From a sheer population standpoint, California and Texas are big enough to produce some of the nation’s top soccer talent. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey - two of America’s all-time greats - hail from those states (Donovan from Ontario, CA and Dempsey from Nacogdoches, TX). However, that doesn’t mean these states are the best for producing America’s next superstars. Or, maybe we should say, living in those states doesn't give you the greatest chance of becoming a professional player.
The truth is, in the United States, if you’re not in the "top crop" of players on the national scene, the task of gaining recognition will be long and hard. But fear not, we've done the work to determine where you need to live in order to maximize your probability of becoming the next DeAndre Yedlin.
Below, we've conducted an analysis of how many professional players each state produces on a "per capita" basis - specifically breaking down, per 100,000 males in state, how many pro players each state "creates." This evens the playing field for smaller states and allows us to see which state has the best track record of developing world-class soccer talent. Granted, you might say past success is no indicator of future performance. But we're not in the financial industry, so we're pretty sure you should take this as gospel.
Based on the numbers, let’s just say that soccer is most definitely alive and well in the United States, with only a few exceptions:
It's pretty clear from this inforgraphic that the Northwest is indeed a hotbed for soccer in the United States. (We've always known that the Emerald City Supporters are some of the best fans in the country, so we feel vindicated on that front.) Beyond the Northwest, though, America's development system also appears to be alive and well. Below is a recap of the top 10 states, by number of male players to go pro per 100,000 males:
#1 Washington: 3.09 per 100,000
#2 Missouri; 2.6 per 100,000
#3 Oregon: 2.32 per 100,000 people
#4 New Jersey: 2.06 per 100,000 people
#5 Hawaii: 1.87 per 100,000 people
#6 California: 1.71 per 100,00 people
#7 Maryland: 1.7 per 100,00 people
#8 Virginia: 1.67 per 100,000 people
#9 (Tie) Pennsylvania & Colorado: 1.41 per 100,000 people
At the other end of the spectrum, the states that have produced 0 professional players active in the game today: Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
The net-net? If you’re an aspiring young player looking for the best way to go pro, you might want to check out smaller states who value soccer and produce lots of professionals on a per capita basis (Oregon and Hawaii, we're looking at you). Competition will still be fierce but you won’t have to compete against as many kids to garner attention and playing time. And if you believe Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule (which hypothesizes that instead of raw talent, it only takes 10,000 hours practicing to become a true pro in anything), it would mean you could possibly reach that number a little quicker.
Of course, if you're a skeptic (and we know you're going to respond), some of these comparisons are so close that there isn’t much of a noticeable difference and it is by no means an exact science. But it does break previous notions of California being the mecca of soccer talent. Numbers-wise, California produces the most professionals total, but your chances of getting noticed are higher in Washington, Missouri, Oregon, New Jersey and Hawaii; states that (apparently) love soccer and have a smaller population to contend with. Interesting food for thought.
