Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Agree. But still, 13.6 million soccer participants ain't nothing to sneeze at.
Maybe not in Illinois, but we are certainly a country that "cares about soccer".
|
OK, then why are they talking about a shortage of officials in soccer? You think people become officials out of thin air? Usually people join a sport because they either had a kid that played it or they have interest in the game. Most newer officials we see here are older than me and usually people that join their sport after their kids have graduated and said to themselves, "I can do that." So yes the number is not bad, but it does not translate into officials. I stand by what I said, soccer is not the this countries sport. I would not say that about Hockey and Hockey at least is followed heavily at the pro or NHL level.
My comment is not about Illinois either. There are states that do not pack the house for youth soccer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, in East Hartford, Connecticut (home of the University of Connecticut football Huskies) seats 41,000. USA Soccer has men's, or women's, games there about twice a year, and the stadium is almost filled to capacity for these games. Granted, fans are, for the most part, parents (soccer Moms) with children, or immigrants watching their home country, but soccer is certainly a lot more popular now compared to when I went to high school back in ancient times.
|
USA soccer? You are using USA, international Soccer as a judge for something in this conversation? Really? Are TV ratings on par with other sports in our country? Michigan and Tennessee fill up their football stadiums multiple times a year with over 100,000 people. And they can and do get ratings even a regional broadcast gets during those games in the Northeast? There are high school football games that get better TV ratings in our local market than the pro MLS team in Chicago. And most major cities do not have a soccer team for a reason. Heck the women's league
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Soccer certainly isn't anywhere near up there with basketball, and football, but it's become a pretty popular sport over the past fifty years. Things change. At one time the biggest sports in the United States were horse racing, and boxing. Look at what happened to them.
|
Yeah, but they said soccer was going to take over 20 years ago when the MLS came onto the scene. I am still waiting for kids to play that sport on anything other than football beyond some youth and middle school level.
Again the issue is shortage of officials, not how many kids might play a sport at some time.
Peace