I understand soccer to some extent. I helped coach youth soccer back in the day

 

It's tedious. Not so much at the highest level, but it's tedious.

Which sport has more concussions - high school soccer or high school football?

 

Which sport has more injuries - high school soccer or high school football?

 

My guess on the two questions above:

 

- More concussions in football but closer in number than most expect.

 

- More injuries in soccer than football. A Dr. at Children's Hospital once told me they see way more soccer injuries than football injuries - including more serious knee and ankle injuries.

 

Note to Clyde: One of the best thread titles ever on BGP. If you cared about likes, I would give you one for that.

 

This would be interesting to look at. Is this part of the "mental toughness" that is taught in football vs soccer? Or are they legitimate injuries? I played both during my time in high school, and soccer was something I did in the winter to stay in shape, but my friends that only played soccer would come off the field for "injuries" for things I would have played through.

 

Either way it would an interesting thing to study.

TAC I believe you said it best, very easy to be unathletic and a part of a "team"

 

Not any more so than playing midget football. But also at the high school level, when you have 50-60 guys standing on the sideline watching their best 11 play, there are bound to be quite a few non-athletes with pads on.

 

I think the nice thing that is happening now though is that there are U-3 and U-4 flag football leagues beginning to pop up more and more. Its not exactly football but it introduces the kids to play design, catching, and throwing which is a great beginning.

 

And it prepares them for the way the game is played in the NFL. Too much pitch and catch these days for my tastes (in the NFL)

 

1. I would love to see football and basketball players play soccer...in the spring. Placing soccer in direct competition with both excludes some of the best athletes in the state.

 

2. Soccer is just as dangerous is football and would be more so if the bigger, stronger athletes played like they do in football.

 

3. The game needs an update. Allow offsides, widen the goals, shorten the pitch, add more players...just something to increase the scoring.

 

and...

 

4. let them pick the ball up and run with it

 

5. Make the ball oblong so they can throw it down field

 

6. have them wear pads and helmets

 

what you are suggesting in #3 ain't soccer.

 

I do agree with your #1.

Which sport has more concussions - high school soccer or high school football?

 

Which sport has more injuries - high school soccer or high school football?

 

My guess on the two questions above:

 

- More concussions in football but closer in number than most expect.

 

- More injuries in soccer than football. A Dr. at Children's Hospital once told me they see way more soccer injuries than football injuries - including more serious knee and ankle injuries.

 

Note to Clyde: One of the best thread titles ever on BGP. If you cared about likes, I would give you one for that.

 

Does injuries include flopping around like a fish, being carried off in a stretcher, only to return 3 minutes later into the game?

^ which sport are you referencing because it could be either?

I've never understood this false competition and why the anti-soccer crowd feels so threatened by the sport.

Soccer is an incredible sport. I've coached youth soccer for almost 10 seasons now and it is far from boring.

 

Anyone who says it is boring doesn't fully understand the sport. There's a lot more to it than scoring goals.

 

I do not feel that the casual observer would see the constant "game within the game" that goes on in a higher level soccer match. A player can make multiple runs or moves in a match only to be setting up an attempt later to hopefully get that one chance to win a match. At times, I feel what goes on in a good soccer match can be similar to what goes on in a chess match.

 

For those who question athletic abilities... I know of many more instances where the football coaches would like to have the soccer players switch sports, I don't think it is the other way around.

Not any more so than playing midget football. But also at the high school level, when you have 50-60 guys standing on the sideline watching their best 11 play, there are bound to be quite a few non-athletes with pads on.

 

 

 

And it prepares them for the way the game is played in the NFL. Too much pitch and catch these days for my tastes (in the NFL)

 

 

 

and...

 

4. let them pick the ball up and run with it

 

5. Make the ball oblong so they can throw it down field

 

6. have them wear pads and helmets

 

what you are suggesting in #3 ain't soccer.

 

I do agree with your #1.

 

:laugh:

Soccer is an incredible sport. I've coached youth soccer for almost 10 seasons now and it is far from boring.

 

Anyone who says it is boring doesn't fully understand the sport. There's a lot more to it than scoring goals.

