American Soccer's Growing Global Impact

More professional teams, stadiums and playing opportunities are improving U.S. Soccer's worldly stature. 

“That means we will have nine soccer-specific stadiums by 2010, which is remarkable considering that just five years ago there were only two,” Buethe said. Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio opened in 1999 as the home field for the Columbus Crew; the Home Depot Center stadium near Los Angeles opened in 2003 as the home field for both the L.A. Galaxy and Club Deportivo Chivas USA.

Buethe said he thinks the addition of soccer stadiums shows there is a real effort to provide MLS fans with a “top-rate atmosphere at games and help sell others on soccer.” He expects the new stadiums   to help grow the soccer fan base nationwide because first-time fans will come away from games wanting to go again.

Now entering its 13th season, the success of MLS is also helping to draw more youth participants to the sport—and Buethe said he hopes it will help keep them in the sport as they grow older. “MLS is a huge help in showing kids that soccer is not only fun but also that you can do it for a living,” he said. “When I was growing up, I couldn’t look forward to playing soccer professionally because there wasn’t a major league. MLS will be around for the foreseeable future and will provide players with opportunities so that they will want to stick around and possibly pursue it as their main sport.”

In fact, the overall stature of American soccer has improved significantly in its short, 20-year history. More than a dozen Americans are playing in the English Premier League, including five on one team and one on Italy’s team. “Italy historically has been a difficult league for Americans to break into,” Buethe said, “so that’s proof that Americans are being scouted more as youth and MLS players.”

The men’s national team continues to improve as well. Currently considered the best team in the Confederation of North and Central America and Caribbean Association Futbol (CONCACAF), the U.S. team was behind both Canada and Mexico 20 years ago, according to Buethe. When playing at home, the U.S. team has gone undefeated against Mexico since 2000 (8-0-2 overall record for the past 10 years). The U.S. team even made a run for the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. “These results are proof that we can make an impact not only in our region but also in world soccer,” Buethe said. 

Another trend Cosgrove said he has noticed in youth soccer today is the emphasis on elite-level programs and competitions, but that would apply to only 10-15 percent of US Youth Soccer teams. “Our challenge is to provide opportunities at all levels and to enhance those levels,” he said. Two of the ways US Youth Soccer is trying to provide and enhance opportunities at all levels is through a new tournament series and a reformatted coaching education program.

The US Youth Soccer National Director’s Cup, to be held this summer in Delaware, provides an opportunity for teams that typically don’t participate in the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series to still compete at a national level, Cosgrove said. “There is an extensive time commitment for the elite player; it becomes a lifestyle. So for teams that want the opportunity to compete but not the time commitment—and there is a large market in that next level down from the elite level—we’re evolving our playing opportunities for them through competitions like the National Director’s Cup. Development is about playing in competitions constantly, so we’re evolving to provide more of those opportunities.”

Player retention is the basis for US Youth Soccer’s reformatted coaching education program, now under the organization’s technical division, as Cosgrove said studies revealed the top factors of keeping kids in soccer are fun and development of technical skills. “If we enhance their quality and ability to play, kids are more likely to stick with soccer. It’s all about creating a better product on the
field for kids—and with 3.2 million players and hundreds of thousands of coaches, that task is enormous.”

Part of the reformatted coaching education program will include a development guideline to show where kids should be playing at each level, Cosgrove said. US Youth Soccer’s annual coaches’ convention, as well as online courses and courses at the state and local association levels, addresses issues like this. “Our education of coaches shouldn’t be stagnant; it should be vibrant, consistent
and take into consideration what players need,” Cosgrove said, adding that “coaches are chomping at the bit to get information to help kids. Any little bit of education will help coaches provide a better environment for kids to play…and help kids develop a passion for soccer. Our membership continues to be strong, but if we do better at retaining players, our growth could explode.”