Millions of kids in the U.S. have many more places to play soccer compared to a decade ago, but the sport’s popularity masks a divide that can leave children from lower income neighborhoods shut out.
Although more than 390 new soccer fields have been created in South Florida since 2014, they aren’t distributed evenly among neighborhoods. Some children must still scramble to find a field.
“Roughly 28 million children in the U.S. don’t have a place to play within walking distance of them,” said Lex Chalat, the executive director at U.S. Soccer’s Soccer Forward Foundation.
Why most budding soccer players quit by age 14
Soccer in the United States, unlike in many other countries, operates largely on a pay-to-play model. According to the 2025 State of Play report from the Aspen Institute, the average U.S. family spends $1,016 on their child’s primary sport, up nearly 50% in five years…