ABSTRACT
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';
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
'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
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 com puterized at a central office. A number
of the Louisiana Soccer Association's 27member 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 in fancy 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 En glishmen . 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 docu mented 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. Certa inly 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. 20 •
1.26
_
0.75 to 1.25
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 Wyom ing
Youth Soccer Association in 1980/ 81 , and
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 in crease of 399,615 (49%) over 1980/ 81 .
That growth rate is a considerable de-
~ over 10,000%
1,000 to 10,000%
~ 100 to 999%
[=:J
less than 100%
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
1981 / 82
1982/ 83
1983/ 84
1984/ 85
1985/ 86
1986/ 87
1987/ 88
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
1981 / 82
1982 / 83
1983/ 84
1984/ 85
1985/ 86
1986/ 87
1987/ 88
1988/ 89
16.8%
11 .6%
9.8%
4.2%
1.6%
5.8%
8.4%
- .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 devel opment in the country. The low num bers 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
1980/ 81
1981 / 82
1982/ 83
1983/ 84
1984/ 85
1985/ 86
1986/ 87
1987/ 88
Number of States
Losing Players
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 num ber 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
E. From 1988 to 1987
D. From 1985 to 1988
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. Distributi on of American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) players in
1987
.
,
..
".
I II
'tI
PO:
It
..
"
"'
III
:I
C
J:
t::.
14
71
71 7. n 71 71 eo .,
n n n n _ '1 a
12
U
..
1M
1M
..
. T.... [SC.llloml. m Woohlngton
..
•
H
Q
87
U
..
~
M
n
ON_ York
71
H
n n ,.
n
7' "
_ _Oft.
71 eo .1 U " M II H n ..
eo '1 a a 1M U • n u •
OUt""
[SN.......0
me_do
III
C ....
-.,."'
.
.!!
01
a:
••
,.
74
71
71
71
71
T7
T7
71
71
n
7.
10
10
.1
.ld1IhO [SMont.".
.,
12
12
U
as ... .. ..
......
17
87
..
BJN_ D.kot. OWyoming
I.
"
74
71
11
,.
71
T7
77
78
78
n
n eo .,
eo ., a
.2
IS
U
..
...
..
I.
..
. . 17
,7 . .
.T.nn ••••• [SKontucky Im W..t Vlrglnl. OOhlo
FIGURE 9. Trends of soccer registrants in selected states 1974/ 1975-1988/ 89
12
..
..
.
.
74
71
71
7.
.,
-.,
71
T7
n ,.
.!(M...
TI
"I
.,
1'1
10
.,
(SIlo. .
.,
•
II
U
as ..
l iN ......
..
II
II
..
. . '7
17 . .
ca
.!
, . 77
T7 71
"I 71
, . 10
eo .,
12
U
..
..
. . IJ
..
., •
u .. IS . . . , . . . .
~WI....... 1n IlIIIlIIlnol. oMlohl,..
.
.
II
Q
a:
71
1'1
.Mlnn.. _
C
..
74
71
..
II
oMIH_1
II
I.
74
11
7.
11
71
17
77
71
71
H
1"
10
eo ., a
.,
U
• Loul ..... (SIMI ......ppl
as
IS
lot
..
I.
..
aT
..
as .. .., .. ..
1iI_... 0",.-.
14
71
7!1 7.
,.
77
,.
,.
eo ., a
as .. .. .. ., ..
n ,. ,. eo ., u as ..
II
..
.,
II ..
.Flortd. ~So. Carolln. [I Na. Carolina 00_,1 •
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 . Michi gan, 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
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
---~---
Boys
85 .5%
B. Oregon 1985
Boys
78.8%
Girl.
14.5%
C. Navada 1986
D. North Texa. 1985
Girl.
