> That story almost certainly wouldn’t happen today in America, for the simple reason that the youth-soccer culture here is mainly built on a profit-driven “pay to play” system. Parents fork over heavy fees to enroll their child in local clubs that charge for training, field rentals, coaching, and travel. As a result, soccer remains a mostly suburban, middle- and upper-class sport. (Not that soccer is the only game that requires American parents to dig in their pockets: According to one study, the cost of all youth sports rose by 46 percent from 2019 to 2025.)
While not untrue, I think this misses the fact why this exists. In the US, large accessible grass fields acceptable for playing soccer, especially in lower income areas, is practically nonexistent. Whereas, you can pretty much find a basketball court somewhere in every neighborhood in America, and sans that, a driveway that has one, which is why you see a lot of kids coming from nothing excelling in that sport, similar to soccer in other countries.
I think you're on the right track, only that you don't really need large grass fields available. You just need places where kids can play ball without the risk of getting run over.
I live in Uruguay and, as soon as one kid in a group has a ball, anything can be used for the goals: backpacks, bottles, or a garage door where the neighbor doesn't complain (or even better: isn't home).
It's funny but the reverse is true here in terms of basketball in my experience. My kids like both sports and while it's very easy to find a place to play football, there are very few public basketball courts available.
This is the same in urban Europe, eh. But over here, particularly in Northern countries, basketball playgrounds are mostly used for football. In the end, if you want to play football you just need a ball and goals, which are typically simulated with a few (school) backpacks or jumpers standing for posts. It's the most popular sport in Africa for a reason...
I think the main reasons football is still lagging in the US (despite the undeniable recent growth) continue to be the same: the main sports (basketball, baseball, and gridiron) are culturally rooted in the mainstream in a way that nothing else can match.
You dont need large grass field to kick the ball, play with the ball and play soccer. Poor kids worldwide do it on whatever is available around - including streets themselves. Backyard, driveway, classroom during the break.
Soccer became so popular precisedly because if you buy the ball, you can find some place to kick it at.
> That story almost certainly wouldn’t happen today in America, for the simple reason that the youth-soccer culture here is mainly built on a profit-driven “pay to play” system. Parents fork over heavy fees to enroll their child in local clubs that charge for training, field rentals, coaching, and travel. As a result, soccer remains a mostly suburban, middle- and upper-class sport. (Not that soccer is the only game that requires American parents to dig in their pockets: According to one study, the cost of all youth sports rose by 46 percent from 2019 to 2025.)
While not untrue, I think this misses the fact why this exists. In the US, large accessible grass fields acceptable for playing soccer, especially in lower income areas, is practically nonexistent. Whereas, you can pretty much find a basketball court somewhere in every neighborhood in America, and sans that, a driveway that has one, which is why you see a lot of kids coming from nothing excelling in that sport, similar to soccer in other countries.
I think you're on the right track, only that you don't really need large grass fields available. You just need places where kids can play ball without the risk of getting run over.
I live in Uruguay and, as soon as one kid in a group has a ball, anything can be used for the goals: backpacks, bottles, or a garage door where the neighbor doesn't complain (or even better: isn't home).
There's a reason why the "Warning: children" traffic sign here has a human figure chasing a football (you can see it scrolling down here: https://www.academiadelmolino.com.uy/manual-conduccion/senal... or searching that page for "niños")
It's funny but the reverse is true here in terms of basketball in my experience. My kids like both sports and while it's very easy to find a place to play football, there are very few public basketball courts available.
This is the same in urban Europe, eh. But over here, particularly in Northern countries, basketball playgrounds are mostly used for football. In the end, if you want to play football you just need a ball and goals, which are typically simulated with a few (school) backpacks or jumpers standing for posts. It's the most popular sport in Africa for a reason...
I think the main reasons football is still lagging in the US (despite the undeniable recent growth) continue to be the same: the main sports (basketball, baseball, and gridiron) are culturally rooted in the mainstream in a way that nothing else can match.
You dont need large grass field to kick the ball, play with the ball and play soccer. Poor kids worldwide do it on whatever is available around - including streets themselves. Backyard, driveway, classroom during the break.
Soccer became so popular precisedly because if you buy the ball, you can find some place to kick it at.
https://archive.is/UVfe0
Poor kids in America play video game and watch tv
What about the water breaks for ads? That seemed real Americanization to me