What % of development is at club vs at home (ie on their own)?

All good points. I believe most of us here have come into contact with some of the many serious problems with the youth soccer structure in the U.S.

Still, I do wonder if soccer has a heavier "starter" sport handicap in the U.S. than most others. Soccer is for many Americans an inherently "rec" sport. You send your kids there to give them a chance to run around with other kids at early ages when most kids clearly cannot, for example, catch (let along hit) a baseball, throw a football, or make contact with a moving tennis ball using any sized racquet.

Combine all that with almost no expectations from the parents of what soccer is actually supposed to look like and thin knowledge from (mostly volunteer) coaches. If a kid hits a softball off a tee 2' toward 1st base, and all the kids leave their positions to go chase the ball, coaches and parents are going to be yelling at them to get back where they're supposed to be. If a kid kicks a soccer ball in a random direction and the other 7 players on the field swarm the ball and finally squeeze the ball out in another direction, most of the parents cheer.

The question is, where do we go from here?

 

Soccer has about 2.2m kids from 6-12 participating. That is fourth behind bicycling (4.9m), baseball (4.1m), and basketball (4m). Combine flag and tackle football, it's 1.8m. Tennis is still relatively decent with 1.2m.

This was the most recent study from 2019 participation.

I will add, there is probably hundreds of thousands of kids participating in soccer, just like every sport, that miss out on these counts due to no tracking of the local leagues/activities. Probably not near enough that would truly close the gaps in numbers though.

 

Can you post a link to the study you're referring to? The link I saw showed ~1.7m participating in soccer as of 2020. BUT, it comes down to how the question is phrased. The link I posted shows the activity of kids "who participated in a regular basis". But in all honesty, what does that mean? The fact bicycling is included means (IMO of course) that care needs to be taken in evaluating the data. It's not like kids 6-12 are doing "organized" bicycling. They're riding their bikes around the neighborhood, to parks, etc. So then it begs the question (to me), what is counted as "regular participation" for baseball & basketball? Playing in gym class? Playing catch with friends/family member?

 

Pre-Pandemic State of Play - this was specifically for ages 6-12.

Somehow I missed the 2021 study, which does show 1.7m. Which shows one of the worst declines of any sport (-19%). The "regular participation" impacts soccer, just as much as it does any other sport. I don't read into that too much. Activity is activity, and by the numbers we need activity regardless of where it truly counts.

Now, that said, it does lump certain activities with "team" or "individual" sports. So, with those numbers we can somewhat tell on what is gym, family, friend, or organized play.

I do believe that there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) missing from the organized sport categories that just do not get counted. The leagues and/or teams aren't affiliated with any organization that would be recognized. Not every soccer league is a USYS/US Club league, or even some of the smaller ones with SAY, Upward, or local YMCA.

Either way, the trend is alarming.

 

Watching my child and their friends/teammates over the last ten years, I have to wonder if so many have quit participating because the opportunities for soccer to be just “fun” disappear pretty early. 3v3 and Futsal have become very “professionalized” and competitive, and these used to be outlets for extra touches/development/fun. Most kids are not in families or communities where pickup/casual play are part of the culture. So from a very early age soccer is kind of a job. Travel is fun when it is novel but later? Wouldn’t kids be better served just playing more v. all the hours in cars and on planes? Would they really rather be on a bus trip to Iowa than doing. . . basically anything else?

Our only U7-U8 teammates who are still playing at U15 are the ones whose families are super into soccer in general. Who probably play at home with siblings or parents. Just kicking the ball around. Kids who play football/basketball/baseball usually have opportunities to do this casually at school or home or in a park. I think that is much more rare in soccer. Which makes me think it’s part of why kids drop out at higher rates.

Totally not data based in any way - just my observations from our own experiences.

 

I 100% agree that travel can be much more reduced. And, part of that is players/parents/communities need to do such a better job of setting up that pickup/casual play. Increasing that will help reduce the reliance of travel. A better culture is needed.

This. This. This.

Everything is so "competitive" and doesn't need to be. There's little recreational play opportunities in soccer. Although, that does happen a little with other sports too. Few people can just go play football for fun, outside of just grabbing some friends.

