Youth Soccer in the United States

Alessandrea C. Handley!

Cathy J. Handleyl

Hope E. Handle';

Lawrence M. Handley.4

Lawrence R. Handlev

Nathanial S. Handle';

'Allstate Indemnity Company Allstate Plaza, North- D8 Northbrook, IL 60062

2Franklin Foundation Rehabilitation Center P.O. Box 577 Franklin, LA 70538

3Saint Scholastica Academy 305 Maria Ave. Abita Springs, LA 70420

4METASYS 13 Brittany Ct. Charlotte, NC 28270

5U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Research Center 700 Cajundome Blvd. Lafayette, LA 70506

' University of South Alabama P.O. Box 253 Mobile, Alabama 36601

ABSTRACT

There are four million youth playing soccer in the United States and its growth rate of 1300 percent between 1975 and 1988 make it the fast growing sport in America. In every state, soccer reaches the youth from ages 4 to 19. Texas and California lead the nation in the number of youth playing the sport. Not only a sport for boys, soccer is one of the most popular sports for girls in the country. This paper examines and discusses the distribution of youth soccer across the U.S. during the years 1975-1988. Distri­butions based on race, per capita in­come, sex and age are explored in sev­eral states.

KEY WORDS : soccer, sport, United States, spatial distribution, historical trends.

INTRODUCTION

There is no doubt that the 19 million youth playing organized baseball in the United States make it the most popular youth sport (Case, 1987). In contrast, there are only an estimated 4 million youth registered as playing organized soccer in America. Recent reports indi­cate that 17 percent, or over 12 million children in the U.S. touch a soccer ball at least once a year (Wilson, 1989). In every state, soccer reaches the young from ages 5 to 19. Texas and California lead the nation in the number of youths playing the sport. Not only a sport for boys, it is one of the sports most widely participated in by girls in the country.

Like all American sports, soccer has its roots in the youth of the country. The number of youth soccer players in the United States has risen at the dramatic rate of 1300 percent between 1975 and 1988, making it the fastest growing sport. This has meant a proliferation of youth teams at all levels of play from elemen­tary to high school , from playground to YMCA, and church to local association recreational leagues.

METHODOLOGY

A questionnaire was distributed to 55 state soccer associations (Texas, Califor­nia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York

3

are each split into two associations) in the U.S. eight of the state associations returned the questionnaire and only four of those, North Texas, Oregon, Florida, and Nevada, were able to provide the detailed statistics needed. If the Louisi­ana Soccer Association is an indication of the majority of state offices, the one person staff is spread thin and very few of the state's soccer records are com­puterized at a central office. A number of the Louisiana Soccer Association's 27-member associations have computer­ized records, but incompatible computer systems and record keeping make the incorporation of files difficult and costly if not impossible.

A better source of information at the state association level is the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA). Since its organization in 1974 the USYSA has been compiling statistics sent in by each affiliated state association. From the USYSA registration report, statistics for the years 1974/ 75 through 1987/88 were used. The data for soccer year 1988/89 from many states were incomplete at the time this report was compiled .

The American Youth Soccer Organi­zation (AYSO) does not provide statis­tics by individual states, but works on a regional basis. Even though the USYSA also compiles its statistics on a regional basis, the AYSO data are not compara­ble because the regional alignments of states is not the same.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The only previously published infor­mation dealing with the spatial distri­bution of soccer in the United States was in A Geography of American Sport (Rooney, 1974) and the Atlas of Ameri­can Sport (Rooney and Pillsbury, 1992). A Geography of American Sport pro­vided a brief analysis of American soc­cer based on high school and collegiate soccer data in 1971-72. In the early 1970s organized youth soccer was in its in­fancy and high school and college soc­cer was a minor sport played as "sport for sport's sake" (Rooney, 1974, 266). However, the limited statistics did show a regional distribution of soccer clus­tered in the northeast U.S. (Figure 1).

4

Also, Missouri, Arkansas, and Georgia had high proportions of high school male participation. The Atlas of American Sport provides a sketchy and disjointed dis­cussion of soccer growth since 1970 mixing collegiate, high school, and youth data and maps. The atlas does however, indicate that tremendous expansion of soccer since the 1970's primarily in the Pacific Coast states and Northeast ex­panding southward along the Atlantic Coast into Florida.

SOCCER IN THE UNITED STATES TO 1975

The Early Years

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world . "It is considered the game of the people" (Vogelsinger, 1982, 6). In 1972 there was an estimated 85 million active soccer players in the world, that is one out of every twenty people (Vo­gelsinger, 1982, 6). Unfortunately how­ever, this is not the case with the United States.

