Why are fewer kids playing youth soccer?

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Fortnite

Nail on the head.

...coupled with parents not willing to be parents and getting their kids outside and staying active.

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Lacrosse is for upper middle class white boys afraid or unable to play sports with working class and middle class white, Latino and black athletes.

My experience tells me it's because they are unable to play other sports (at least at a serious level).

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Because the entire youth system is based on pay to play travel soccer. Football is 100% based on high school... baseball and basketball are also primarily based on high school, while travel is something those athletes do in the offseason to stay shape and play different competition..

Yea....no.

Baseball: travel baseball has taken over. Starts at 9. Plenty expensive. Trainers, uniforms, travel all very similar to soccer. The old inexpensive LL system is basically only dirt digging rec kids now. HS baseball is still important, but not as heavily scouted (yes, I know there are plenty of MLB scouts there if you’re a total stud and a few college representatives there to see select players). The summer travel showcase circuit is where the vast majority of college exposure happens (easily 3-5k a summer).

Football: in the last 3-4 years, travel football has taken over and youth players move right from pop Warner into spring travel football after the holidays. Football isn’t cheap, however a lot of the equipment can be subsidized by the team / sponsors. Typically football doesn’t have paid coaches, so training fees are negligible, but travel expenses aren’t. HS age players play 7 v 7 football all over the state and SE once the HS season ends. It gives them more opportunities to be seen and scouted, especially the skill positions.

Basketball: AAU travel basketball has taken over youth development basketball and even HS ages. Players are primarily recruited through AAU. Teams travel all over the country for AAU events. Elite level players are basically paid athletes at this point. It’s a very shady seedy system. Average suburban kids, however, aren’t getting any deals and are dropping plenty of money.

I will also say that unless you attend a small private HS, you aren’t making a varsity sports team unless you’ve been involved in higher level travel sports in that sport. Elite level natural athletes are exceptions as they will always have natural ability to compete at the HS level. Football might be an exception cause teams need numbers for football badly now. Kids don’t want to play. However, if you haven’t played much growing up, you’re not gonna be much of a football player.

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Football is way down.Dangerous down. Baseball fields like tennis courts are empty most of the year. Soccer is the second most played sport and is way above basketball which is the third.
Video games and other electronics is number one activity.

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Birth year change? Give me a fvcking break. Your own little pet peeve is the least of soccer’s problems.

Not a pet peeve. Competition and recognition within the direct peer group is a top factor in attracting and retaining younger players. When they cannot play with all of their classmates, you lose them at a young age, never to return. Certainly affects numbers and Smaller pool = smaller development

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Not a pet peeve. Competition and recognition within the direct peer group is a top factor in attracting and retaining younger players. When they cannot play with all of their classmates, you lose them at a young age, never to return. Certainly affects numbers and Smaller pool = smaller development

I understand your concept, just disagree. I don’t think it even a ripple on the lake. Fact is...players that really care about competition and recognition rarely play with there age group at all. They play up.

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I understand your concept, just disagree. I don’t think it even a ripple on the lake. Fact is...players that really care about competition and recognition rarely play with there age group at all. They play up.

**its
***their

Typing fast

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Lacrosse is for upper middle class white boys afraid or unable to play sports with working class and middle class white, Latino and black athletes.

I think you mean "Soccer is for..."

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A big reason that participation is down among the girls is because many are realizing that the sport is not nearly as glorious as it was made out to be. About 10 years ago+/- there was great participation because many parents viewed the sport as a "golden ticket" to college. Many were misinformed that soccer was going to pay a hue amount of college expenses. The kids were misinformed and led into thinking that playing college soccer is glamorous. Once the kids got into college, they realized that often it was drudgery and a lot harder than they thought that it would be. For many there isn't much, if any, playing time. A social life and studies became more important that playing soccer (in reality, that is true). Word spread to the parents that didn't yet have kids in college - not as many scholly $ as they thought there would be, kid not totally happy, yada, yada, yada..... The attrition rate of collegiate players is very high and what I've mentioned above are some of the reasons why.

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Birth year change? Give me a fvcking break. Your own little pet peeve is the least of soccer’s problems.

Poster said its only a part if it and I agree.
It's a multi pronged problem but cost and time are the bigger problems

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I understand your concept, just disagree. I don’t think it even a ripple on the lake. Fact is...players that really care about competition and recognition rarely play with there age group at all. They play up.

This isn't about the top players but the overall youth soccer landscape. Few kids playing means fewer undiscovered gems as athletic studs gravitate to more popular sports. It also means a lower likelihood they become lifelong fans.

[Unregistered]

Yea....no.

Baseball: travel baseball has taken over. Starts at 9. Plenty expensive. Trainers, uniforms, travel all very similar to soccer. The old inexpensive LL system is basically only dirt digging rec kids now. HS baseball is still important, but not as heavily scouted (yes, I know there are plenty of MLB scouts there if you’re a total stud and a few college representatives there to see select players). The summer travel showcase circuit is where the vast majority of college exposure happens (easily 3-5k a summer).

Football: in the last 3-4 years, travel football has taken over and youth players move right from pop Warner into spring travel football after the holidays. Football isn’t cheap, however a lot of the equipment can be subsidized by the team / sponsors. Typically football doesn’t have paid coaches, so training fees are negligible, but travel expenses aren’t. HS age players play 7 v 7 football all over the state and SE once the HS season ends. It gives them more opportunities to be seen and scouted, especially the skill positions.

Basketball: AAU travel basketball has taken over youth development basketball and even HS ages. Players are primarily recruited through AAU. Teams travel all over the country for AAU events. Elite level players are basically paid athletes at this point. It’s a very shady seedy system. Average suburban kids, however, aren’t getting any deals and are dropping plenty of money.

I will also say that unless you attend a small private HS, you aren’t making a varsity sports team unless you’ve been involved in higher level travel sports in that sport. Elite level natural athletes are exceptions as they will always have natural ability to compete at the HS level. Football might be an exception cause teams need numbers for football badly now. Kids don’t want to play. However, if you haven’t played much growing up, you’re not gonna be much of a football player.

Not entirely. Many other sports still have opportunities for kids to excel and get discovered via club sports, even surpass those who have been doing club whatever sport.

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I think you hit it on the head...travel, cost and birth year.

Not only travel, cost and birth year. Some students have too much homework to do now a days. Its not the same anymore when we were kids, there was still homework but you had to work on it and participate in travel leagues. It varies on where you go in regards to coaching. A lot of these leagues and clubs are unorganized and don't offer any true coaching. No one wants to start from scratch, coach and actually build a team.

But overall, all travel sports are in a decline.

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I understand your concept, just disagree. I don’t think it even a ripple on the lake. Fact is...players that really care about competition and recognition rarely play with there age group at all. They play up.

Fact is....when it comes to sports, the players that really care about competition and recognition are far outnumbered by those that are in it for fun and for the social aspect of it. There are much more rec and lower level teams than there are "elite" teams, so the birth year change absolutely makes a difference when you consider that most kids just want to play with their friends.

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But overall, all travel sports are in a decline.

And there will be a lot more decline over the next 5-10 years and beyond once the kids that grew up playing travel sports start having their own families. Those kids are going to remember how much they really didn't enjoy the whole thing and will not subject their own kids to what they went through. Many of those kids are already voicing that one regret that they really have about playing travel sports is how much of their youth they missed out on by not being a "normal" kid and doing things that "normal" kids do - hanging out with friends, playing, social activities, going to high school events, parties, etc.