Open Mic: The State of Soccer in the States

Recently, the US Men’s National Team had some friendlies against some top notch competition. For their part, they showed improvement from previous friendlies against teams of their magnitude. They were fairly solid against all teams and only gave up three very good goals.

Their performances against Spain and Argentina were especially awe inspiring. Tim Howard was mighty in net and Brad Guzan is coming along great as the man between the pipes. The US will be overstocked in net for YEARS to come. We have some great midfielders like Beasley, Masteroni, Edu, Adu, Bradley, and Clark will be supplying us with great service for years. 

I am a bit afraid of our Strike force, although I will give credit to Landon as an attacking mid or a Central Forward. Clint Dempsey is also coming along great in those roles, but we need a good all and out striker.

Eddie Johnson has the speed to drive defenders mad, but no touch to put the ball away. Jozy will be a great Striker, one day, but we need him now! Ching and Twellman are great against smaller teams in Concacaf, but struggle against other competition. At their age, we can't be depending on them.

Our defense is great on the sides, but we need our central defenders to get better. Gooch has a great size and Bocanegra is good, but something is lacking, not sure what. 

This all brings me to my point. Why do kids in the USA grow up playing soccer, but when they are old enough go on to play other sports?

Imagine Adrian Peterson running up the pitch to score a goal. Imagine Kobe Bryant making a great defensive header or Kevin Garnett heading the ball in, towering over the oppositions defenders.

The problem is not so clear, so let me break down why soccer isn't the top sport in this nation, the effect it has on our youth development, and why we are not as good as we could be on the world stage. 

American Sports are based on corporate sponsorship, which is why American football, basketball and baseball are popular amongst the favorites for sports networks to air. The networks can charge a ton of money for advertisers to air their commercials and sponsorship.

Sports like soccer, and hockey, and lacrosse are sports that don't have a break every couple minutes. These sports have a consistent flow. Corporations have to pay more to advertise because there are less spots for commercials.

Soccer is the worst for advertisers because they only have pre-game, half time, and post game to advertise products. And the US is even worse because corporations don't advertise on the sidelines and on the Jerseys.

This all leads to less soccer being shown on TV in the USA. What is promising is that ESPN is showing the majority of US National Team games (both men and women) as well as Champions League, MLS, and Euro and World Cups. Networks like Fox Soccer Channel, Sentanta sports, and Gol TV are becoming more available on cable and Satellite systems.

2. The youth of the US grows up playing soccer, developing athleticism like no other sport, and then they throw it away!

Why?

They grow up watching American sports (The major three) because that's what is heavily shown on TV. They have sports heroes the can watch at least once a week in season.

They don't have soccer on TV because they may not have cable or the game is preempted for SportsCenter. There are no heroes for kids who play soccer because they can't see them on TV.

Because of the lack of coverage, kids, especially males, view it as a wussy sport because they don't hit like American football. Also, men viewed the sport as a woman sport in the US because of the Women's National Team's success.

This may lead to of emasculating feelings and a psychologically inadequate issue. What's getting better is the increased TV coverage. Weekly, kids can watch David Beckham score a goal. They can proudly wear jerseys and have other kids know which team and player they represent. 

Beckham is a model icon for kids. He doesn't take steroids to fake record books. He doesn't get arrested for a violent crime in the offseason. And, for the most part, has a wholesome home life. This is more than I can say about athletes in the big three in the US.

3. If the first two problems were resolved, we'd be a soccer crazy nation that would have even a better chance at a world cup! 

We are making the strides to become a soccer power house. Now, with the increased coverage and knowledge that soccer is no longer considered a wussy sport, the next few generations will grow up and strengthen American soccer.