No single culture can be credited with the founding of soccer. Soccer or a form of the sport has been noted in many cul­tures over many centuries. For example, Tsu Chu in China 3000 B.C., Kemari in Japan in the fourth century A.D., Har­paston in early Rome, Episkiyros in Greece, Calcio in Medieval Florence, and Gomacaari in Mexico. These early forms of soccer had varied or no rules at all . As a result, the sport became extremely physical. In fact, at various times soccer was banned from being played in En­gland by Kings Edward, Henry IV, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth I. In 1848, En­glish universities adopted the set of "Cambridge Rules," the precursor of to­day's rules (Foulds and Harris, 1979). It was not until November 30, 1872 that the first controlled international competition was held (Cascio, 1975).

Soccer first started in America before European contact. The Indians in the northeast had a form of soccer called "Pasuckquakkohowog," which trans­lates as "They gather to play football " (Cascio, 1975). This game used a small ball the size of a tennis ball and a field a mile long and a half mile wide. It was

played later with both Indians and En­glishmen. It often took days to decide a winner. There was a great deal of bet­ting on these events, but rarely a dis­pute over the winner or fair play.

Soccer has been played in the U.S. since the early 1800s. The first docu­mented soccer game was played on the Boston Common as early as 1840 (Cas­cio, 1975). Harvard was the f irst institu ­tion to playa form of soccer as early as 1830. By 1844 several colleges in the New England area had taken up the sport, and by 1860 a dozen colleges along the At­lantic coast were playing soccer. The question that prevails is whether this sport being played was closer to rugby than it was soccer. However, in 1865 Rutgers and Princeton adopted a set of rules that brought the sport more in line with soccer as played today. Shortly thereafter, following the lead of Rutgers and Princeton, Columbia in 1870, Yale in 1872, Pennsylvania and Harvard in 1874 organized teams for intercolleg iate com­petition. They were followed soon after by Haverford, Stevens, New York Uni­versity, and City College of New York. The early orientation of soccer to New England and the east coast is associated with an English heritage, English trans­plants and students, and the large late 19th century influx of immigrants from Europe. The United Football Association was organized in 1913 (Vogelsinger, 1982). In 1914 the U.S. Football Associ­ation took control over the professional and amateur leagues to form the United States Soccer Football Association (USSFA), and the colleges and univer­sities playing soccer formed groups which affiliated with the USSFA (Cascio).

Modern Development of Soccer in the United States

The growth of soccer was slow in the U.S. until the late 1950s and early 1960s. As a sport it was played mainly at the collegiate level. It could not compete with the other major American sports of foot­ball , basketball , and the national pas­time, baseball, in youth participation, fan participation, funding, and notoriety. Al ­though, no single event propelled soc­cer into the national limelight in the late

1950s and early 1960s, growth of the sport accelerated. Primarily the growth of the sport was found at the high school level of play. Among the high schools the sport was highly regionalized, focus­ing on the northeast, Georgia and St. Louis. High school soccer became a looking glass of collegiate soccer in geo­graphic distribution . Such an outgrowth was necessitated as a training ground for players, a market for college players turned coaches, and fan support. Al ­though the data for youth soccer partic­ipation were non-existent until 1975, the distribution of soccer in the 1960s and 1970s must have been very much aligned w ith that of high school and college soc­cer. However, Texas and Cal ifornia were growing in youth participation, probably a result of their large Latino populations.

Youth Soccer in the 1970s

In 1974, the United States Youth Soc­cer Association (USYSA) was formed. The fall of 1974 and spring of 1975 were the first soccer seasons for which youth registration statistics were available. A comparison of Figure 1 and Figure 2 re­veals the increased distribution between 1970 high school youth participation and 1975. Certainly the east coast from Vir­ginia to Massachusetts continues its prominence in American soccer. The Midwest has expanded beyond the orig­inal St. Lou is focal area. The Pacific coast states with Arizona and Nevada, and the state of Florida are the other areas of significant youth participation. Texas and California were two states with the greatest numbers of youth participating in soccer. Other than a few scattered states, the Rocky Mountain states, the southeast, and upper New England are conspicuously devoid of youth partici­pants. It should be noted that although these USYSA statistics are indicative of the participation distribution across the U.S., the numbers are not all -i nclusive. Some states, such as Lou isiana and Mis­sissippi , had local youth soccer pro­grams, but state organizations were not founded until after 1974/ 75 into which the existing soccer programs were in­corporated . For example, both the Lou­isiana Youth Soccer Association and the

5

o 0

o o

o

o

o

~ 1.26

_ 0.75 to 1.25

'--> 1.20 • D so.74

FIGURE 1. Per capita participation in high school soccer 1971-72. Average partici­pation = 1 per 202 people in the 14-17 age group. (Source: Rooney, 1974)

.. more than 20,000

6,000 to 10,000

OJ]] 2,000 to 5,999

~ 1 to 1,999

CJ o FIGURE 2. U.S. Youth Soccer Association participants 1974-1975, exclusive of Ha­waii and Alaska.

