Soccer Traditional Cache

Soccer

Soccer in the United States

Soccer in the United States is governed by the United States Soccer Federation. The organization governs most levels of soccer in the country, including the national teams, professional leagues, and the amateur game with the exception of colleges and high schools. As of May 2015, over 24.4 million people play soccer in the United States. In 2017, Gallup reported that soccer was the third-most played team sport in the U.S., behind only basketball and American football. The popularity of the sport in the U.S. has been growing since the 1960s and 1970s, and received a significant boost when the United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It is the fourth most popular sport in the United States behind American football, baseball and basketball, and is the second fastest growing sport in America, surpassed only by lacrosse.

The highest-level men's professional soccer league in the U.S. is Major League Soccer. MLS began play in 1996 with 10 teams and has grown to 24 teams (21 in the United States and 3 in Canada), with further expansion planned.

The first women's professional soccer league in the U.S. formed after the success of the 1999 Women's World Cup.

Youth soccer

The largest category of soccer in the United States in terms of participation is boys' and girls' youth soccer. Soccer is one of the most played sports by children in the United States. In 2012, soccer was the #4 most played team sport by high school boys, and soccer overtook softball to become the #3 most played team sport by high school girls. As of 2006, the U.S. was the #1 country in the world for participation in youth soccer, with 3.9 million American youths (2.3 million boys and 1.6 million girls) registered with U.S. Soccer. Among girls, the U.S. has more registered players than all other countries combined. The number of high school soccer players more than doubled from 1990 to 2010, giving soccer the fastest growth rate among all major U.S. sports. In recent decades, more youth sports organizations have turned to soccer as a supplement to American football, and most American high schools offer both boys and girls soccer. Due to the rising number of youths playing, the term “soccer mom" is used in American social and political discourse to describe middle- or upper-middle-class suburban women with school-age children. Americans between the ages of 12 and 24 rank professional soccer as their second favorite sport behind only American football. And in 2011, the FIFA video game ranked as the #2 most popular video game in the country, behind only Madden NFL.

Though organized locally by organizations all over the United States, there are three main youth soccer club leagues working nationwide through affiliated local associations. The United States Youth Soccer Association boasts over three million players between the ages of five and 19, while American Youth Soccer Organization has more than 600,000 players between the ages of four and 19. Finally, the USL offers a number of youth leagues, including the Super-20 League and the Super Y-League, which have almost 1,000 teams and tens of thousands of players from the ages of 13 to 20.

The cache is a tied in, camoed “small” pill bottle, that can hold a bit of SWAG and TBs. There’s a pencil as well as a standard log with rubber band and sealed plastic bag. Please keep track of it all and let me know if something is missing.