21.2%
18.2%
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
C. Nevada soccer 1986
U-16 U-19
D. North Texaa aoccer 1986
U-14
U-19
U-6
U-6
FIGURE 12A- 12D. Age groups within some soccer organizations
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
U-6
U-8
U-l0
U-12
U-14
U-16
U-19
Oregon
Florida
North Texas
+ 8.3%
- 3.3%
+ 1.7%
+ 6.6%
- 2.2%
+ 87.1 %
+ 7.8%
+ 16.7%
+ 13.4%
+ 1.9%
- 5.4%
- 20.7%
- 20.6%
+ 1.7%
+ 3.8%
+ 0.5%
- 3.9%
- 4.8%
- 8.7%
+ 6.1%
TABLE 4
Percentage of Youth Soccer Players Compared with the Total Number of
Children Per State
State
Florida
Oregon
Nevada
16
Group
Players
Children
Percentage
U-l0
U-14
U-19
U-l0
U-14
U-19
U-l0
U-14
U-19
22,173
18,896
7,250
11 ,049
10,334
1,825
2,131
1,697
757
621 ,534
685,016
811 ,340
189,329
202,503
225,868
55,689
61 ,744
70,162
3.5
2.7
0.9
5.8
5.1
0.8
3.8
2.7
1.0
cent study by the Soccer Industry Coun cil 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 re cent 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 w ith
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 Wash ington 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 im portant 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
Correlation coefficient
~
= 0.292
6
...
Q)
0
0
5
0
en
co
.~ 4
NM
>-
e
..!!!
Q..
.c
VA
3
e
:;
-? 2
~ ..
e KS
----e KYNE GAe WIMill.eLA
.TN
NO eAR
NHe e
eSC
e lA e
NC
1
0
o
20
60
40
80
100
Urban (%)
FIGURE 13. Percent state urban population with youth playing soccer, 1980
8
WA.
7
,-.,
~
'-'
'"
6
~
(j
(j
5
0
UT
•
(I'J
0.()
=
';>'
4
~
s:
3
.c:
.-
=
0
>t
CO
MA ,
SO • • 10
VA • RI
.OE
••
p.
•
AZ
NM
•
•
•
NV
NE
~It<N
NMS
..
1
•
OR. CT NJ
MN
2
.OK
HI
tI
••
AL
IL
Correlation Coefficient = 0.324
0
o
10
30
20
Hispanic
(%)
FIGURE 14. Percent Hispanic soccer players, 1980
18
40
8
WA
•
Correlation Coefficient
= -0.308
7
---
~ 6
'-'
t..
~
C.I
C.I
0
5
rLJ
.UT
OK
•
...eu.....
gf4
s:
...=
.c
3
0
>t 2
• •
NB MN
~..
"MT
1
..
•
KY
NH: •·NO
MS
MO
KS PA
IL ·AR
•
•
IN
10
•
•
MO
•
0
o
10
40
30
20
Afro-American (%)
FIGURE 15. Percent Afro-American population in states with youth playing soccer
8
WA
•
7
---;
Correlation Coefficient
6
= 0.391
"-
II)
u
u 5
UT
0
g'4
OR
.!
so
a.. 3
•
~
::::I
~ 2
•
NM
>-
..
OK
•
CI)
•.10
:
AZ
NE
KY
II!
• VT
'fWI.
.KS
•
0 . . .MI
eNH
• •
IIMT N•O
.WI
AR M"-eSC.
•
• • IA
AL NC
MO IN
1
CO
• CA
M: wyN.rVA.·
•
NY
NV
.·FL
PAOE MN
MO
MS
•
~
IL
•
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 distribu tion 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 U14, 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 na tional and / or regional contingencies. The USYSA, the largest of
the organizations, should " reach
out" and foster communication ,
coordination, and cross-fertiliza tion 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 nur21
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 Admin istrator. Un ited 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 . 125129.
Rutledge, Wanda . 1987. American Youth Soccer Organization Headquarters. Long Beach.
CA. Telephone Interview.
Un ited 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.
Un ited 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.