Is it the start of a new era for soccer?
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David Beckham's American debut on July 21 drew a record of 1.5 million viewers to the TV broadcast despite playing for only 13 minutes, according to Nielson Media. The number of viewers could indicate a change of wind for soccer in the United States.
Ironically. the world's most popular sport, soccer, is not the most popular one in the world's biggest sporting nation, the United States. However, the development of soccer popularity is still ongoing by those who care about the abandoned sports.
Gerrit de Boer, president of Lawrence Adult Soccer League, has been devoting his life to increase the popularity of soccer in Lawrence. He organizes the adult league for Lawrence soccer community as well as running the Kaw Valley Soccer Association.
Kaw Valley Soccer Association provides organized soccer for children age 4 to 18 at three different levels. There are 36 members registered in Lawrence Adult Soccer League while more than 50 children play for the Kaw Valley Soccer Association.
"The facilities in town limit the growth of soccer," De Boer said. "But we still try to promote soccer by providing programs for youth and adult soccer players."
De Boer said that the parks and recreation centers in Lawrence didn't provide proper condition and space. The lawn condition and the minimized field-size are the main problem he saw.
De Boer expressed his concern about soccer popularity. He said that the American society is into sports spectaculars, sports statistics, high-scoring games and entertainment during the games.
"If the sport does not provide these elements, the public is turned off. Soccer is a sport that has minimal stoppage times during the games, and does not stimulate any of those factors," De Boer said.
Rebekah Berkeley, who was all-time scoring leader when she played soccer for Free State High School varsity team, agreed that soccer failed to provide what she called the "American elements."
"Soccer is low scoring, so nothing keeps the attention of the viewers. Besides, there is no time for replays, food and discussions," Berkeley said.
The Unique Status of Soccer in the United States
The history of soccer in the United States helps understand why soccer has not been popular. The history is too short to make soccer as the major sports. The professional soccer debuted in 1996 while other major U.S. sports leagues have each existed many decades longer. Major League Soccer only has 13 teams while MLB, NFL and NBA has each more than 20 teams.
"Soccer teams that people can follow are just now developing in the U.S. and they have been around forever in other countries," Berkeley said.
Although the professional soccer has not been popular, it has been popular as pre-teen and youth sports. Soccer is one of the major autumn sports programs for most middle and high schools. In recent decades, soccer is becoming an alternative school sports for football because of economic and safety reason.
"I'd rather see my kids play soccer than football," Margaret Jenkins, a mother of two high school children, said. "Soccer costs less money and provides better protection."
Three high schools in Lawrence all provide soccer as autumn sports. Lawrence High School has three soccer teams: sophomore, junior varsity and varsity team. The varsity team consists of 22 players while sophomore and junior varsity team each has more than 15 players.
The increasing popularity of soccer as teenagers' sports even created a new term in late 1990s: soccer mom. The term is used to represent typical type of mother in a single income family.
Soccer as popular teen sports has another good reason.
"Soccer is quite popular among school children because little equipment is needed to play and because the game itself is fun for all type of players, strong, tall, short, quick, and slow," De Boer said.
Soccer has another unique status in the United States. Women's soccer in the United States is prominent compared to the rest of the world. The U.S. women's national soccer team has won the Women's World Cup three times since the birth of the competition in 1991 and won three Olympic gold medals.
De Boer claimed that the strength of women's soccer team came from the positive image associated with women playing soccer.
"There was no negative image of women playing soccer in the USA as is in the rest of the world. There women have been discouraged from playing soccer because it is considered a men's game," De Boer said.
Bright Future or Another Failure?
The future for soccer in the United States seems optimistic than ever. The arrival of the famous soccer star David Beckham has given hope for many U.S. soccer fans.
"I still can't believe Beckham plays for the MLS now," Jun Park, Lawrence junior, who described himself as "die-hard soccer fan," said. "His right foot will definitely make difference."
Beckham signed a five-year contract with L.A. Galaxy for $250 million, the biggest amount in world soccer. Beckham recently said on USA Today that he hoped to channel the Americans' passion for basketball, football and baseball to the world's biggest sport, soccer. He also said he wanted to kick away the stereotype of soccer, such as boring and dry, to build up a new soccer image.
Some people, however, still doubts about the influence Beckham would bring to the American sports society.
"I think soccer is gaining some popularity for a while now that Beckham is here, but I don't think it will ever be the most popular sport like in other countries," Berkeley said.
Statistics show that the soccer viewership is steadily increasing in the United States. According to the New York Times, the 2006 World Cup final match attracted 16.9 million American viewers even though such number is hard to achieve in afternoon sports event. The viewership is 152 increase from the last world cup in 2002. The number is not far behind compared to the 2006 World Series, 17.1 million, and the 2006 NCAA men's basketball championship game, 17.5 million.
De Boer hopes that arrival of Beckham is just a beginning for the new future for his favorite sport.
"I am very optimistic about the future of soccer in the USA. It will find a major place in the society, perhaps equaling basketball." De Boer said.
click here to see the slide show of Beckham's influence on soccer and what Gerrit de Boer, president of Lawrence Adult Soccer League, thinks about the future for American soccer.