Youth Soccer Tournaments - Why Are There So Many in the US?

There are more youth soccer tournaments in the United States than any other country in the world.

In fact, the leading soccer tournament website, Soccer-Tournament-Guide.com, lists well over 2,000 youth soccer tournaments in the United States, far more than of the more traditional soccer countries such as Brazil, Germany, England and Argentina.

So why is it that a country that still largely doesn't "get" soccer on the professional level, promotes so many opportunities for kids to compete in soccer tournaments?

Well, ironically, one reason is the very fact that soccer has not been as popular here as in many other places, and the standard of play, for a long time, was not as high as in other parts of the world.

30 years ago, before there was a youth soccer club in every town, and when many of those that did exist, encouraged a kick-ball style of play, the few elite clubs that did play high-quality soccer found it very difficult to find similarly competitive teams to play against in their local area.

After a season of winning every game 9-0 against local competition, coaches would often use an end of season soccer tournament as an opportunity to test their teams against stiffer competition from the neighboring town, county, or even the neighboring state.

And, of course, in a country as large as the United States, finding higher level teams to play against often meant traveling greater and greater distances.

Pretty soon, long-distance travel to faraway youth soccer tournaments became a badge of honor for coaches, players and parents alike. On a subconscious level, it marked theirs as a higher level team, one that had to drive 100 miles just to find a team good enough to compete against them.

Clubs See a Cash Cow

On the other side of the equation were the tournament organizers.

Once youth soccer teams proved themselves willing to travel long distances, pay a hefty entry fee and stay a couple of nights at a hotel, just to play a few soccer games, clubs began to see a huge fund raising opportunity.

Even a fairly modest youth soccer tournament can bring in tens of thousands of dollars if it attracts 250 teams at $400 a pop, and is run by a largely unpaid volunteer labor force.

Clubs that got in on the "ground floor" in the 1970s were able to attract more players by using tournament proceeds to keep their own league registration fees lower. They were also able to buy and maintain expensive equipment and even build their own multi-field youth soccer complexes with the proceeds of their annual soccer tournaments

And, of course, once you have your own soccer complex to maintain, it makes sense to have more than one annual youth soccer tournament.

There are now several clubs that operate 3, 4, or even 5 youth tournaments a year, some accommodating over a thousand teams in a twelve month span.

Are There Too Many Tournaments?

In fact, there are now so many soccer tournaments in the US that some coaches are starting to worry about the effect it is all having on player development.

The emphasis on winning in youth soccer tournaments often detracts from the need for young players to master basic technical and tactical skills. And many worry about player burnout from extensive travel and too many games.

Many high-level youth soccer players these days play as many as 70 games per year. Some, who make national teams at various age groups, play up to a 100.

Meanwhile, the youth soccer development experts at US Soccer advocate playing 30 quality games a year with high-level training the rest of the time.

Whether it has been driven by the egos of the coaches, the vastness of the country, the fund raising ambitions of the hosting clubs, or the ever-growing base of committed soccer players, it is certain that the soccer tournament industry in the United States has evolved on a scale that makes it unique among soccer-playing nations.

Just what impact that has on the development of the sport at the highest levels remains to be seen.

Michael Jones is the publisher of http://www.soccer-tournament-guide.com/ and plays and coaches soccer on Cape Cod. More insights into the world of youth soccer tournaments from a coach's perspective can be found at http://www.soccer-tournament-guide.com/SoccerCoaches.html

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