Best US soccer cities for a soccer-crazy family?

[ffcseptic]

We're contemplating a move back to the US after 13 years in Europe. The 3 oldest boys are soccer-mad and play at a reasonably high level - they've all either been in or at the edges of the Fulham Academy; the oldest one captains a successful school program here in London. My wife and I have the luxury of being able to work pretty much anywhere (although LA is slightly better). I have family in Denver and the DC area and we'd prefer not to live in the South (weather more than culture), but aside from that, it's tabula rasa. We're going to start visiting cities this summer with a view to heading back in '09, or maybe after the WC in 2010.

Any thoughts as to which cities (and it would probably have to be a city, not a town) provide the best soccer experience (club, training, knowledge of the game, etc)? It's a little sad in some ways, but it will form a vital part of our decision-making process. (Canada's okay, too.)

[tomwilhelm]

For a mix of cultural, educational, economic, and soccer-related opportunities I hear good things about the Washington DC - Baltimore area.

Are you looking to live in the city or the burbs?

[ffcseptic]

City city city. Not a burbs kind of guy.

[Martininho]

City city city. Not a burbs kind of guy.

Have you visited or lived in Chicago before?

Also, what are the players' ages and aspirations? College, scholarship, national team, domestic or international pro?

[JohnR]

Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles.

Did I say Los Angeles?

L.A. has by far the most thriving youth soccer culture in the U.S. -- indeed, I would argue that SoCal youth soccer has become a true major sport, approaching in importance, seriousness, and quality of athlete the youth football, basketball, and baseball leagues. It produces about 30% of the future USMNT pool.

Aside from that, you won't do badly in any major metropolitan area. Dallas, DC/Maryland, and Chicago come first to mind, but even the traditionally weaker areas (e.g., Boston, Atlanta, Houston) each have at least one strong youth club.

[Jerzeslugga]

Yea a big soccer state on the east coast in New Jersey..I live here.

But in high school sports basketball,american football, and wrestling are huge. Not sure about west coast..though I read about some town in Oregon which is suppsoed to be "Soccertown,USA".

[ffcseptic]

Have you visited or lived in Chicago before?

Also, what are the players' ages and aspirations? College, scholarship, national team, domestic or international pro?

Love Chicago, lots of friends there, was married there. Wasn't aware of soccer stuff but mostly b/c friends there are true Midwesterners and probably don't get aware from the big 4.

Mainly, I want them to have fun, but for them having "fun" means muscling opponents off balls (and not getting called for it), heading in well-placed crosses, winning against tough opposition - ie, they love playing for real.

[ffcseptic]

Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles.

Did I say Los Angeles?

L.A. has by far the most thriving youth soccer culture in the U.S. -- indeed, I would argue that SoCal youth soccer has become a true major sport, approaching in importance, seriousness, and quality of athlete the youth football, basketball, and baseball leagues. It produces about 30% of the future USMNT pool.

Aside from that, you won't do badly in any major metropolitan area. Dallas, DC/Maryland, and Chicago come first to mind, but even the traditionally weaker areas (e.g., Boston, Atlanta, Houston) each have at least one strong youth club.


That's great to hear. I also love LA's international flavo(u)r, (although we haven't owned a car for 10 years!!). What are the good youth clubs there or LA soccer websites?

[Jerzeslugga]

http://www.calsouth.com/youthsoccer_findleague.htm

[Mud Dog]

Yea a big soccer state on the east coast in New Jersey..I live here.

But in high school sports basketball,american football, and wrestling are huge. Not sure about west coast..though I read about some town in Oregon which is suppsoed to be "Soccertown,USA".


Yeah, Portland is referred to that way (a suburb of which is headquarters of this small, relatively unknown little startup called "Nike,").

Honestly, as much as I personally love Oregon, it's a pretty crummy soccer area. Portland recieved it's reputation mostly from the success of the Univ. of Portland's womens soccer team more than any real support of the sport, and I guess the Timbers (USL team) have a good fan base, but a pretty telling comment is that I grew up 2 hours south of Portland, have played soccer here for almost 22 years (brief hiatus in my early 20's due to injuries, i'm just shy of 30 now) and just this year found out about the Timbers, so needless to say, soccer marketing/tradition here sucks (though recently i was more than thrilled to see in my hometown, hardcore American football area, that the baseball fields had all been converted to kids' soccer fields). And if you're a real city guy, you might not like Portland anyway, more of a big town than a true city.

I'd have to suggest LA (much as I shudder at the thought of living in that city), the Bay Area or New York. Heck, the youth association on Long Island did just do a deal with Liverpool...

Mud

[glennaldo_sf]

Any thoughts as to which cities (and it would probably have to be a city, not a town) provide the best soccer experience (club, training, knowledge of the game, etc)? It's a little sad in some ways, but it will form a vital part of our decision-making process. (Canada's okay, too.)

