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| World Cup Dreamin' (May 2006) |
By Louise Waxler
Why aren't more American youth soccer players fans of our game? They love to play, but Major League Soccer gets modest crowds and TV ratings – even in markets where thousands of boys and girls play.
The Women's United Soccer League (WUSA) lasted only three seasons. Soccer playing families talked about the value of a pro women’s league and almost half of our youth players are girls, but they didn’t come out to watch games live or on television in sufficient numbers to keep it alive.
Ask American youth soccer players to name the teams in MLS or to name a likely first 11 for the U.S. national team and most will struggle mightily.
In other sports, parents do the job
In other American sports, it’s parents who generally help young players make their first emotional connection as fans. Your dad tosses the ball with you on a sultry summer afternoon and smiles as he calls you Jeter. Or you sit together with your mom and dad on the couch eating chips as LeBron shoots in the final seconds of a tie game.
For most American youth soccer players, however, their parents don’t already have that passionate, knowledgeable connection to soccer. Their primary connection has been through their own children and what they know has been learned on the sidelines of youth soccer fields. They love to watch their kids play, but when it comes to watching a game on TV or shelling out cash for game tickets, it’s still more likely to be for pro basketball, football or baseball and not professional soccer. Frankly, it’s been my experience that many soccer parents have a much higher perception of their own soccer expertise than is closer to reality.
What out youth players too often lose in that equation is the passionate, visceral connection to soccer at all levels and the dream of being just like the major league players. It’s a deep chasm that American professional soccer has found hard to cross.
Coaches must help make fans
The 2006 World Cup offers America’s coaches a superb opportunity to help bridge that chasm. Every single game of the World Cup will be live on American network and cable television in both English and Spanish. All of the drama, heartbreak, joy and suspense of the world’s greatest sporting event will be available for coaches to watch in real time with their players. And hours later, players and coaches will get to read about the players they watched in their own daily newspapers, or at websites such as nscaa.com, socceramerica.com, ussoccer.com and many others. They can compare their observations with the world’s best journalists, television commentators and other experts. They’ll be able to agree or argue over every call and decision, discuss each player move and coaching choice.
One of the best ways to learn the game is to watch it at its highest levels. Even NSCAA coaches rarely have the demonstration abilities of a Landon Donovan or a Claudio Reyna. World Cup Germany will offer the opportunity to watch the moves of the world’s greatest players, the strategies of the world’s greatest coaches and the styles of the world’s greatest teams – all in your own living room.
The World Cup in Germany can be just the beginning for you as a coach to help your players become knowledgeable soccer fans. We Americans love the big event and when the World Cup ends on July 9, your players will have fond memories of great games and great players. But watching soccer at every level – international, pro, college and even the game going on at the next field – offers them the joy of the game all the time.
Fan development beyond the World Cup
When my daughter played varsity soccer at Arkansas, nothing was more exciting for her team than for youth players to come with their coaches to watch the games, then hang out afterwards to get autographs from the college players. On that day, the college players were the big leagues. And each youth player who attended was touched by the dream. Local clubs supported the university teams because it helped inspire those youth players. The coaches of those teams were assisting their young players become fans of the game.
This fall the NSCAA will again partner with the Fox Soccer Channel to show NCAA Division I Soccer every Friday night throughout the season. Women’s games also have been added to the package, with a regular time slot on Wednesday nights. Team parents can contribute by serving as revolving hosts for the College Game of the Week – players, parents and coaches watching the games together with coaches providing a pre- and post-game chalk talk. The NSCAA has worked diligently to create a regular time and place where soccer fans can gather – now it’s up to you to accept the invitation.
And don’t forget that a benefit of NSCAA membership for college coaches is a free pass to attend any MLS game. All you need to do is call the NSCAA office at activate the MLS card you received in the mail. Be sure you’re continuing to cultivate your own fan relationship to soccer.
A dream is a powerful thing. Help our young soccer players become not only better players, but emotionally connected to our sport. Help them become better soccer fans! It’s a gift that will last a lifetime.
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