6

Mississippi Youth Soccer Association were founded in 1976, at which time Lou isiana registered 96 players and Mis­sissippi reported 214 youth players from local organizations that had been play­ing youth soccer for a couple of years. Other local associations playing youth soccer in 1974/ 75 did not join the newly formed state organization in the first years.

Youth Soccer in the 19805

By 1980/ 81 the number of youth soc­cer participants in the U.S. had risen from 103,000 to 810,000 (784%). Forty-seven of the contiguous Un ited States showed increases over 100 percent (Figure 3) . In this decade state soccer associations were showing phenomenal growth. For example, Wyoming's state organization was formed in 1977 and recorded 270 registrants in 1977/ 78, 440 in 1978/ 79, and 500 in 1979/ 80. However, no reg is­trations were reported by the Wyoming Youth Soccer Association in 1980/ 81 , and

~ over 10,000%

1,000 to 10,000%

~ 100 to 999%

[=:J less than 100%

then 815 were reported in 1981 / 82 . Wy­oming 's anomaly is probably a report­ing failure rather than a zero in youth registrants for the 1980/ 81 period .

Wh ile the development of youth soc­cer by 1980/ 81 in states with no regis­trations in 1974/ 75 is visually over­whelming on Figure 4, it is the states with existing programs in 1974/ 75 that brought the most youth players into the USYSA by 1980/ 81. Between 1974/ 75 and 1980/ 81 youth soccer had grown by 703,601 players. States with no pro­grams in 1974/ 75 brought in 94,150 or only 13.4% of the new players. At the same time, the states with existing pro­grams registered 609,451 players or 86.6%. Texas and California alone reg­istered 30% of the increase in youth players between 1974/ 75 and 1980/81.

By the 1984/ 85 soccer season the number of youth participants in USYSA had risen to 1,210,408. That was an in­crease of 399,615 (49%) over 1980/ 81 . That growth rate is a considerable de-

FIGURE 3. Percent increase in youth soccer participants 1974/75 to 1980/81

7

.. more than

100,000

.. 50,000 to 100,000

~ 25,000 to 49,999

~ 10,000 to 24,999

~ 5,000 to 9,999

ITIIIill1,oOO to 4,999

~ Oto 999

FIGURE 4. U.S. Youth Soccer Association participants 1980 to 1981

TABLE 1 Yearly Increase of U.S.

Youth Soccer Association Registrants

1980/ 81 to 1981 / 82 16.8% 1981 / 82 to 1982/ 83 11 .6% 1982/ 83 to 1983/ 84 9.8% 1983/ 84 to 1984/ 85 4.2% 1984/ 85 to 1985/ 86 1.6% 1985/ 86 to 1986/ 87 5.8% 1986/ 87 to 1987/ 88 8.4% 1987/ 88 to 1988/ 89 - .04%

crease compared with the 1974/ 75 to 1980/ 81 growth. This is particularly ev­ident in the yearly increase of USYSA registrants (Table 1).

Major increases in youth soccer play­ers occurred in states with small pro-

8

grams in 1980/ 81 , primarily the Mid­west (including Arkansas). the North, several Mason-Dixon states, Louisiana in the south, and two New England states (Figure 5) . The growth rates in the South and the West appear to have slackened. However, the 20 states with growth rates over 100 percent contributed only 179,035 (36%) of the new players registered na­tionwide. California and Texas with 26 percent of the nation's total number of youth players contributed significantly during this period. Yet, because of their large numbers, California and Texas contributed only 10 percent of the new registrations between 1980/81 and 1984/ 85. A comparison of Figure 4 and Figure 6 reveals strongholds of youth soccer with existing programs and growth in the Mid-Atlantic states (New York and Mas­sachusetts to Virginia). Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio,

.. over 500%

100 to 500%

c=:J 0 to 99%

ffiE lost players

FIGURE 5. Percent increase in youth soccer participants 1980/ 81 to 1984/ 85

Colorado, Utah, the Southwest and the Pacific Coast states. The Midwest (in­cluding Arkansas), and the plains states (including Wyoming and Montana), Al­abama, and the Carolinas are the areas of the lowest soccer registrations and growth.

It should be noted that low numbers of players registered in a state's soccer program or low growth rate does not re­flect the level of play, player develop­ment, or that competitiveness is low or below average. For example, Missouri, as a state, has low numbers of youth players and continues to have a low growth rate; however, the St. Louis re­gion continues to be one of the hot beds of soccer competition and player devel­opment in the country. The low num­bers of players in a state may indicate the lack of a pool for future player de­velopment and relative competitiveness within its region or within the nation.

RECENT TRENDS

Although the period 1980 to 1985 showed expansion of youth soccer in the

United States, a closer look at those five years shows that all areas of the country have not experienced the same general upward trend. Between 1980 and 1988, an average of eleven states lost regis­trants. Figure 7(A-F) illustrates the states that lost players between 1982 and 1988. A comparison of the number of states that lost players between 1980 and 1988 is shown in Table 2.

