Soccer will dominate AFL and Cricket in Oz

[Ghost Dog]

Article in the Warrnambool Standard the other day about the death of Country cricket.
Summary:
Too many other choices for kids
Game takes too long for people with busy Saturday's.
Not as glamorous as it used to be ( Just have a look at attendances for state games )
Country clubs really struggle to get any sort of numbers now.

The worrying thing is, in the article they indicate AFL in the country is facing the same trend.
Chef made a good point the other day. Under 6's can't play AFL. But they can play soccer.
How long before the round ball game becomes the dominant code in Australia?

Not long probably. Any views on this? I'm not a parent, but can understand parents have some views on which sport they prefer their kids to play....

Delete thread if already one started on this nature.

I reckon they should start a touch rugby style of AFL for kids. I used to love touch rugby, and hey, you get to play with the girls

[ledge]

Soccer is coming big time , the things happening in AFL like rule changes and cheating are destroying it , the best thing soccer did was go to the summer it's opened people eyes to
What a great and simple game soccer is rules wise.
I was at Harry Kewells first game at the victory and sat in front of 5 mad AFL supporters, after the game they said they loved it and would start following it, the game was a draw and not a goal scored!

[bornadog]

I reckon they should start a touch rugby style of AFL for kids. I used to love touch rugby, and hey, you get to play with the girls

http://www.afl9s.com.au/

[chef]

My sons 9 and he's already lost to Soccer, as that was the first competitive sport he could play(from age 5) and that's what most the kids play in the breaks at school.

It might take 20 years, but it will revival and probably over take Cricket as the summer viewing sport.

[Maddog37]

My lad is ten and started futsal a few years ago. He is very good at it (fathers pride sorry) and was invited to state squad training etc so I thought that was it. They all play it at school etc etc.

He missed the first year of under ten footy as he had no interest and then all of a sudden this year he played footy and improved every week. They all play footy in footy season and soccer in summer.

Don't underestimate the power of footy as a game. Once you start to play it you very quickly develop a love of it. The Auskick program is very strong too.

Cricket will be the one to struggle especially the traditional format.


Funny thing is that as long as my kids are playing a sport and enjoying it whilst getting fit, I dont care what they play(as long as they support the Dogs in AFL).

[bornadog]

It might take 20 years, but it will revival and probably over take Cricket as the summer viewing sport.

I have been hearing this for the past 40 plus years.

[Mantis]

I have been hearing this for the past 40 plus years.

Up until maybe 5 or 6 years ago wasn't Soccer primarily a winter sport in this country?

[LostDoggy]

I have been hearing this for the past 40 plus years.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Stand in a bar from Cairns to Bunbury and the patrons will be watching cricket. IT is the true national game.

[Ghost Dog]

Up until maybe 5 or 6 years ago wasn't Soccer primarily a winter sport in this country?

Suburban and Country sport is the backbone of athletic development in this country.
Once upon a time soccer was not even an option in Hamilton. I tried it when I was a kid, but it folded due to lack of interest. We had two teams. The best bloke on the field was a double amputee. Was a girls game / "wogs" game ( rather cruel and inaccurate on both counts ). How things of changed. Kids with Premier league T-shirts etc

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Stand in a bar from Cairns to Bunbury and the patrons will be watching cricket. IT is the true national game.

They are finding it hard to field teams now in country vic. Hard to see how it's going to survive.

[bornadog]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Stand in a bar from Cairns to Bunbury and the patrons will be watching cricket. IT is the true national game.

You would say that

I agree, although attendances go up and down, during a test match, the radio is on all over Australia.

[Doc26]

Soccer is coming big time , the things happening in AFL like rule changes and cheating are destroying it , the best thing soccer did was go to the summer it's opened people eyes to
What a great and simple game soccer is rules wise.
I was at Harry Kewells first game at the victory and sat in front of 5 mad AFL supporters, after the game they said they loved it and would start following it, the game was a draw and not a goal scored!

My sons 9 and he's already lost to Soccer, as that was the first competitive sport he could play(from age 5) and that's what most the kids play in the breaks at school.

It might take 20 years, but it will revival and probably over take Cricket as the summer viewing sport.

It is coming that's for sure and may well start to build rapidly now that the A League has taken form over a period of years. It will go to another level once those brought up on the staple of winter being purely the domain of VFL/AFL and summer being cricket becoming truly captured by it.

As a collective, those of us brought up on this diet of AFL and Cricket are an incredibly loyal and passionate bunch tied to a strong Australian sporting culture. The A-League at least for this audience is relatively new and was always going to take some time to capture their hearts and importantly their loyalty and passion to a chosen Club.