Wow! I wish my parents had been this cool!!!!

[Jabinho]

If your kids want to play almost every day of the year then it's So Cal..;)
If you end up on the West Side of LA (beach areas like Santa Monica) then you rarely even have to worry about hot days as it can be 30F cooler than the valleys on a summer day..:cool:

[Dr.Phil]

LA or OC

[ffcseptic]

http://www.calsouth.com/youthsoccer_findleague.htm

muchas gracias

[ffcseptic]

And if you're a real city guy, you might not like Portland anyway, more of a big town than a true city.



Mud

Many thanks. Interestingly, Corvallis comes up in conversation as a cool place from West Coast friends. Much appreciated and probably a bit too small for us.

Anyone hear anything about Denver? I figured with the Anschutzes and all...

[YankHibee]

Charlotte and Raleigh wouldn't be bad picks.

[Mud Dog]

Many thanks. Interestingly, Corvallis comes up in conversation as a cool place from West Coast friends. Much appreciated and probably a bit too small for us.

Anyone hear anything about Denver? I figured with the Anschutzes and all...

Corvallis is kind of an odd but good little town, but if you like LA and London it's WAY too small for you. :) It's a small university town with all the good and bad that goes along with that, on the whole great, friendly people, a shade out of touch (in my opinion) as academics tend to be. But, it is one of the few places in Oregon you can always meet a ton of people from around the world, which is one of the big reasons I've stayed here. (and we do have a cool little indoor soccer facility, one field, but it's got the pub above so we can pretend we're still 18 and inshape, kill ourselves on the turf and then go get a beer and sit on the balcony and heckle our fellow has-beens :D)

Denver is one of my favorite cities, still fairly blue-collar but moving ahead and has some pretty good mass transit and social services (compared to what i'm used to here in Oregon, which is way behind the times in both). As far as a soccer town though, my friends who live there say they can't get soccer on TV to save their lives, they get the golf senior circuit instead. Now that might change this year with so many more games on ABC and ESPN, but at heart it's a hard core baseball/American football town. (Heck, half the car dealerships in the down have "John Elway" on the sign somewhere!).

That being said, a Rapids game I caught while visiting there several years ago has been the only pro game I've been able to see, and that was back when they had Valderama. The atmosphere at the park was good, even if the crowd was sparse and a little overshadowed by Invesco field. With the new arrangement with Arsenal and Dick's SSS I think it will be better, might have to make another trip out this summer and catch a game.

(Gotta say, I envy you being able to move with that kind of freedom, that has to be fantastic, and making your kids' desires a top consideration, is really great to hear. :))

Mud

[Wingtips1]

from a youth perspective, St Louis or Chicago would solid choices in the Midwest. Both have some pretty fun cultural amenities as well.

the mid-atlantic (DC/NoVa/Baltimore/Philly) all have good youth programs. and you've got top notch cities, as well as MLS soccer (not in Philly, but only 2 hrs from NYC and 2.5 from DC).

Raleigh/Durham feels more like a big town than a city. but soccer programs are growing.

seattle is a great town, but not much in the way of soccer life out there.

toronto is a world-class city. i had a couple teamates in college from the area, too. and they are adding MLS. would be a good spot to look into.

[AndSomeAreAngels]

I live in LA and I really like it. It gets a bad rap, for a variety of founded and unfounded reasons, but overall I think it's better than the VAST majority of major cities in the country.

Soccer-related pro's:
-Best weather in the country (applies to all of SoCal), and you truly can play all year long

-Two MLS teams, so you can see professional soccer almost every weekend from April until October

-USMNT almost always plays a game at the HDC every year, and usually have their camps there as well

-I'm not well-versed in American youth soccer, but from the sounds of it it's the best place for kids who play

-Lots of other national team games. Mexico and other Latin American teams often play here - last year I saw two Mexico games and several others.

-Decent amount of pick-up games here, if you know the spots. And the pick-up games allow you to work on your Spanish. :D

Non-soccer-related cons:
-Traffic. Yup, it's pretty much as bad as you've heard. There's congestion everywhere and parking can be a bitch. But then again, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, NYC, and many other major cities have traffic that's nearly as bad.

-Expensive. Buying a home in SoCal can cost a fortune and I don't know how anyone can afford kids. But it's probably a lot cheaper than London, so this might not be an issue.

People knock LA for smog, superficiality, etc. Personally, it seems less polluted than a lot of cities in the U.S, and there's so many different scenes here that you can easily avoid the many worthless people that give LA its reputation.

I love the cosmopolitan-ness of LA and all that California has to offer. In a few hours I can get to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Sequoia, Joshua Tree, San Diego, Mexico, and dozens of other amazing places. Oh, and it's on the ocean.

Did I mention the weather?

[YankHibee]

Indianapolis isn't a bad pick either.