Alex Morgan didn’t mince her words when asked about the state of youth soccer in the United States.
“Unfortunately the pay-to-play model, I believe, is getting worse in soccer than when I played competitive soccer (growing up),” said Morgan, a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner with the USWNT. “It’s a very inexpensive sport and the fact that we’ve made youth soccer in the U.S. more of a business than a grassroots sport is, I think, detrimental to the growth of the sport in the U.S.”
Morgan was in New York City as part of a Sports Matter panel as DICK’S Sporting Goods and the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation announced its five-year pledge to provide access to sports to 1 million youth across the country by 2024.
Studies conducted by the RAND Corporation and Women’s Sports Foundation in conjunction with DICK’S found that 63% of school sports budgets are either stagnant or decreasing while 24% of high schools don’t offer sports. Approximately 60% of community-based sports fees are rising as many families cite those costs as the reason for a lack of participation.
Looking specifically at youth soccer, American households with more than $100,000 in annual income represent 35% of soccer players, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, while just 11% of players come from households earning $25,000 or less. Former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo has even deemed the current youth soccer landscape in America “a rich, white kid sport.”
Soccer is the world’s most-popular sport. According to Nielsen’s 2018 World Football Report, more than four out of 10 people consider themselves fans. The study also showed 32% of those surveyed in the United States expressed interest in the game.