Lack of respect for Soccer

[ohsref23]

i agree

[trackman]

Friday night high school football in the fall is a part of our culture. That's why it's important and gets respect. Maybe if soccer is still around in 100 years, soccer will grow in popularity. Maybe when today's players are old enough to influence things or soccer is popular enough, schools will have equal or adequate facillies.

 

If you want more, go out and earn it. Some schools already have great facilities - because people have worked for them.

[IN2VOLS]

And i guess you have one several state championships yourself trackman. My class alone is shooting for our 3rd distric championship in 4 years, we HAVE earned the respect by going to the state quarters and semis.

[jc1]

Football and Basketball pays the bills not soccer. No offense to soccer. Thats just the way it is. You have 2000 or more people paying 6 dollars a pop to watch football not soccer. Where you lucky to have over 100 at a soccer game at 3 dollars a pop. You add it up. That doesn t come close to paying the officials for one game. The Money comes mainly from football gates. Sorry but that is just the way it is. And I love Soccer AND FOOTBALL.

 

"If you want something someone else has. You have to do what they did to get it"

EARN IT!

Edited April 1, 2004 by jc1

[mtnman]

I have a number of thoughts but they may be random.

 

1. Many schools hire non-faculty members to coach soccer. Immediately this person is seen as an outsider coming in to "use" the facilities.

2. MOST football coaches (or at least the assistants) put alot of time into maintaining the fields. Soccer coaches (if they are not full-time teachers at the school) probably don't do anything with the fields.

3. $$$ Football brings it and pays for the field. Soccer doesn't so football coaches feel they have more rights to the facility. (I am not saying this is right, but it is the way it is)

 

It comes down to adminstration being administrators. Have the soccer coaches met with the football coaches and athletic directors? Can you work out some kind of agreement? This is not easy and may take some time.

 

Administrators need to try to hire full-time faculty members to coach soccer. There will be a little more than a team approach.

 

Soccer coaches, players and parents need to show they are willing to put time into maintaining fields and raising money. (many do already)

 

There is a lack of respect for soccer which makes things even worse.

 

Boyd-Buchanan doesn't have much of a problem with this. I went to practice one day and the football team was practicing on the outfield of the baseball field. The soccer team plays all their games on the main field. (the only one they have) The difference there is you have an administration that administrates and you have a football coach that cares for students not just his team.

[trackman]

Congratulations on all your championships. You obviously feel them to be very important. Winning in soccer does not necessarily mean you have the respect of your school mates, the school administration, or the community. All it means is that you've won three district championships, - in soccer.

 

I believe many schools, like Smyrna, are working to have good facilities. And probably one day most schools will; however, winning alone won't get those facilities. Hard work off the field is needed too.

 

Some schools have excellent facilities for track and field, and others don't. It's because somebody got the facilities built They worked for them.

 

I didn't mean to upset anybody, I just meant that football has been around a long time and is a definite part of the American scene. Don't get bent out of shape because soccer is not as important to the majority of people.

[stayNskool]

The thing is...Soccer will be around in 100 years... as will football... however thanks to the CONSTANT influx of hispanics into America Soccer will be flourishing like no other sport in 100 years... you can believe that! However for now those of us that love our sport in this day and age just have to put up with the prejudice that football coaches and administrators of schools have towards soccer from groing up in a non soccer friendly time. To be honest I feel the greatest of ambassadors for our sport, are actually our women... Every man on the planet is attracted to female soccer players and therefore will come to see a soccer match just for the girls' and often times come away with more respect for the game and hopefully, ultimately gain some knowledge and appreciation for what we do... Its coming slowly but it won't be too long before soccer programs in the south willl have the same kind of respect that our counterparts up north and out west have... in the northeast soccer matches routinely outdraw or at least draw the same number of fans to matches as their schools football squad does! and the soccer friendly climate is even greater out west... and as the south grows culturally we will see the same affect

[Seldon]

Ya do what ya gotta do. Farragut is one of the premier soccer programs in the state yet receives almost no financial or moral support from the school. The soccer team and facilities are run and maintained by the coach and the boosters club. The coach donates his pay to the booster club. Finances are obtained by selling advertising in the program and donations from parents; uniforms are paid for by the parents; the practice field is maintained by the coach and parents; games are played on the football field which is maintained by the soccer parents during the spring. But by god, if the football coach (who hasn't had a winning season this century) wants to line the field for football so he can have a spring scrimmage, then that's the way it is, the heck with the soccer team.

 

But as pathetic as Farragut has been in football, they will still put more people in the stands than soccer will. That's just the way it is. I don't see this attitude toward soccer changing anytime soon, so we just gotta do what has to be done until it does.

[crkjon]

I was wondering how many schools have a problem with what seems to me to just be flat out disrespect for soccer. Today the ooltewah owls were denied a place to practice at their own school. The gamefield (off limits on a reg basis due to the football coach) and the practice field were both taken over by the track team, for a meet that is probably still going (no matter what time you read this). The ooltewah girls team practices at a soccer complex a solid 15 min away from campus b/c the fields are in use. The mens team however was denied use of this complex last year, so that was not even a consideration. Perhaps the biggest game of the season is coming up thursday, and no one batted an eye when we were denied practice time...no one cared. To make matters even worse, a new softball field is being built at ooltewah, but the plan for a soccer field was denied. Any others schools have problems like these? if so, how have yall adressed such issues with the your administrations (for the coaches i guess)?

Cry Me a River............. lifes tough....deal with it

[Irish17]

crkjon I'm guessing you don't play soccer. If you do then you've just completely disrespected your own sport for some reason, and if you don't then you are on the wrong threads buddy. Getting back to the topic. I know Knox Catholic got no help with facilities, coaching, or funding period until we made it to states. Soccer is year in and year out the most succesful program at our school and we still have to buy our own warmups and shorts and socks because we don't get funded.

[Zizou159]

Just curious, but how many people on here have some kind of sponsors for their teams? I would imagine that practically every football team in the state has sponsors who help pay for their equipment.

Edited April 2, 2004 by Zizou159

[soccerryno22]

i agree with crkjon, posting in here isn't going to do jack to help your soccer program get funding and facilities, you're just listening to everyone complain about how soccer is the step-child of their school athletics. i love soccer, but this isn't how you're going to bring it into the forefront of your school and such, posting in a forum dominated by soccer players who will most likely agree with you and just sit in here and vent.