NC Tab Ramos...NC State Univesity Mia Hamm and half of the WNT...UNC Kerry Zavagnin...UNC Eddie Pope...High Point, NC, UNC Gregg Berhalter...UNC Jamie Watson...UNC David Stokes...Raleigh, NC...uh, never mind him
Per capita, it's not California or New Jersey or Missouri. Here's my count of players in MLS and equivalent or stronger leagues per capita, rounded to nearest 1-per-1000. (This may not be a perfect count, because it includes MLS reserve teams, but good enough!) The top 12 states: 1. Colorado - 1 per 303,000 2. Missouri - 1 per 475,000 3. Virginia - 1 per 528,000 4. Maryland - 1 per 551,000 5. District of Columbia - 1 per 563,000 6. California - 1 per 572,000 7. Oregon - 1 per 593,000 8. Washington - 1 per 613,000 9. Kansas - 1 per 908,000 10. Massachusetts - 1 per 919,000 11. Arizona - 1 per 930,000 12. New Jersey - 1 per 960,000 (Note that DC is in there for having Amir Lowery, who I don't think has played at all this season for the Rapids.) If you change the criteria to "USL1 or better", then I believe Oregon becomes the best state, with Colorado, California, Washington, and Virginia all very close behind, and New York probably gets into the top 10. (I haven't crunched those numbers, since USL rosters tend to change so much over a season.)
interesting analysis. I remember like 15 years ago thinking USA soccer was just California, Missouri, and NJ. Its great to see how the game has spread to all regions.
It's a function of population. The more high-level players you have overall, the better the best ones are likely to be. California by itself would have a decent shot at qualifying for the World Cup out of CONCACAF, but please note that if California were to secede from the Union, it would be the third-most-populous country in CONCACAF after the US and Mexico!
The only problem: Indiana's second-best player is John van Buskirk, who is usually a substitute in the 2.Bundesliga. Jamar Beasley, Lazo Alavanja, Steve Klein, and Andy Rosenband are the only other pros, and obviously none of them play above USL1 level. For a state with Indiana's population, that's very poor.
In the past players living in warm states had an advantage over players in cold states - those cold state players, however talented, had a hard time equalling the playing time of warm state players as they were forced to sit out of soccer for the winter months. With the ever increasing numbers of indoor and bubble type facilities (plus the new turf-grass surfaces) there will be more cold state players rising to the top than in the past.
Portland Metro Area! Oregon and Washington border is very competetive, camas, vancouver, and east/westside portland all have produced class players. Some good youth clubs too, FC portland, FC Vancouver (kinda), CPSC (vancouver, arguably). Also Camas and columbia river high schools in vancouver as well as jesuit have very good programs.
Well if it's like the order of other sports in the US it is probably like this. 1. California 2. Florida 3. Texas 4. Somewhere else
The best state for producing soccer talent.... kind of a silly question, isn't it? Are we talking, where was a player born? Where did the player play their youth soccer? Where did the player attend college? Players can also move from state to state while growing up, right? Are we talking outdoor soccer only or also indoor soccer too? You would have to factor in all those elements, right? I think to get a meaningful answer you would need to look at where players were born, where they played their youth soccer, track them through elite club or high school programs, then onto college or the pros. You'd also have to be able to agree on who you consider talented. Is MLS an indication of talent? Some would argue, not. Is playing in the Premiership or Bundesligia talented? Does that mean the player has to start or simply be a bench warmer? To answer the original question.. . how about, "the state of mind, being and soul", or "the state of complete determination", of "the state of confidence", or "the state of confusion".... LOL! Sorry, just having some fun...
Jersey, without us you have no MLS or World Cup hopes, so thank our 90 squad and all the great young players coming from there now.
Interesting thread. Texas has really come alive in the development of players and I think it's going to be the hot bed for a while. Being from KY, I don't know if there are any pros born and bred here but there are several players with ties to the state, more than I thought. Tyrone Marshal (Galaxy): played for Lindesy Wilson (NAIA power) before heading to FIU Boyzz Khumalo (Battery): played for Lindsey Wilson before heading to Coastal Carolina and went to H.S. in Bardstown, KY Mubarike Chisoni (Galaxy): played for Lindsey Wilson before heading to Coastal Carolina and I beileve played H.S. ball with Khumalo in Bardstown,KY Johnny Menyongar (Thunder): played for Linsey Wilson and was at one time captain of Liberian Nats Jonny Walker (CRew): played one season for U. of Louisville before turning pro Ron Plute (Silverbacks): played for Western KY. Trey Alexander (Battery): played for Western KY. Lindsey Wilson has produced numerous other pros but I can't remember them all. After some research I was surpprised to see several with KY ties.
Ya, it's good to keep in mind the per capita issue given California's size. But the one thing that all those numbers bring is that it increases the chances of the best of the best playing each other. In theory, that should help them develop into better players. For example, had Tony Sanneh, Manny Lagos, Leo Cullen and other grown up in Cali instead of MN, god knows how much technically better they may have been at a younger age.