While there was a trend of increasing numbers of states losing registrants be­tween 1980 and 1985, there was a re­duction in the number of states losing registrants from 1986 to 1988. As can be seen from Figure 7(A-F) there is a ran­dom geographic distribution of these losses. They are evenly spread from east to west and north to south with 40 dif­ferent states having lost youth players in at least one year between 1982 and 1988.

The distressing fact about the states losing USYSA registrants is that fifteen states have lost numbers for two of the years between 1982 and 1988, nine states lost numbers for at least three years, and

9

.. more than

100,000

.. 50,000 to 100,000

~ 25,000 to 49,999

ttEE 10,000 to 24,999

~ 5,000 to 9,999

~ 1,000 to 4,999

c=J 1 to 999

FIGURE 6. U.S. Youth Soccer Association participants 1985-1986

TABLE 2 Loss of Soccer Players

1980-1988

Soccer Year Number of States

Losing Players

1980/ 81 1981 / 82 1982/ 83 1983/ 84 1984/ 85 1985/ 86 1986/ 87 1987/ 88

3 10 5

11 20 20 11 10

Arizona has lost numbers for the last four consecutive years. The years 1984/ 85 and 1985/ 86 were the years with the great­est number of states losing players. In fact the four states with the largest num­ber of players, California, Texas, New

10

York, and Washington, lost players in both 1984/85 and 1985/86, but these same states have gained in the latter years of 1986/87 and 1987/ 88.

What is the reason for these chang­ing trends in the number of state organ­izations losing players? One aspect of note is that these statistics are for USYSA registrations only. While USYSA has shown a fluctuation in the increase of players between 1982 and 1988, the AYSO has been increasing in numbers in most of these states. Figure 8 shows the distribution of A YSO registrants in their 1987 soccer year. The AYSO has associations present in all but eight of the forty states in which USYSA lost members in 1984/85 and 1985/86. The AYSO grew 12 percent between 1985 and 1987, from 255,000 to 285,000 registered players. Is it possible that the AYSO is picking up some of the players lost by USYSA in several of the states as new

B. From 1983 to 1984

C. From 1984 to 1985 D. From 1985 to 1988

E. From 1988 to 1987 F. From 1987 to 1988

FIGURE 7A-7F. States that lost players during the years 1982 to 1988

local soccer associations form and join AYSO taking old USYSA players with them, or old local USYSA associations switch to the AYSO for various reasons? "My observation has been that although some programs may leave USYSA to join AYSO, an almost equal number of local programs and players leave AYSO to join USYSA. As a result, the player mem­bership of AYSO has grown, in real numbers, only a small amount during the last 10 years" (Rutledge, 1987). The SAY has picked up players almost entirely in

the Ohio area, and has lost some pro­grams in surrounding states. Increasing numbers of organizations in several states, Florida in particular, have gone independent. A few states with stringent high school rules (e.g . Minnesota, Ohio and Louisiana) have lost players who decide to only play school soccer and not sign up to play for their local associations.

The trends of soccer registrants for 32 states are presented in Figure 9(A-H). From these graphs several points can be observed:

11

AYSO Total = 289,000

FIGURE 8. Distribution of American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) players in 1987

, ..

".

-III .. 'tI PO:

"' III :I C J: t::. III C .... "' .. -.!! 01 ., a:

14 71 7. n 71 71 eo ., 12 .. 1M .. H 87 .. 71 n n n n _ '1 a U 1M .. • Q U M

.T .... [SC.llloml. m Woohlngton ON_ York

74 71 71 T7 71 7. 10 ., 12 as ... .. .. 87 I. 71 71 T7 71 n 10 .1 12 U ...... 17 .. "

.ld1IhO [SMont.". BJN_ D.kot. OWyoming

.. It

"

.. ••

,.

~ 71 n n ,. 71 eo .1 U " M II H n .. n H n 7' " eo '1 a a 1M U • n u •

__ Oft. [SN ....... 0 me_do OUt""

74 11 71 77 78 n eo ., .2 U ... I. .. 17 .. 71 ,. T7 78 n eo ., a IS .. .. .. ,7 .. ..

.T.nn ••••• [SKontucky Im W .. t Vlrglnl. OOhlo

FIGURE 9. Trends of soccer registrants in selected states 1974/ 1975-1988/ 89

12

..

., -C ca

74 71 71 n ,. "I 10 ., II U .. II .. '7 .. 71 7. T7 TI 1'1 ., ., • as .. II .. 17 .. II .!(M ... (SIlo .. l iN ...... oMIH_1

.. II -.! Q ., a: II

74 7. 71 77 71 1" eo ., a IS .. I. .. aT .. 11 11 17 71 H 10 ., U as lot as .. .., .. ..

• Loul ..... (SIMI ...... ppl 1iI_ ... 0",.-.

