There has been a huge rise in the interest of soccer in the United States recently. Youth soccer has become very seriously recently with many young people reaching higher levels of soccer including  joining travel club and premier soccer leagues. Professional soccer is also at its peak this time of year, late this summer the 2017 MLS All Star Game, where the most achieved players in the MLS (Major League Soccer) plays the best team in the world; Real Madrid.

Real Madrid is in Spain and has the best players around the globe including Cristiano Ronaldo.

The MLS All Star Game was played with both teams neck and neck throughout he entire game.  By the end of the game, including thirty minutes of overtime, both teams had scored one goal. The tie called for shoot out where real Madrid won 4 to 2. Although the US lost, the game was still quite an accomplishment because Real Madrid usually crushes the opposing team. Making it neck and neck with them throughout the game and over time is quite impressive. According to MLSsoccer.com, following the game the head coach of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane said, “MLS is a really good level [of soccer]. We’ve seen really good players tonight. We saw a good game.”

One player who stands out in Professional soccer is Christian Pulisic. He is, as Jake Weissman calls him, “The Father of Fútbol in America.” Christian is 19 years old. He grew up in Hershey, PA, and currently lives in Dortmund, Germany. He plays for BVB, one of the best teams in the world. Amazing US players are Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey.

With the popularity of soccer increasing, what does this mean for youth soccer? The number of players in youth soccer has increased over the past two decades as seen in this graph. In 1980 there were fewer than one million players, and in 2014 it tripled to a whopping three million kids. But with more and more kids playing soccer every year, will all the kids even get to play?

According to Jack Dominish, a soccer player and eighth grader at Mayfield Middle, “There are a lot more good players and that can make it hard to get on higher level teams.” He also says, “but I don’t think soccer will grow to be one of the most famous sports in the US because it just can’t beat basketball, football, or baseball.”

The level of play and number of player on both Youth and professional soccer is rising everywhere in the United states.  In the coming years many Americans may be playing across the globe on professional teams.