It won’t work because it won’t change the fact that in America the kids grow up wanting to be the next Tom Brady, Lebron James or Albert Pujols, not the next Ronaldo. Your superstars are always going to be in the NFL NBA and MLB, soccer will always have the kids who weren’t good enough to play one of the other three, or hockey even.
Not necessarily. There is a rapidly growing Hispanic population in the U.S. and the sports watched in those homes is Mexican soccer on Telemundo and ESPN Deportes. The soccer academies mentioned above are full of kids of Central and South American ancestry.
Secondly, football, basketball, and to a growing extent baseball limit themselves to kids of a certain body type that only a few fall into. In a school of more than say 1,000 kids, normal sized kids have little chance of seeing the field in a game, or even making a team. Soccer, unlike the other three sports, is not about upper body strength. Christiano Renaldo, with his shirt off, looks more like Lance Armstrong than LeBron James. Lionel Messi is barely 5’6" but his low center of gravity allows him to make lateral moves while running at a high speed. Diego Maradona wasn’t much bigger. Landon Donovan is 5’8" and 160 lbs. The smaller, skinnier guys who are good athletes but don’t have the size for football and basketball have a home in soccer. Keep in mind that soccer is still relatively new to the U.S. - my high school didn’t even have a soccer team.
Third, the fact that soccer is suitable for pickup games is a huge advantage. All you need is a ball and a relatively flat surface - could be asphalt, dirt, or grass. That’s a great advantage for a sport to grow.
“Soccer”.
That’s the thing where they kick the ball, right?
I disagree with you. Obviously this argument has less force with other US sportws, but realistically the vast majority of kids have no chance of becoming professional basketball players. In the hisotry of the NBA there have only been 10 players with a height equal to or less than the current average height for an American in their twenties. Even someone like me with a height of 6’3" which is well above the average would be right on the bottom end of the height needed and well below the NBA average of 6’7".
Infact the overlap of players who can play basketball and soccer professionally si quite small. Players over 6’4" tall start to struggle with their agilty and foot speed.
The current crop of US players are not failed baseball, American football, etc, players, they are those that have remained committted to the sport from a young age. Professional soccer is extremely competitive, it’s the sort of sport that you can come to as a second option and be able to play in a top league.
Are you the guy that’s taking the stand up classes?
Quite right.
You hear this general complaint from the English media too in their constant wailing about the poor state of English football. The theory goes that when kids play full field, 11 on 11 at too young an age that they do not develop the on the ball skills and vision required by the modern game. How true this theory actually is remains to be seen.