~15-10 years ago I really couldn't have cared less for 'soccer' in this country other than to stay up each year with some mates to watch the FA Cup final.

Whether it was being frustrated over a long period with the direction of the game I love most of all, AFL, and with cricket seriously losing its identity in this country to those that were brought up on this staple of test cricket and then being equally captivated by the personalities that were a part of it, I now very much look forward each week to cheering on my chosen Club in the A League, The Victory.

I feel that sense of passion and loyalty building rather rapidly, and a shift I see opening the game up to current and future generations as I share my new 'passion' with my own children.

For me AFL and cricket moreso in this country have both seriously disenfranchised its heartland and in doing so has put a dagger into its traditional identity which it may now struggle to get back. Watching the recent test match at the Gabba spoke volumes to this. To a traditionalist, it was sad to see so many empty seats in the stands in the first test match of a series in Australia against the number one Test cricket nation at this time. I still love test cricket but feel there's not too many of us left and would struggle to find friends or family, other than my father, willing to spend a few days with me at the Boxing Day Test.

AFL may well escape to a point given it's a winter game but cricket in Australia is right in the crosshairs now of 'soccer' in this country.

There is a void that has been left open to all those once so loyal and passionate to these two codes that if 'soccer' in Australia plays its cards right will reap giant rewards by filling this hole.

[Twodogs]

My sons 9 and he's already lost to Soccer.

My lad is ten and started futsal a few years ago.

My son played half a season of footy and then decided soccer was for him. He played with a club last year and although he didnt play this year he's played a few games for his school.


We play in the backyard every night. And afternoon.

[DragzLS1]

From an AFL and Bulldogs supporter who has played soccer from the age of 9, been offered a scholarship to the states when I was 17 before injuring my ankle on 2 occassions keeping me out of the game for 4 years (and adding 20kg). I have been heavily involved in soccer both on and off teh field. I have always loved soccer, playing, watching it but will never give up on AFL or the Dogs!

There is room for both and especially with the A league during teh summer and AFL during the winter I dont see why they would both suffer. I know many people who do the same.

Cricket on the other hand I have never enjoyed nor will I understand, and am not suprised its drop over the last few years.

There is no game like Aussie rules and hope it stays strong, but there is no doubting the worlds no.1 sport. The AFL has to realise this threat and stay ahead of teh game. This wont happen with all these rule changes which is exactly the only aspect of soccer that is frustrating.

Go dogs!

[Cyberdoggie]

My son played half a season of footy and then decided soccer was for him. He played with a club last year and although he didnt play this year he's played a few games for his school.


We play in the backyard every night. And afternoon.

But is that because you also like soccer?
or because he wants to play soccer because his friends play soccer?


If all the kids at school are playing soccer than that's a big problem, because we all know how kids are with peer pressure. They all follow the leader.

My cousin isn't much of a sportsman but was playing footy outside of school and stopped because he didn't have any friends playing (was never going to be a future afl star). He started playing soccer because his friends at school were, and because they all play at lunch time. He doesn't actually like the game or know much about it.

He's actually now switched to playing baseball and golf which is interesting again.

I think the problem these days is also that a lot of parents are a little over protective with their children and they would rather they play soccer instead of AFL. Which in my opinion is silly at that age, there's no difference.

If the kids are all playing the sport at some level, at least they will have an interest if they don't continue with the sport. If soccer is the sport of choice in the play ground then AFL has a problem.

[mjp]

If soccer is the sport of choice in the play ground then AFL has a problem.

Soccer IS the sport of choice at school lunchtimes because:

- You can be completely without skill and still kick the ball. This is not true in football.
- Primary school teachers are predominantly female and have little ==> no idea (generalisation) of how to teach someone how to kick.
- There is a perception within school admin that whilst soccer is 'safe' football is not.

Just because it is easy to get started doesn't mean it is easy to get better though - you have to spend hours with a ball to improve (just like football) and what happens AFTER school and where parents enrol their kids to play sport remains the key determining factor in what becomes their sport of choice.

My kids will never play soccer. Ever. They are indoctrinated and this indoctrination is supported every time they watch part of a game and watch players rolling on the ground in 'agony', faking for free kicks and teams who are more interested in not losing than winning. And it is this last point that is important - the rule changes in the AFL aren't the problem with the sport - it is teams that play the way we did in 2012 that are the problem...boring teams who don't want to run and take the game on create a lousy spectacle which leads to disinterest.