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by Simon Wright

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The article title doesn't specify it but I imagine that the creator of this article was referring specifically to the United States. My focus, in answering this question, will therefore be focused upon the North American situation. It is worth, however, also taking a moment to consider soccer's ongoing popularity with kids in the rest of the world. Indeed, many of the reasons why soccer is so popular with kids across the globe will help shed light on its growing popularity in the US.

Traditionally, of course, kids in North America have tended to be drawn to the high profile big four American sports of Football (American Football for people outside the US), Basketball, Baseball, and Ice Hockey. These sports continue to be very popular, especially at professional level. However, at youth level, there has been strong growth in soccer participation.

There are several reasons for this surge in soccer playing amongst kids.

1. It's a safe sport to play:

Soccer is a contact sport and injuries do become prevalent once participants reach puberty and the intensity of physical challenges increases. For the most part, these injuries are muscle strains, sprained ankles and the occasional broken leg.

However, at pre teens level injuries are actually quite rare. In my time playing soccer at primary school, the most serious injuries I can remember were scrapped knees.

Certainly, compared to more aggressive full contact sports such as American football or rugby, soccer injuries are pretty minor. This makes parents more comfortable with the prospect of their kids playing soccer.

2. Both boys and girls can play it:

I guess this is linked to the first point about soccer's relative safety at kids' level. Certainly, up to about the age of seven or eight, there is no reason why girls and boys can't play in mixed matches.

3. There's no need for expensive equipment:

Kids like to experiment with sports. Sometimes they are made keen to play a sport but after a couple of times they tire of it and want to try something else. If the sport that your kid wants to try is ice hockey, then you have to splash out on a hockey stick, skates, a helmet and full body armour. That's going to set you back quite a few dollars! The same applies to American football.

With soccer, on the other hand, they don't really need any equipment. Maybe you might buy them a pair of studded soccer boots and a pair of shin-pads if they become very keen. However, when I started playing all I needed was a standard pair of running shoes. We even played soccer in our break-time whilst wearing our school uniform, although our mums probably didn't appreciate the constant need to replace or mend our school trousers!

4. The rules are simple:

Okay son, you can kick the ball, you can hit it with your head. In fact you can use anything as long as it's not your hands. And the aim is to put the ball between those two posts'. That's more or less it, you've just told little Johnny or Jenny all they need to get started. They can learn about offside rules and other additional complexities later.

Some other sports, and I'm thinking especially of American football and rugby, are perhaps not as straightforward for a kid to pick up.

5. It's fun and fast paced and it's a team sport:

I'm not saying that other sports aren't fun. I'm all for sports diversity and there are loads of great team sports such as rugby, American football, ice hockey, field hockey and basketball. However, like these other sports, once you've got out there and started playing you don't want to stop. The adrenalin's pumping, the action hardly ever stops and you want to beat the other bunch of guys or girls. Being a team sport also makes it attractive as you can play it with your friends.

Sports that are slower paced (like baseball or cricket) involve long periods of time when you're either sat on the sidelines doing nothing or else are stood on the pitch waiting for the possibility that the ball might be hit in your direction.

And individual sports like golf or tennis lack that team element.

6. It's the world's biggest sport:

This is kid of the Coca Cola effect. Everyone knows the Coke brand and the drink has spread to every corner of the globe. Is the actual fizzy drink beverage any better than some of the lesser brands? Maybe or maybe not. What's certainly true is that people like doing things that other people like doing. It's popularity gives it a coolness factor that is perhaps not there with some less global sports.

7. It gives you the chance to cheer on your country:

Most of the things I've mentioned so far are about what makes people want to play soccer. However, an important additional factor is what makes people want to become soccer fans, as the two usually go hand in hand.

I think soccer's biggest appeal (and advantage) over the mainstream US sports is that it is a truly global sport and means that you can see your nation competing against other nations. Certainly, I know that there's something great about hearing my country's national anthem being played and seeing players wearing my country's colours.

So hopefully I've covered the main reasons why soccer is increasing in popularity amongst American kids. It obviously still has a long way to go in convincing those kids to stick with the sport into adulthood and to become professional soccer players.

If we look quickly at the rest of the world, in most countries soccer has been the dominant sport for decades. It retains its popularity despite the increased presence of other sports, such as American football. This is probably largely because it is such a high profile sport. It's always on TV and its players are celebs that people look up to and admire. Just look at David Beckham for how soccer players are much more than just athletes.

The biggest challenge that is facing youth soccer, in countries like the UK, is the growth in popularity of computer games and fears from parents about letting their kids go out to play in local parks. We've been seeing a reduction in active sports participation and a correlating growth in childhood obesity. Whatever your views about soccer (or any other sports), I think everyone would agree that it is important that kids get lots of exercise and it's always going to be much more fun to kick, hit, or throw a ball than to just run!

Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.

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