spending 7 or more hours in front of the screens even with sports. Interesting that all sports tend to decline in participation after 13. Household income drives early sports participation, and as most would predict the suburbs are more sports focused. Florida is in the bottom 5 for the percentage of students who can play high school sports.
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Soccer will continue to grow and become accepted as a US sport as the country continues to diversify. Immigrants are by far soccer fans more than they are football, basketball and baseball. It is also a sport that requires only a ball and open space. Many public school have taken up soccer because it requires so little capital. Finally, as soccer players become soccer parents, the sport will grow the fan base exponentially. Think of it this way, most boys play football, basketball or baseball because their parents directed them to the sport from the time they are born. As more and more parents put soccer on the tube and a soccer plush in the crib, you will see more kids play soccer.
The other factor is the teen culture of sports. As alluded to in previous posts, there is no fanbase for soccer in High School. Regardless of what you feel about HS v Club, the High School is the social center of a teenagers life. Kids naturally gravitate towards the more popular sports. They don't hold pep rallies for the soccer team. This will change as soccer continues to grow in popular culture. In some Hispanic neighborhoods, soccer is already more popular than football.
One change that will help the sport retain players is to play soccer during the same season across the country. Some schools play in the fall, some in Winter and some in Spring. There is no way you can build a consensus national ranking and schedule cross state rivalries when there is no "soccer season" in High School.
Of course the Club Snobs will disparage High School soccer as being dangerous, recreational and irrelevant. In most regions, they are right. The only exception would be among the private schools which can afford to hire professional coaches and recruit the best talent. Among public schools, HS is a hodge-podge of skilled club players and clueless rec players with school spirit.
This will probably be the last thing to change. Government is the slowest to change and we all know that public schools are bureaucratic sloths slowed even more by the scrutiny of parents. All it takes is one parent to stand up at a school board meeting and raise a concern and a policy change will be tabled for months while a "blue-ribbon panel" conducts a study. I still feel the popularity of the sport will eventually win over even the most traditional school boards. Soccer coaches will become principals and soccer fans will become school board members. Someone will present a financial analysis that shows that soccer cost the school 10% of football, basketball and baseball and the old guard will be persuaded to bring the sport into fold. Once that happens, you will see soccer hit another growth spurt as more kids stick with it and more parents accept it as an American Sport.
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