Chapter 3: Soccer: The Perilous Practice of Politcal Projection

Soccer in the rest of the world is a major sport unlike the USA. Certain things that are seen in soccer around the world we would never see in the American sports. In America we don’t really care about soccer. When the world cup comes around, which is the biggest thing in soccer, as a country we are just semi-enthusiastic. Everywhere else soccer is a very passionate sport between fans to the point where they can’t be seated next to each other. It is mentioned in the book that if soccer was to take off here in the states that the type of violence would be unmatched by what we already see overseas. It was stated that soccer is and always will be the game of the future in America. But personally I don’t see this happenings especially when our American football seems to be making steps towards the UK. It was shown that soccer is the number one youth sports. I think that our youth is bombarded with other sports by the time they get to high school which changes their mind. This is also reaffirmed when they don’t see much soccer on television or in the media
There is one group that tends to be drawn towards soccer, this would be women. Unlike the rest of the world where soccer is exclusively a men’s sports. Soccer seems to be the professional sport that takes more interest from women than in men here in America. Even though women’s soccer has gotten some attention in the past, today we barely ever hear of a women’s team. As soccer is the largest youth sport, women seem to stay with it through college because it is offered at over 88% of colleges. This women’s sport has made huge leaps and bounds in the world of sports compared to what it use to be. With all of these gains in the sport you still with never hear a name and immediately associate that name with women’s soccer. The author refers to a group of women who play on the US team. Most people would know maybe one name. In reality this would be like naming Bird, Magic, Jordon on the same team, who we all can recognize. Soccer in America is and probably always will be the step brother to the main four sports in America.