 

I hear this all the time and I disagree. I understand soccer, it's boring.

Does injuries include flopping around like a fish, being carried off in a stretcher, only to return 3 minutes later into the game?

 

As long as this happens I'll have a huge distaste for the game.

TAC I believe you said it best, very easy to be unathletic and a part of a "team"

 

Same can be said for football.

 

 

Football is losing members at the 4-8th grade levels. Too much emphasis on winning, too many daddy's play their kid at RB and QB, and leagues are ran horribly because they are about the almighty dollar instead of instruction.

 

 

I will also add that have have experience with both at the K-8 level and my son plays both.

How many people go to a HS soccer game?

1. I would love to see football and basketball players play soccer...in the spring. Placing soccer in direct competition with both excludes some of the best athletes in the state.

 

2. Soccer is just as dangerous is football and would be more so if the bigger, stronger athletes played like they do in football.

 

3. The game needs an update. Allow offsides, widen the goals, shorten the pitch, add more players...just something to increase the scoring.

 

I agree that soccer is just as dangerous as football, probably has more knee injuries and I think concussions are probably about equal. There are plenty of big strong athletes already playing soccer, to me, several look like they would make a fine Tight End or Linebacker.

 

Other than the widening of the goals, your updates to the game seem like changing it to be more like an indoor match... this would ruin it.

Soccer will never over take football in popularity in the United States. Interest will continue to grow, but it will never over take it. Soccer is the hip thing to get into now a days, so that's what people are doing.

 

As to the Italicized, I thought the same thing. I persecuted soccer players my whole youth. I then watched Zinedine Zidane play for Real Madrid, and I saw the light.

 

Soccer is a sport that is actually an unmined goldmine for our better athletes. 5'9" point guards are spinning their wheels on the playground b/c of their vertical deficiencies. 5'9" quick, strong PG with creativity would have a much better chance of earning money as a soccer player due to the fact that there are leagues all over the world, and their height would be an advantage, not a hinderance. It isn't the hip thing now, the growth hasn't even begun. Below are my main reasons why.

 

Three major things prevent the mining of talent.

1. Soccer is an elitist sport. You have to have cash to play at the higher club levels. If you can get into an MLS Academy, they pay for everything, but it will be very difficult for a disadvantaged kid to make up for the lack of training and games played against high level competition. Therefore, we lose our athletic base from the middle class to the poor who can't afford the costs associated with club.

 

2. The US, as a country, only has real success on the women's side. If the US won a men's world cup, you would see a major increase in interest. Recognized names would be playing across the US major league. Right now, too few people have no clue who plays in the MLS. There's no emotional investment in a player that would come from a sustained run in the World Cup.

 

3. Soccer is seen as a soft sport. If you want street cred here, you are better off learning to pop and lock as a dancer than to be a combative Center Back. This is a direct result of #1 and #2. Too few people play and watch high level soccer to understand how physical the game is.

 

All of these put together keep people from watching the game. Add in the American idea of watching sports for scores (look at how baseball attendance ebbs and flows with runs/game) and you have a lot to overcome. A pro game is a maximum of 2 hours out of your day, but if you don't know who is playing and why they are not scoring, you will lose interest very quickly. I hope that the US begins to cultivate affordable high level youth leagues. Develop interest at a young age so that when they are parents, they have the desire to spread the game to a new generation.

Edited October 8, 201510 yr by mexitucky

I'm in the group that doesn't blame soccer...but all sports. All sports in general are year round now. Kids choose a sport to focus on by a certain age. The days of kids playing 2 sports is dwindling and hardly ever 3 sports...unless you're at a small school.

 

I believe as you look around, participation levels in just about every sport is down. Again, the kids that used to be "the depth" in a sport (the kids that focused on one, but played the others for fun) are gone. There is too much pressure that "Johnny" will get behind if he doesn't play his sport year round. Therefore, no time to commit to a 2nd or 3rd sport. And with the new rules in KY high school where you can virtually hold non-mandatory workouts year round (other than dead period), that is starting to take over as well. So even if you only play high school sports, that can conflict these days too.

 

I don't like it, but select sports have taken over and you see the decrease in participation in just about every sport these days.