FIGURE 9. Continued

1. The loss of reg istrants among sev­eral states in 1984/ 85, as men­tioned earlier,

2. The peak of most states in regis­trants between 1982 and 1984,

3. The very high rate of growth in several states through the late 1970s and early 1980s (e.g . Michi­gan, Ohio, Lou isiana, Idaho, Mis­souri and Colorado!.

4. The slow steady growth of other states (e.g. Wisconsin, Illinois, West Virginia, Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina),

5. The erratic behavior of some state registrations (e.g. Iowa and Montana),

6. The notable steady decline since 1980/ 81 in Nebraska and since 1983/ 84 in Arizona.

Figure 9 does not yield any apparent

..

..

.. I.

74 71 ,. 77 "I 71 eo ., 12 U .. .. .. IJ .. 71 1'1 T7 71 ,. 10 ., • u .. IS .. ., .. ..

.Mlnn .. _ ~WI ....... 1n IlIIIlIIlnol. oMlohl, ..

14 71 ,. 77 ,. ,. eo ., a as .. .. .. ., .. 7!1 7. n ,. ,. eo ., u as .. II .. ., II ..

.Flortd. ~So. Carolln. [I Na. Carolina 00_,1 •

geographic distributions. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a strong correlation of growth characteristics with the size of a state's program. Equally, large or small state associations seem to have experienced these different growth behavior characteristics.

Figure 10 reveals that the percent of youth playing soccer between the ages of 5 and 19 is strongest in the west with Washington the highest in the country with 7.5 percent. In fact, 20 of the lower 48 states are above the national average of 2.3 percent. The Northeast is another region above average, while the Mid­west and South are below average.

There is a lot of room for soccer to grow within the youth population if only 2.3 percent of the nation's youth is play­ing soccer organized under the USYSA. Even if 4 million youths play some form of organized soccer, as advertised by the

13

" overs% ~4%toS%

~3%t04%

~2%t03% WHm 1% to 2%

c::J less than 1 %

FIGURE 10. Percent of population between the ages of 5 and 19 playing soccer

USSF (United States Soccer Federation), that is only 5.5 percent of the potential target population in the country. This is still a far cry from baseball's 37 percent of the population .

Soccer does have something base­ball, football, and basketball do not have-a sizable number of females playing the sport. The latest statistics in­dicate that among high school level sports participated in by females, soccer is one of the fastest growing. For ex­ample, between 1986 and 1988 female high school varsity soccer teams grew by 20 percent, from 3,435 to 4,141 (Wil ­son, 1989,36). Over the same period fe­male high school volleyball was the only high school sport that showed compa­rable growth with 586 teams. Although data on female players for only four states were available (Fig . 11), the data are probably representative of the re­mainder of the states. In fact, a recent study indicates that in the category of

14

"serious players" (play soccer 52 or more days per year) 28 percent are females. If all states are near the national average of 50 percent female, the low percent­age of females participating suggests that a significant potential pool of players exists in the 20-30 percent not playing .

Within the various organizations that lose or gain players each year, where are the losses or gains occurring? Even more generic, what is the make-up of various organizations by age groups to assess the gains or losses? Using the data from the Nevada, Florida, Oregon, and North Texas state soccer organizations (Figure 12(A-D)), the percentages within the age groups are remarkably similar, and the organizations vary in size from 4,585 to 62,169 youth players. The greatest dis­parities occur at the two ends of the spectrum where U-6 (under six years of age) are not reported by Oregon and Nevada and the other two states vary by over 7 percent and U-16s and U-19s vary

A. Florida 1985

Girl. 14.5%

---~---

C. Navada 1986

18.2%

Boys 85.5%

B. Oregon 1985

D. North Texa. 1985

Girl. 21.2%

FIGURE 11A-11D. Percent of soccer participation by boys and girls

A. Florida soccer 1986 B. Oregon soccer 1986

U-14 U-8

U-19 U-6 U-16 U-19

C. Nevada soccer 1986 D. North Texaa aoccer 1986

U-14

U-19 U-6 U-6

FIGURE 12A- 12D. Age groups within some soccer organizations

Boys 78.8%

15

by over 5 percent. In three out of four states the U-10 group is the largest and each group decreases in numbers through U-19. A striking fact plaguing the U.S. competition internationally that is evident from these figures is the rapid drop-off of players at the U-14, U-16, and U-19 age levels. It is difficu It to develop and compete nationally and internation­ally if the supply of players at the most competitive ages cannot meet the de­mand. From 1985 to 1986 the Oregon, Florida, and North Texas soccer associ­ations each showed gains in numbers of players by 11 .0 percent, 1.9 percent, and 1.0 percent respectively (Table 3) . How­ever, each of the age groups show con­sistent growth, particularly the younger age groups. The U-14s and U-16s show consistent losses, which again does not bode well for future regional and na­tional team development. The increase in the U-19 age group in two of the three

states is a good sign that hopefully, is representative of other states.

