Soccer Mom Sheila Fox of Fairfield says she's convinced that her sport is destined to become the “sport of the future” in the United States.

        The U.S. team's success in the World Cup may be the kick the sport needs to take a place with baseball, football and basketball as favorite spectator sports, says Ms. Fox, who coaches two teams and has four children who play the sport.

Big Blue Thunder soccer coach Sheila Fox passes out soccer balls to her team while practicing Wednesday at Joyce Park in Fairfield. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        The United States plays Germany in the World Cup Quarterfinal at 7:25 a.m. today. This year's squad has gotten further than any U.S. team since the 1930s.

        “When I was growing up, we didn't really have soccer here,” said Ms. Fox, who is in her 40s. But now, she says, area schools are scrambling to license and prepare coaches to lead teams.

        Well before the U.S. team's recent achievements, the sport was already the fastest-growing in participation in the country, with 72.7 percent growth in the 1990s, according to a survey by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association in 2000.

        The surge in soccer participation rings especially true in Greater Cincinnati, which is the second-biggest soccer market per capita in the nation with 283,000 participants, or 14.6 out of 100 people. In the early 1990s, Greater Cincinnati was the top-ranked soccer market in the country, before being overtaken by Kansas City. And the Tristate's fast-growing suburbs fuel the growth, as new fields and complexes continue to spring up.

        Despite the large numbers of people playing the sport, professional teams have historically struggled to survive in the region. The Cincinnati Cheetahs, Comets, Kids, Leopards and Silverbacks, among others, have faded into Cincinnati's soccer history in the past 30 years.

        “Cincinnati has a lot of enthusiasm and high participation, but many teams have come and gone,” said Mike May, a spokesman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, adding that most of the failed teams have been in minor or semi-major leagues. “These franchises are similar to a minor league baseball team. They are popular, but they won't draw as much as the Reds do.”

        According to Mr. May, “soccer is a game that can really only be understood if you play it.” That, he says, is the stumbling block when it comes to bringing people into the stands.

        Because soccer is a relatively new sport in the United States, there are many first-generation participants, causing professional teams to rely on young fans to bring their parents to professional games. Soccer officials say the challenge will be to keep those fans interested in the game as they become adults.

        Richard Wanamaker, the general manager of the minor-league Cincinnati Riverhawks, is hopeful that the growing number of participants and the excitement about the U.S. team in the World Cup will help fill seats here. The men's A-League team hosts youth soccer camps, which have had increased participation this summer. The Riverhawks move into a 2,500-seat stadium at the Hamilton County fairgrounds Saturday.

        Alex Rawlings, a former member of the Cincinnati Cheetahs, Dayton Dynamo and Canton Invaders, says it'll take more than just youth soccer participation to make professional teams successful in Cincinnati.

        To make a go of a team, management will need “a great marketing mind,” he said, and must have “played the game to know how to do the grass-roots effort to develop a huge fan base.”

        Mr. Rawlings, the executive director of Loveland-based Technical and Tactical Soccer Programs, which has held youth workshops for the past 12 summers, says teams can earn fans by conducting soccer clinics and having players appear in schools. He eventually expects a professional team to survive here, but says, “as each team goes defunct, it is another hurdle they'll have to cross.”

        As some debate whether professional soccer is destined for success in Cincinnati, boy's soccer coach Mark Bennett of Hamilton says the sport “is here to stay.”

        “The World Cup is showing kids in the area — boys and girls — that it is something that anyone can play in,” said Mr. Bennett, who coaches a Big Blue Express select team. “Soccer isn't a step-child to baseball like it used to be. There are so many kids participating in it.”

        On a recent road trip with his team to Troy, Ohio, the team watched at their hotel in between games as players from around the world competed in the World Cup.

        “The kids were all talking about it,” he said. “The World Cup shows that they can aspire to be the best.

        “Maybe one of these days someone from this area can play on a championship team.”

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