I know in the areas I've coached at, there is middle school basketball and football. But, there's no middle school soccer. By the time a kid hits middle school they can pick middle school volleyball, basketball, football, etc. Soccer is strictly make a club team or quit. This forces a dropout at 11-12 years old for a lot. Which is detrimental because an even harder cutoff time happens once they hit high school where many teams "cut" and that's another forced dropout.

There needs to be other outlets to play. Unorganized or organized local leagues is an opportunity to provide soccer for those who still enjoy it but don't want the ultra competitive or major travel options.

 

I guess I would argue with this. Scrimmages mean lots of standing around unless you are the top one or two players.

There should be lots of 1 v 0 or 1 v 1 where they are dribbling and working on mastering the ball. This stuff can be fun, but definitely need to spend more time just them on the ball.

 

4v4 is still an 8:1 player-to-ball ratio. That's not enough touches on the ball. Kids need way more than that. Especially at that age.

Players can disappear and standing can take place if the field is too big. My kids played in a 3v3 league and it was a massive field. At times they decided to just do 4v4 or 5v5 so the teams didn't have to worry about subbing and "everyone plays." This led to real chaos on the field with terrible soccer.

 

All this worry about "pick up" games, they don't need to be in a park with 8 other kids. Time spent kicking the ball off the wall by themself at home. Time spent playing 1v1 in the back yard with a sibling, or even the dog. Just getting touches matters most.

 

Agree completely, but you brought up dogs. maybe this forum can help with a decade plus old argument in my household.

Does nutmegging a dog, who is completely, don't want to say clueless, but ambivalent to a ball rolling between his legs, truly count as a nutmeg?

Sons say yes, parents say no.

 

I'm not saying small-sided or "games" within training is bad. But, true games (4v4, 5v5, etc.) are the most beneficial when there's a basic understanding of how to play AND having the skills to play as well.

"Drills" are beneficial to younger kids, even if it is a 1v1 or 1v0 "drill." They need to spend time individually with a ball during (and away from) organized training with a coach.

The saying "the game is the best teacher" only really applies when the participants understand part of "the game."

 

Same here. One of the things I got right -- lots of time spent in the yard when he was younger.

I agree with Ponchat on the importance of just knocking a ball around on your own (for developing touch and comfort with a ball, I'd argue that doing this solo stuff is more important than anything else they do -- here's my pitch, for the thousandth time, to toss some training balls out around the house and let them dribble, shoot, ..., as they walk through the room). But access to pickup soccer has helped keep it more fun for my son as he's gotten older. Whether that's 1v1 work with a friend or being a part of larger pickup games if you're lucky enough to be able to, it's huge for him.

 

We have a dachshund, so I'd be pretty impressed if my kids were able to nutmeg him.

 

Tennis balls? anything that rolls in my household can be used for a nutmeg,

 

Raised two boys and three dogs, the boys have grown and the dogs have passed.
The two female dogs loved playing ball and the nutmeg was challenge, the male was the ambivalent one, could pass the ball between the legs while holding a conversation in the kitchen. Good dog.

Being a bit nostalgic this week, watched my youngest play his last competitive game this past weekend in the DIII NCAA tournament. A 2OT, 26 PK affair, came out on the short side 10 to 11.

 

Don't feel like going back and quoting... we do have middle school soccer in our area (at least some counties, not all). I do remember DS telling me they'd play pickup soccer during recess in elementary school or anytime they'd get a couple of kids together.

Unfortunately, in our neighborhood, there were only a couple of kids his age that liked soccer, and yes, that's who he hung around with and they'd end up playing. However, we are not close to a park, much less soccer fields, anything where kids could get their themselves. So it was all backyards (with limited people) or relying on mom/dad for transportation. That's not always easy with two working parents.

Regarding the drop in soccer participation during the pandemic, I do think there were more soccer organizers worried about possibly spreading the virus, or parents worried their kids would spread/catch it than in other sports. Again, IMO.

Is there "too much travel" in soccer? Maybe. BUT, for the better than average player, depending on the location, you might need to travel to get the challenging competition. And, this is not a soccer only issue. I remember when oldest DD was playing travel softball at age 10-12, there were tournaments for 6 year olds!

 

Huge difference 7 yr olds playing pickup with friends around the world vs 7 yr olds training with a coach to play 9v9. The 7yo playing pickup can sefl regulate - sit out a match, play back or keep if they are tired, etc.