Looking Back:
How did this happen?
The growth of soccer: It has been interesting to witness. Let me tell you, I knew nothing about soccer as a kid. I don’t think I even saw a soccer ball until a college friend came into my dorm room with a funny looking ball and asked if I wanted to play. I had no idea what he was talking about. When I later started a family that changed.
Some think soccer came to the U.S. about 50 or so years ago. Not true. The USA has been kicking that funny round ball for some time. Believe it or not, that funny ball was used after the Civil War (1866) in the first American contest (club soccer). Then in 1869, some colleges picked up the game (Princton vs Rutgers). The St. Louis League was founded in 1886. The 1950 US World Cup team was made up of mainly players from St. Louis. In 1913 the US was one of the first countries to join the now huge FIFA (Federation International Football Association). So it is actually an old sport. But its popularity in the US has increased tremendously over the last 30 years, especially since the MLS league formed. Many may not know that Lamar Hunt, founder of the KC Chiefs, was also a founding father of the MLS.
A quick look at the 2022 World Cup: There have been some real surprises. To me, it was a surprise when Germany was knocked out of their Group Stage by Japan. Of course, it was great fun for the US team to make it to the ‘Round of 16’ by beating Iran 1-0.
Even though the US lost to the Dutch 3-1, the US still had a successful 2022 WC. Maybe next time, when the US/Canada/Mexcio host the WC, the US team will do even better. They were one of the youngest teams in the tournament. Remember Kansas City was also chosen to host some WC games in 2026. Many are very excited about this.
Other World Cups: Many sports have their own World Cups now. There is a WC for softball, baseball, basketball, etc. Baseball WC started in 1938 but is still trying to figure out the format. First, baseball is not yet a full World sport. Their WC attempts have also conflicted with the World Baseball Classic, etc. The Softball WC is also trying to lock in on a format.
Basketball is close. The American game of basketball quickly went global. Their fans have also grown. The basketball WC started in 1950. The US team has won only four of the last 10 World Cups. So, you see other countries can play the game. Like soccer, the number of teams that qualify for their WC is holding at 32.
Even with the other growing WCs, the soccer WC seems to get the most attention and coverage. The reasons should be somewhat obvious. Soccer, or football as most countries call it, is played in virtually every country. About 211 countries try to qualify for the WC. Sock-er was an American nickname for “football”, it came from the word ‘association’, until the nickname stuck.
The soccer WC has been around for a while, starting in 1936. Qualifying for the soccer WC helps build the drama as each country starts out with an equal chance to qualify for the tournament. The US did not qualify in 2018 and it was quite the wake-up call to the US soccer community. The question, “What is wrong with how we are doing things?”, was asked a lot. Heck, little Iceland made it to the 2018 WC while we stayed home. Slowly US soccer has put together a multi-layered development program. For years sports like tennis had structured ways to encourage young players and make sure they got the coaching they need to reach their full potential. That is now true for soccer. Sporting KC and KC in general are leaders in this effort. Sometimes a Sporting player is referred to as ‘homegrown’, meaning he came up through the development teams. It’s hard to drive around South KC without seeing multiple soccer complexes. You can also look at smaller towns, like Clinton, and find a complete, well thought of, soccer complex. New people in town are always impressed with it. Go USA!