A comparison of the 1980 popula­tions for Florida, Oregon and Nevada for children 5-10, 11-14, and 15-19 age groups with the number of youth soccer players in the same age groupings re­veals some interestingly numerical sim­ilarities (Table 4). Florida's and Nevada's percentages of players within each group are amazingly similar, even though Flor­ida's population of children is over 10 times that of Nevada. Oregon's U-10 and U-14 age groups' percentages of players over the state's population of children is somewhat higher than those of Nevada and Florida. However, Oregon's U-19 age group percentage is equivalent to those of Nevada and Florida.

SOME FACTORS OF SPATIAL VARIATION

What other factors possibly affect the spatial variation of soccer growth? A re-

TABLE 3 Percent Loss or Gain of Youth Players for Age Groups from 1985 to 1986

Age Group Oregon

U-6 U-8 + 8.3% U-l0 - 3.3% U-12 + 1.7% U-14 + 6.6% U-16 - 2.2% U-19 + 87.1 %

Florida

+ 7.8% + 16.7% + 13.4% + 1.9% - 5.4%

- 20.7% - 20.6%

TABLE 4

North Texas

+ 1.7% + 3.8% +0.5% - 3.9% - 4.8% - 8.7% + 6.1%

Percentage of Youth Soccer Players Compared with the Total Number of Children Per State

State Group Players Children Percentage

Florida U-l0 22,173 621 ,534 3.5 U-14 18,896 685,016 2.7 U-19 7,250 811 ,340 0.9

Oregon U-l0 11 ,049 189,329 5.8 U-14 10,334 202,503 5.1 U-19 1,825 225,868 0.8

Nevada U-l0 2,131 55,689 3.8 U-14 1,697 61 ,744 2.7 U-19 757 70,162 1.0

16

cent study by the Soccer Industry Coun­cil of America hints that soccer partici ­pation by household income is a factor. A recent editorial in Soccer America (Wilson, 1989) discusses suburbaniza­tion as a factor affecting the develop­ment of soccer in America, and the re­cent Atlas of American Sport says that growth since 1970, outside of the east­ern seaboard and Pacific coast, has been " .. . concentrated in the largest cities and the ir suburban rings" (Rooney and Pills­bury, 1992, 126). Alternatively ethnic background, racial distribution as well as economic status are factors which may impact soccer distribution and develop­ment in the United States.

Suburbanization

Suburbanization may be an impor­tant factor affecting soccer develop­ment. However, the amount of subur­banization as a statistic to compare with soccer participants per state is difficult to obta in. The percentage of urbaniza­tion per state in 1980 was compared with the percent of youth playing soccer per state. Figure 13 is a scattergraph of per­cent urban population in 1980 plotted against the percent youth playing soccer per state. The correlation coefficient, significant at the 95 percent confidence level, is 0.292. This number excludes Wyoming and Vermont due to a lack of data and Washington and Alaska be­cause they are outliers causing the coef­ficient to reflect a higher correlation than what is actually the case.

The states have been labeled, and three clusters have been delineated. One cluster of western states is above the regression line with a high urban pop­ulation and a high percent of youth playing soccer. Another cluster of Atlan­tic Coast states are straddling the slope line indicating a position of high corre­lation between a high urban population and a normal percent of youth playing soccer. The th ird cluster is a group of midwestern states that have a high per­cent of urban population with a lower than normal percent of youth playing soccer. The two states with the greatest number of youth soccer players, Texas and California, are both above the

regression line, indicating urbanization is important to soccer in these states. The correlation coefficient for the percent ur­banization and youth playing soccer coupled with a low T-statistic lead one to conclude that it is not a dominant fac­tor affecting the distribution of youth soccer in the United States. However, western states, such as Texas and Cali ­fornia would indicate that urbanization is an important factor.

Ethnicity and Race

As a possible influence, does ethnic­ity affect the spatial distribution of youth soccer in the United States? The devel­opment of soccer in some areas of the country has been associated with high numbers of Americans of Hispanic ori­gin (Latinos). In Figure 14 the percent Hispanic for each state in 1980 is plotted against the percent of youth playing soccer in each state in 1985. The corre­lation coefficient is 0.324. The state with the highest percent of Hispan ic popula­tion, New Mexico, lies below the line. New Mexico's position has caused the regression line to rotate clockwise far­ther than it would have if the New Mex­ico data were excluded. Thus, ethnicity actually has a slightly greater impact than the scattergraph indicates, but it is still not a largely significant factor. While the large population of Latin American ori ­gin may be an important factor in Cali ­fornia , Texas and Colorado influencing the high percent of youth playing soc­cer, in Washington the smaller Hispanic population does not appear to be an im­portant factor in influencing its having the highest percent of youth playing soccer in the country.

