High School Soccer in the South

[coachnorm]

I noticed that the stereotype of Southerners and soccer appear to be unfounded. The highest attendance for MLS is Atlanta and not Seattle. I watched an Atlanta MLS game on TV and the paid attendees were young and white therefore the old saying that migrants are driving the growth of the sport can not be stated. When I was coaching high school football, many of the players would use soccer as a winter sport because field turf made the game available. I believe that some great American athletes that can not collect NFL coin might someday get paid in soccer.

My question to fellow Sixpackers is, "Are high school football players, in the South, playing soccer during the winter like on the West Coast?'

 

[wtw2400]

Yes. But those teams aren't good. There are several quality high school teams that are made up of pure soccer athletes.

A lot of people including the MLS did not realize the demand for soccer in the south. It's certainly a popular sport and Atlanta is the perfect city for the MLS. The problem is the best players in the MLS are DP or Loaned players. If the MLS is going to get better, it needs to stop being a devolopmental League for the European Leagues and a Last stop before retirement for the players that do come to the US.