I’ve been a soccer fan for most of my life. I played AYSO in my youth.  I played in high school anchoring the defense for four years in the sweeper position and then played three years at a small Bible college in South Carolina.  I also coached for a youth city league in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I was a line judge for pay for a city recreation league, and I coached AYSO when my kids were younger.

None of this makes me a professional, and my opinion will always be just an opinion… But I think there is an answer to the question, “why not US?”  I lived in England for two years.  We moved there when my oldest son was 8 months old and we left before his 3rd birthday.  I’m mentioning his age because there was a kid about his age in the townhome behind ours.  We shared a driveway and “yard” … Which was a patch of green grass about 10 feet by 20 feet surrounded by a stone wall.

I watched our neighbor kid growing up next to my own.  He always had a ball, but it was never seen in his hand!  It was always a soccer ball.  It was always at his feet.  I watched that kids do things with a soccer ball that you would never see among the American kids in an AYSO game. He was 2 years old!  And he used the sole of his foot to draw the ball back and forth.  He practiced left and right, feints, and even used the laces of his boots to shoot the ball.

American kids also play ball.  Football, baseball, basketball, dodgeball, four square . . . Etc, Etc.  And American kids carry the ball around in their hands.  Our talents, hobbies, and sports are broad.  We are a massive nation, but our most athletic kids have had a ball in their hands since they could walk.  They carry the ball around.  They throw the ball.  And soccer is just a sport used primarily to prepare kids for the time that they can put on the helmet and hit people with their heads.

While this is overly simplistic, I think there is a root of truth in my theory.  Sure, there are some kids who grow up playing soccer… But I would be shocked if the players on the USMNT only played soccer in their youth.  While in England, that little guy didn’t play basketball, football, or baseball.  The only time he picked up the ball was to practice throw-ins.

Why not US?  Because there are nations in the world that live, eat, breathe, sleep, and nearly worship soccer.  The US doesn’t.  That is baseball.  Or football?  Or basketball?  Depends on the seasons, right?

I grew up playing soccer. I loved soccer.  I found success at soccer.  And I also played basketball.  And I enjoyed volleyball. And I played paddleball.  And racquetball.  And backyard baseball.

I think about the little guy behind our town home.  I can picture him wearing his little England jersey (or Leeds jersey because they were the closest Premier League team to us), with his boots laced up, kicking a ‘football’ and practicing his dribbling.

One day we will win a World Cup… maybe.

But we usually win the World Series, always win the Super Bowl, and frequently win the Stanley Cup.  The World Cup comes around every four years.  There is usually a good deal of hype followed by some semblance of a letdown.  But my perspective around America and the World Cup is in line with my view of my golf game.  Why get upset at my performance when I’m not really that invested in the game!?

Americans put a ball in their kids’ hands and throw it around. Some places in the world slap their kids’ hands if they pick up a ball. I think it makes sense that they win.