In Figure 15, the percent of Afro­American population per state in 1980 is compared to the percent of youth play­ing soccer per state. As might be ex­pected a negative correlation exists at - 0.308. This means that the higher the percent of blacks in the population the greater the likelihood for a lower per­cent of youth to play soccer. This cor­relation is probably a major factor af­fecting the lower percent of youth playing soccer in the South (e.g. Arkansas, Ala­bama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South

17

8

7

~ 6

... Q)

5 0 0 0 en .~ 4 >-

..!!! Q.. 3 .c :; -? 2

1

0

Correlation coefficient = 0.292

o 20

NM e

VA e

e KS ~ .. e Mill ----e NE GA .. TN

KY WI eLA NO eAR

NHe e eSC e lA e

NC

40 60 Urban (%)

co

80

FIGURE 13. Percent state urban population with youth playing soccer, 1980

8

7

,-.,

~ 6 '-'

'" ~ (j 5 (j

0 (I'J

0.() 4 = ';>' ~

s: 3 .c: .-= 2 0

>t

WA.

UT

• .OK

OR. CT NJ MA , •

SO •• 10 VA • RI • MN .OE NV •• p. NE

CO • AZ

• NM

•

100

1 .. ~It<N HI

tINMS

•• Correlation Coefficient = 0.324 AL IL

0

20

Hispanic (%)

FIGURE 14. Percent Hispanic soccer players, 1980

o 10

18

30 40

8

7

---~ 6 '-' t.. ~ C.I 5 C.I 0

rLJ

gf4 ... ..... eu s: 3 .c ... = 0 2 >t

1

0

FIGURE

8

7

-; 6 --"-II) u 5 u 0

CI)

g'4 >-.! a.. 3 ~ .. ::::I

~ 2

1

WA • Correlation Coefficient = -0.308

.UT OK •

• • NB MN KS PA ~.. .. "MT KY

NH: ·NO • • IN 10

o

• • MO

IL ·AR

•

10 20

MO

Afro-American (%)

•

30

MS

•

40

15. Percent Afro-American population in states with youth playing soccer

MS •

so •

UT •

NM

• .10

OK •

OR

WA

•

Correlation Coefficient = 0.391

CO

: ~ • CA AZ M: wyN.r-

VA.· • NE NY NV

.·FL PAOE MN MO

II! 'fWI. .KS • KY • VT 0 ... MI

• • IIMTN•O eNH .WI AR M"-eSC. • •• IA IL

AL NC MO IN •

O-L--~-----r----~------.-----.-----~------.-----.-~

6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 12000 13000 Per Capita Income ($)

FIGURE 16. Relationship of 1980 per capita income per state to percent of youth playing soccer in 1985

19

Carolina and Louisiana). Conversely, Mississippi, Georgia and Maryland are above the average of youth soccer play­ers within the proportionately high Afro­American population.

Economic Status

From a survey reported by the Soccer Industry of America, economic status is an important factor in the number of soccer players in the U.S. The results in­dicate that soccer is a middle to upper class sport with 42 percent and 21 per­cent in $25,000-49,999 and $50,000+ family household income ranges, re­spectively (Wilson, 1989). Unfortunately, the Soccer Industry does not provide any relationship of soccer to affluence in a spatial distribution mode.

To obtain some sense of per capita household income on a state basis, the relationship of 1980 per capita income per state versus the 1985 percent of youth playing soccer was tested. The result was a correlation coefficient of 0.391 . This is a higher correlation than that of ethnic, suburbanization, or percent Afro-Ameri­can. In some states, such as Mississippi and West Virginia, economic standing is probably an important factor in attract­ing or discouraging the youth and their families from participating in the sport of soccer. However, in the West it ap­pears that this factor has less impor­tance compared to the other three fac­tors discussed.

SOME SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Figure 17 maps the spatial distribu­tion of youth playing soccer versus the four factors of percent Afro-American, percent Hispanic, per capita income, and percent urban population. The states above the regression line in Figures 13, 14, 15, and 16 are shaded in Figure 17. The western states clearly show a higher than normal correlation in all four cate­gories, whereas the states in the South and Midwest show a lower correlation for each of the four characteristics mapped. A comparison of Figure 13 through Figure 16 with Figure 10 shows that all states with over 2 percent of their youth playing soccer appear at least once in Figure 13, 14, 15, or 16. Only five states

20

with under two percent of their youth population playing soccer, Maryland, West Virginia, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi, appear in Figure 13 through Figure 16. Four states with youth pop­ulations in the 2-3 percent range appear only once in the same figures, Minne­sota, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania.

From this level of statistical analysis, causal relationships are difficult to de­termine. This cursory look at four factors does justify the general comments and discussions regarding the distribution and development of youth soccer in the United States. More detailed data are needed from the state organizations, the 1980 census, and additional surveys to

rrormulate more conclusive causes as to why some states appear and others do not appear in Figure 13 through Figure 16.

