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A dose of reality
If you're reading this column, there is a good chance that you're probably a soccer fan, or perhaps a soccer fanatic. You love the sport passionately. You support your local club team, watch as many games on television as possible and read soccer magazines and Web sites to devour every last word about the beautiful game. Sometimes you might wonder why other people who are associated with the sport don't share your incredible enthusiasm and loyalty. If you do, then there is a good chance you're probably not going to like the gist of this piece, a dose of reality on why more youth soccer players don't watch games in person or on the tube more often. In a sentence, they are not interested. That's right. These kids aren't interested.
You probably had an inkling of that because of the non-existent TV ratings and the struggles of pro soccer teams to get those children and adults into a stadium as regular customers. The last I heard there were something like 18 or 19 million people with at least some connection to the sport. We also have at least three million children (defined as between the ages of four and 19) playing. Quite frankly, I always wondered about the accuracy of that first figure because MLS and the national team were essentially being ignored by that so-called fan base. I was reminded of that dose of reality earlier this month at the Long Island Junior Soccer League convention. The annual rite of pre-spring was held over a three-day period at the Huntington Hilton, where something like 20,000 coaches, players, referees, administrators and an occasional media person attended. There, soccer is talked about from dawn to dusk to the last drink at the bar. I had an opportunity to sit in on a seminar called "Soccer As It Ought To Be" with six travel players -- three boys and three girls ranging between the ages of 14 and 19 -- with varying backgrounds. In youth soccer, travel play is a big step up from recreational or intramural soccer. Instead of playing in your neighborhood or town, you travel to games. Here are several doses of reality from that seminar:
Boring? Ouch! And these are the ones who supposedly enjoy playing the games. When I posed the question, "Who is Chris Armas?" only one player knew he was a professional player. None of the players could name the town in which he grew up -- Brentwood, L.I. (he played in the LIJSL) or the MLS team for whom he plays now (Chicago Fire). Earlier that week, Armas was named U.S. Soccer male athlete of the year, which was reported by two local daily newspapers. OK, six teenagers talking about soccer isn't even close to a scientific survey. But there's more. The next day at a seminar about the differences between coaching boys and girls, two veteran coaches -- Joe Lee and Norma Gorman -- were asked similar questions and the answers were intriguing. Both coaches said their teams watch pro games, not necessarily for enjoyment, but to learn the game. Their players don't know who Armas is (and Armas played his youth soccer in Gorman's club). Gorman said her primarily Latin American team follows Latin American soccer, while Lee's Anglo team watches MLS. Gorman said that her players received a bulk of their information from soccer catalogs. Now, this is not an indictment against those six teenagers or any of the other youth players who play the game for fun but don't have any deep desire to watch or embrace it. Some sobering thoughts, huh? You and I may not like it. But those are the cold facts of life of our times and another lesson or reminder on why soccer is struggling to make it big time in this country. The real questions are why these kids see the professional game as boring, and, more importantly, whether that perception can be changed. MLS commissioner Don Garber and company are banking on the latter, and time will tell. Yet another Ray of sunshineWhen I'm on deadline and need a good phrase or line, I don't need anyone else but Miami Fusion coach Ray Hudson to spice up the story. Here are a couple of memorable comments from the golden tongue of Mr. Hudson:
How to lose your shirt and then someOnly hours after FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen said referees should lighten up on goal celebrations, Wycombe's Steve Brown gets a yellow card -- his second of the game, which led to his expulsion -- for celebrating his team's winning goal in the Wycombe Wanderers' stunning 2-1 triumph over Leicester City in the English FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday. "The FA has mandatory instructions about a player removing his shirt and it's clear as that," Bennett said. Zen-Ruffinen's remarks before the incident? "There is concern that referees are too strict when systematically cautioning a player who has just scored," he said. "The aim of football is to score goals. Referees must use their common sense." Brown had taken off his shirt in honor of his ailing 15-month-old son. He had written the name Maxwell with a magic marker on his white undershirt. His son, watching his father play for the first time, was the team's "mascot" for the match. Brown's son was born with a condition in which the throat is not properly connected to the stomach. Maxwell has undergone more than 20 operations. "It was jubilation and humiliation within a minute," Brown was quoted in The Sun. "It was like being thrown off a tower block." Brown's punishment did not end with the red card, as he wound up with a four-game suspension. He received an automatic one-game ban for the red card, another game because it was his second ejection of the season and another two games for totaling 10 yellow cards. Brown, however, will be eligible for the April 8 semifinal against Liverpool. "They know the rules, but they don't know the game," Wycombe coach Lawrie Sanchez said of the match officials. Sack of the weekThis week we bring you two varieties -- the conventional coaches' firing and a player getting the heave-ho.
Loser of the weekFormer Romanian international Gheorghe Hagi is in deep, deep trouble after attacking a referee. Hagi spit at and then stomped on the feet of referee Erol Ersoy after the official disallowed a goal in Galatasaray's 2-1 victory over Genclerbirligi last weekend. He had to be dragged away by teammates. Hagi was banned by the Turkish Soccer Federation for six matches on Thursday, his agent said. Chip shots
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News. He also has written three books about soccer.
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