Fans are going crazy with anticipation as football season approaches, but there is another sport whose players are about to take the field. A different fútbol. That would be the game of soccer.  

Football is a great sport, one that hits the highlight reel each night on ESPN and fills the stands from the pee-wee level to the NFL. The top youth football association in America is American Youth Football. It is comprised of boys from age 7 to 15. The AYF advertises itself as the “largest youth football tournament on earth,” involving over 25,000 teams. The organization has a goal of “develop(ing) young players with the help of adult leaders in American football.” They also film videos on Youtube to show highlights of their games.

In many minds, football is better than soccer, because of how many kids participate. According to Totalsportek.com, football is the twelfth most popular sport in the world, behind both baseball and golf, and far beyond soccer, ranked #1.

Though football is a historic American sport, soccer’s popularity continues to grow. Many kids begin their soccer career by playing in AYSO.  AYSO is an organization where kids aged 4-19 can grow in their knowledge and ability. AYSO has over 50,000 teams and 650,000 participants. Many say,soccer’s popularity has grown world-wide.

As the player’s skills and experience grow, the opportunity to join a ‘Select’ team may arise. From there, the possibility of a club team might be the next step. Here, the best of the best battle it out in league games and tournaments.

Although football and fútbol are both great sports, people disagree over which sport is better.  Statistics seem to show that soccer may win that debate.