CONCLUSION

The real question that pervades these regional trends and distributions is, "What does the future of soccer look like, given the recent tendency for many state associations to lose players, particularly in several of the larger states?" Further­more, "What 'does the United States' fu­ture hold for international competition with the loss of pool players at the U-14, U-16, and U-19 levels of play?" If the USSF is interested in developing soccer in the youth population of the United States, where should the effort be invested?

Based on the above discussion the following recommendations are suggested.

1. Several states have been the back­bone of the USYSA in numbers of players and in growth. In particu­lar, Texas, California, New York and Washington should be encouraged to revitalize and continue to sta­bilize the national program.

2. There does appear to be concern with the rapid growth of the sport. Possibly slower growth with firm foundations may provide for a more stable state association's growth and livelihood.

FIGURE 17. Spatial distribution of youth playing soccer

3. There are two other youth soccer associations that have large na­tional and / or regional contingen­cies. The USYSA, the largest of the organizations, should " reach out" and foster communication , coordination, and cross-fertiliza­tion among these national organ­izations.

4. The root of U.S. youth soccer is in its youth U-6 to U-12. Priority de­velopment and nurturing of these age groups will only enhance fu ­ture soccer player retention within the older age groups U-14 to U-19. The same could be said of female soccer development at all ages.

5. Youth soccer development in the United States does not show any spatial distribution patterns. The Sun Belt, Midwest, New England, or Western U.S. all fare the same through losses and ga ins. Year­round seasons in the sun do not appear to have advantages over snow shortened seasons. Popula­tion does have an influence on the distribution of youth soccer play-

ers through ; a) sheer population size, b) ethnicity (areas with large foreign populations tend to have a greater development of youth soc­cer), c) rural versus urban (soccer tends to be an urban concentrated sport), d) in the United States soc­cer is not a highly developed sport among the Afro-American popu­lation areas and, e) regarding eco­nomic status (appears to attract primarily a middle and upper class youth?) .

Where will United States' soccer be in 1994, the year the World Cup is played in America? United States player repre­sentation is being developed today, but in order to fill the stadiums with North American soccer fans· there will need to be further growth over the next few years. A look at the statistics in this in­vestigation indicates where the World Cup games should be played across the country to draw the largest number of soccer fans. Also, one of the major focal points of the USSF in generating sup­port for the World Cup should be in nur-

21

turing U-6, U-8, and U-10 players and support from their families over the next few years. This group will be the U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-19 players and fami­lies in the near future, thus providing the primary interest, fan support, and dis­play the greatest likelihood for atten­dance to the World Cup games in 1994.

Although youth soccer has expanded tremendously over the past 20 years, the paucity of youth soccer in many areas of the U.S. indicates that many Americans have little knowledge of the sport. Within a populace motivated toward football, baseball , and basketball, there are strong barriers in the U.S. to the development of the sport at the youth level. The de­velopment of professional leagues, TV coverage, good women 's and men's na­tional teams will not be sufficient to generate the support for soccer to rival the "national pastime" sports. Soccer in the U.S. must educate and involve the parents and youth of the country to build, evolve, and nationalize to become a ri ­val major sport.

REFERENCES

Austin, Larry D. 1989. National Youth Admin­istrator. United States Youth Soccer Asso­ciation, Inc. Memphis, TN . Personal Correspondence.

Cascio, C. 1975. Soccer USA. Washington, Robert B. Luce, Inc.

22

Case, H. 1987. United States Baseball Feder­ation. Personal Interview.

desBordes, P. 1987. Secretary Louisiana Soc­cer Association . Personal interview.

Foulds, Sam and Harris, Paul. 1979. Ameri­ca's Soccer Heritage: A History of the Game. Soccer for Americans. Manhattan Beach.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 1980. General Social and Economic Characteristics U.S. Summary. Vol. 1. Chapter C. Bureau of Census. Tables 26, 98. Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office.

Registration Growth Report. 1987 United States Youth Soccer Association. Inc. Mem­phis, TN .

Rooney, John F. 1974. A Geography of Amer­ican Sport: From Cabin Creek to Anaheim. Reading, Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Rooney. John F. Jr. and Pillsbury, Richard . 1992. Atlas of American Sport. New York. MacMillan Publish ing Company. pp. 125-129.

Rutledge, Wanda. 1987. American Youth Soc­cer Organization Headquarters. Long Beach. CA. Telephone Interview.

United States Department of Commerce. 1987. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1980. 101 ed. Bureau of Census. Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office.

United States Youth Soccer Association Reg­istration Summary, 1974-1986. Memphis, TN .

Vogelsinger, Hubert. 1982. The Challenge of Soccer: A Handbook of Skills, Techniques and Strategy. La Jolla ; Inswinger, Inc.

Wilson, Gayl , ed. 1989. "The Ups and Downs More Up's of Soccer" . Network, Spring: 36.