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VYPE High School Sports Magazine asks four Berks varsity boys head soccer coaches, "With the number of kids playing soccer in the US growing, what do you think can be done to increase the popularity of the sport at the professional level?"
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VYPE High School Sports Magazine asks four Berks varsity boys head soccer coaches, "With the number of kids playing soccer in the US growing, what do you think can be done to increase the popularity of the sport at the professional level?"
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Mark Pfeiffenberger
Central Catholic - Boys Varsity Head Coach
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"What I think it will take is some major marketing resources and getting top players to play in the U.S. All sports in the U.S. have huge marketing budgets and it will be no different with promoting soccer. Just like football built up Monday Night Football, soccer will need to invest heavily in marketing strategies in order to capture some audiences that are on the fringe. Major League Soccer is bringing in some good players, but they need to get more promote them better. The more known players they bring in, the better and more exciting it will be to watch soccer at the professional level."
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Christopher Zalasky
Hamburg-Boys Varsity Head Soccer Coach
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"I personally feel that the growth of the MLS is essential to the growth of professional soccer in America. Players here need a finish line to reach. You ask any 5th grader in America what they want to be when they grow up and half of them will respond, "an NFL, MLB or NBA player". These are goals that they feel they can reach and there is a celebrity to it. If the MLS can reach that standard, we will see more success. Another goal of the league should be to have stadiums that are "fan friendly", in which players are accessible. Get rid of the gigantic football stadiums that will never be filled. They need to get to the soccer-only stadiums similar to what they have in place in LA and Columbus. It will go a long way in having our youth stay involved in the sport and put American soccer on the world stage to stay."
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Matthew Crouse
Schuylkill Valley-Boys Varsity Soccer Coach
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"There is no doubt that soccer continues to grow across the United States. In order for the sport to grow on the professional level, marketing of the game and its players must increase. The media frenzy that surrounded the arrival of David Beckham highlighted the sport. More marketing and public relations such as this must be done to increase the popularity at the professional level. We must also retain in the United States quality players who, more often than not, head to Europe to compete in their professional leagues."
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Joe Ricci
Daniel Boone-Boys Varsity Head Soccer Coach
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"There are a few obvious things that can be done to improve the popularity of professional soccer in the U.S.: intimate soccer-only stadiums to improve the live soccer experience, improved quality of the player with an emphasis of infusing players from other world leagues, and improved television coverage. FSC (Fox Sports Channel) is great, but more people have ESPN which does not cover professional soccer, although they do televise college and World Cup events. The MLS has made big steps to improve these areas. However, the popularity gap in this country has more to do with traditions and the generations of soccer fans - severely lacking here compared to most countries in the world. The typical family in the U.S. does not sit down together to watch a weekly match and root with their favorite team (or find rivals to create those heated, passionate moments). Our children play a lot of soccer, but they cannot identify with the teams and players of their parents' childhood like we do with baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Much of the world has the passion that is carried on through generations, and that takes time."
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