Sport's popularity grows, as does the number of young players. But grassy fields to play on are running short.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
A phenomenal surge in the number of young people playing soccer has led to a shortage of fields and sparked a new battle by parents over how to use what little open space is left in the suburbs.
| Calif. leads soccer craze | ||
| States with most soccer players | |||
| Rank | State | Players* | |
| 1 | California | 2,154,000 | |
| 2 | New York | 1,354,000 | |
| 3 | Texas | 1,277,000 | |
| 4 | Ohio | 1,116,000 | |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 1,070,000 | |
| 6 | Michigan | 781,000 | |
| 7 | New Jersey | 643,000 | |
| 8 | Florida | 613,000 | |
| 9 | Minnesota | 561,000 | |
| 10 | N. Carolina | 467,000 | |
| *1995-97 average | |||
| Source: Soccer Industry, Council of America | |||
Parents across the country tell woeful tales of driving kids miles from home to find a patch of grass they can play on. Five
months before the soccer season starts in the fall, some coaches -- most of them volunteers -- get in line at 5 a.m. for permits
to use the few public fields available. Players complain that fields are so overused that they're more dirt than grass. Some
teams wait for softball games to end, so they can practice in the grassy outfields of baseball diamonds.
Soccer parents are so fed up that they're voting for higher taxes to pay for more fields, pressuring officials to take better care
of existing fields and lobbying companies to allow soccer teams to practice on green space in their corporate parks.
The latest trend is the "soccerplex." Communities are building complexes that include 20 playing fields, seat thousands, have
lighting for night games and are surrounded by massive parking lots. Funded by parents, municipalities, businesses and national
soccer groups, these soccerplexes have opened in Virginia Beach, Va.; Cincinnati; Des Moines; Raleigh, N.C.; St. Louis; and
Sioux Falls, S.D. Others are planned in Germantown, Md., Lawrence, Ind., and Lancaster, Mass.
"As the plane would take off, I used to see nothing but baseball fields," says Robert Palmeiro, director of the eastern region of
the U.S. Youth Soccer Association. "Now, I see more and more soccer fields."
More than 17 million Americans play soccer, according to the Soccer Industry Council of America. There are 3.6 million
youths under 19 registered to play, a number that's grown 8% to 10% a year since 1990.
Soccer is the No. 1 sport in the world. But in the United States, it still trails sports such as baseball, softball and football. But
after the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, everything changed. Major League Soccer was born. The U.S.
Women's National Team became No. 1 in the world. Major advertisers such as Nike and Adidas, sensing the growing
national passion for the game, became big sponsors.
Suddenly, boys and girls had players to idolize, fame to dream of and big salaries to aspire to.
"I didn't have this when I was growing up," says soccer dad Jeff Lewis, 46, who is on the board of the soccer league in
Lawrence, Ind. "I didn't know anything about it. Now I'm hooked."
His 14-year-old son, Geoff, has been playing for 10 years.
"We're seeing a cultural phenomenon," says Lee McElroy, athletic director of American University in Washington, D.C., who
predicts soccer could become as popular as baseball in a few years. Already, soccer is being blamed for dwindling
participation in high school football, he says.
Is there opposition to new soccer fields? "Yeah, from every baseball coach in the world and every football coach in the
world," Palmeiro says.
That's not stopping soccer parents. Many of them already spend thousands of dollars on registration fees and travel costs.
Some spend more because they want paid coaches. Now, they want more fields. And they want them irrigated (to maintain
the grass), lighted (to allow for night games) and regularly graded (to prevent uneven surfaces that can cause injuries).
Last November, local communities approved 200 bond issues for the development of park spaces. At least two-thirds
earmarked funds for recreation facilities, including soccer fields.
But in many suburbs, the problem is space. Land is expensive, and a typical soccer field uses 1.7 acres, according to Jerry
May, executive director of the Maryland State Youth Soccer Association. The ideal soccer setup would include another 3
acres for parking and spectator space, he says.
"Building a soccer field is easy," says Beth Mittleman, executive director of Montgomery Soccer, the largest soccer club in
Maryland. "The hard part is finding someone to donate the land."
When land is available, everybody fights -- a nightmare for parks and recreation departments. But because of the sheer
numbers of participants, soccer has an advantage:
Lawrence, Ind., an Indianapolis suburb that has added soccer ball logos and "Home of Youth Soccer" to its city limits signs,
is about to get a soccer stadium and 10 more fields. It already has 12.
"I swear, every kid in this town plays soccer," says Larry Harmon, president of the Indiana Youth Soccer Association. Well,
at least 2,000 in a city of 40,000.
The city donated land to Harmon's organization. Voters approved a $3.9 million bond issue in January to help pay for the
complex. And Morsports Inc., owner of two professional second-division teams, bought more land for two indoor fields and
an 8,000-seat stadium. It's being built on a site that was to become a youth football complex. The football complex will be
built elsewhere.
Soccer complexes can bring money into communities. The 2000 Midwest Regional soccer tournament will be in Lawrence's
new complex next June. More than 2,700 hotel rooms already are booked for the six-day, 172-team tournament. It's
expected to generate $35 million for the city and $35,000 for the local soccer club .
In Montgomery County, Md., where 22,000 children play soccer, parents have agreed to pay an extra $20 a year to help
fund the $20 million Maryland SoccerPlex, the largest youth soccer complex in the Washington, D.C., area. It will have 26
fields and seating for 3,200. Two of the fields will be indoors. More than half the money comes from private investors --
including soccer dad John Hendricks, chairman of Discovery Communications Inc., and his wife, Maureen. They gave $1
million.
Local soccer leagues support the complex but say it will do little to ease the shortage in the area because it's too far for many
teams to get to.
The Montgomery Soccer league has more than 1,000 teams and only 100 fields it can use. "At least 50% of kids simply can't
play because we don't have enough fields," Mittleman says . "We end up refunding about 500 registration fees per season."
Anaheim, Calif., is trying to solve a shortage of fields by getting residential developers to build them. The city charges fees
but gives developers a choice: Pay cash or build sports fields and donate them to the city.
In the new eastern part of the city, developers of single-family homes are building two lighted, combination softball/soccer
fields as well as volleyball and basketball courts, picnic areas and a playground.
In Boulder, Colo., voters approved sales tax increases in 1993 and 1995. A large chunk of the money was earmarked for
soccer fields. Seven were built in 1995 and two more in 1997. During the same time, three softball fields were built.
The U.S. Soccer Foundation doles out grants with money generated by the 1994 World Cup. This year, it received 440
applications for grants. It gave out more than $2 million to 38 groups in 25 states . Among the grants:
$175,000 to the Georgia Soccer Development Foundation to help build five lighted and irrigated fields in Roswell next to
Atlanta's airport.
$150,000 to the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA in West Virginia to add six fields to a sports complex.
$100,000 to the parks and recreation department in Columbus, Ohio, to build a 15-field soccer complex.
"We'll put up with poor fields, inadequate fields, small fields, but we need fields," May says . "Because now it's starting to limit
the number of kids who can play."
6/16/99