Can I ask which area of the US has the stongest youth teams? And how does a young player get a try out?
I think you should find strong youth teams in most metro areas of the US. It used to be that certain areas like St. Louis and NJ were "hotbeds" for soccer but alot has changed since I played youth club soccer in the Tampa, FL area during the late 80s. I would check out some tournament or state association websites to see which teams participate and you can get a general idea of how good they are from their results. Going to summer camps is also a good idea for development and making connections. Ultimately, it all comes down to how much soccer you play. Don't count out pick up games and playing street soccer either. Too many kids playing soccer in the US are privledged and rely on organized activities and that is not enough. Remember, Diego Maradona and Pele acquired their skills by kicking cans, fruits, beat up tennis balls, and anything else that can be used as a projectile. If you are 15-17 years old, I suggest playing pickup games with the local men's league teams. I know that helped me out the most. I grew accustomed to playing with good adult players and that helped immensely at the high school level. Hope that helps. Robbie
If you go by success in national events, players succeeding at higher levels, etc. , there is no question that it's Southern California. A lot of that has to do with population, of course, but also the facilities and year round outdoor playing weather.
If ou look at Division I signings this year it breaks down like this: 1) CA 35 2) TX 32 3) NC 31 4) PA 27 5) VA 23 6) NJ 23 7) IL 23 8) FL 21 9) MO 18 10)NY 16 11)MD 15 12)MI 13 13)OH 12 14)IN 11 15)WA 10 16)OR 8 17)CO 6 18)ID 5 19)MS 5 20)CT 5 21)KS 4 22)SC 4 23)GA 4 24)MA 3 25)NE 3 26)IA 3 27)AL 3 28)AZ 3 29)TN 3 30)NM 2 31)KY 2 32)OK 2 33)MN 2 34)DE 1 35)VT 1 36)HI 1 37)ME 1 38)AR 1 39)UT 1 40)LA 1 These numbers include P40 players not yet in college but do not include over sea signings.
Division I signings per capita If you look at the numbers versus high school grads for each State the rankings shake out like this: 1) NC 31 65574 0.0473% 2) VA 23 67208 0.0342% 3) MO 18 53670 0.0335% 4) ID 5 16000 0.0313% 5) NJ 23 76653 0.0300% 6) MD 15 51250 0.0293% 7) OR 8 30400 0.0263% 8) MA 3 12392 0.0242% 9) PA 27 114350 0.0236% 10)MS 5 23644 0.0211% 11)IL 23 108968 0.0211% 12)IN 11 55823 0.0197% 13)FL 21 112850 0.0186% 14)WA 10 58289 0.0172% 15)CO 6 36113 0.0166% 16)CT 5 32067 0.0156% 17)DE 1 6478 0.0154% 18)VT 1 6553 0.0153% 19)NE 3 20128 0.0149% 20)TX 32 219848 0.0146% 21)KS 4 29899 0.0134% 22)MI 13 101300 0.0128% 23)SC 4 32488 0.0123% 24)NY 16 142750 0.0112% 25)NM 2 18233 0.0110% 26)CA 35 323631 0.0108% 27)OH 12 114800 0.0105% 28)HI 1 10360 0.0097% 29)IA 3 33592 0.0089% 30)ME 1 12392 0.0081% 31)AL 3 38213 0.0079% 32)AZ 3 40974 0.0073% 33)TN 3 42151 0.0071% 34)GA 4 70599 0.0057% 35)KY 2 35573 0.0056% 36)OK 2 37196 0.0054% 37)AR 1 27031 0.0037% 38)MN 2 56100 0.0036% 39)UT 1 30576 0.0033% 40)LA 1 37987 0.0026% The only over seas signings I could think of would add 1 to VA and 1 to IL. VA ranking would not change but IL would go to number 10.
Check out a webiste called nationalsoccerranking.com This will show which teams are ranked higher not only in the nation but also by region. Hope that helps.
region 3 is quite honestly is the best overall, sure california is extremely good, but region 3 has NC, FL, TX, GA, OK. Those are the main states. Region III is the best overall.
you can't really say any one region is better than another as each region has a few very soccer strong states. Region one has New york, Maryland, Virginia, Penn. Region two has Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio North and south. As you stated region three, and region four has California North and south, colorado, Oregon.
Oklahoma has more than 2 D1 signees - Tulsa Nationals 85 boys have 4 that signed with Vanderbilt, 1 with Winthrop, 1 with TU, 1 with Evansville, and 1 with SMU. TU signed 2 boys from OKC. Creighton signed 1 boy from Norman. Norman also has had 1 girl sign with OU, 1 with Wake Forest, 1 with U of Houston, 1 with SW Missouri, and 1 with Louisiana. I know there are about 6 girls in the Tulsa area who signed with D1 schools. There are clubs in region 3 that are more dominant than others, but I don't know if I would say region 3 is stronger than any of the other regions. All of the regions have their weaker areas so it seems to balance out.
what about kansas i think they have very goood teams we went to oklahoma and we came firts and beat tulsa nationals 7 to 3
I think that it is New England. We come in highest rankings in the us and there are the most players here.
Hey ncguy Where did you get your facts?? From someone in California? If you look at Division I signings this year it breaks down like this: 1) CA 35 2) TX 32 3) NC 31 4) PA 27 5) VA 23 6) NJ 23 7) IL 23 8) FL 21 9) MO 18 10)NY 16 11)MD 15 12)MI 13 13)OH 12 14)IN 11 15)WA 10 16)OR 8 17)CO 6 18)ID 5 19)MS 5 20)CT 5 21)KS 4 22)SC 4 23)GA 4 24)MA 3 25)NE 3 26)IA 3 27)AL 3 28)AZ 3 29)TN 3 30)NM 2 31)KY 2 32)OK 2 33)MN 2 34)DE 1 35)VT 1 36)HI 1 37)ME 1 38)AR 1 39)UT 1 40)LA 1 4 D-1 Players from Kansas?? I live in Kansas and I can name 10 guys right now that are going D-1 and there's 13 girls going D-1 from KCFC alone (KCFC Alliance.com). Jordan Mann - Furman Will John - SLU Matt Blouin - Marquette Richie Harris - Marquette Peter Kariotis - Drake Kyle Perkins -UMKC Ali Dorri - UMKC Mark Speigle - Butler Taylor Warwick - Fairfield Mark Lenahan - Coastal Carolina There has to be atleast 25 players from KC going D-1 this year. That is only Kansas City...not the rest of the plains. Not that there'd be any decent players anywhere else anyways, but I asure you there's more than 4 D-1 players coming out this year.
I don't know where that information came from because as I said before, I live in Oklahoma and there are definitely more than 2. The 85 Tulsa Nationals boys team, who are region 3 U18 champions, have 14 players and 13 of them signed with D1 schools, with 1 signing with a D3 school by his choice. The 84 Edmond Royals, who are region 3 U19 champions, have at least 4 boys who signed with D1 schools. That's 17 players, not to mention all the girls and the other signees off of other teams. Oklahoma may not be the strongest "soccer state" but we are certainly well represented at nationals this year so we MUST be doing something right.
This is now unrelated to kiwi’s original question, but I’m curious about ncguys numbers too. There are 202 Men’s NCAA Div I Schools, the list has 381 total “signings”. Those numbers don’t seem to make sense. I’m new to all of this, can ncguy explain?