Soccer alive and kicking in America

The FIFA Women's World Cup ended with the United States National Team raising the trophy after a 5-2 victory over Japan on July 5 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Rising with the trophy was the profile of American soccer.

Consecutive World Cup titles by the U.S. men's and women's team's in 1998-99 boosted the sport's popularity in the states. Now 2015, the national interest in the sport couldn't be higher - evident by the record-breaking number of viewers who tuned in to watch the U.S. women play and an increasing number of participants in youth leagues and high schools nationwide.

Soccer is alive and kicking in America today. That wasn't the case almost a quarter century ago when the women's team won the inaugural World Cup in 1991. The story of that team grazed the inside pages of most national newspapers, as members of the team alluded to in the ESPN film "The 99ers."

Interest in soccer state-side started to blossom in 1994 after nine different American cities played host to the Men's World Cup. When the Women's Cup came to the States in 1999, Mia Hamm and company became front-page news, sold out football stadiums and earned celebrity status on their way to claiming gold with a 5-4 shootout victory over China in the final. That game was the most viewed female sports event in U.S. history until July 5.

"Women's soccer grew so much because of that," St. Marys boys soccer coach Dave Ring said. "The growth of soccer overall, even with the men's program if you go back to '94 when we hosted the World Cup, the growth of our national teams on both sides has been outstanding. Youth soccer has just really taken off. Major League Soccer is doing so well. They're expanding again. They have soccer-specific stadiums, and they just have a great vision for the future of soccer."

This year's World Cup Final shattered television marks. The game drew an average of 26.7 million viewers, according to an article by the Associated Press. The viewership peaked at 30.9 million from 8:30-8:45 p.m. and at least 43.2 million tuned in to catch some of the match. It drew higher ratings than key games in the World Series, NBA and Stanley Cup Finals.

And Carli Lloyd put on a show for the masses.

Lloyd's performance was one of the best in title-game history - for any sport. The 32-year old recorded a hat trick in the first 16 minutes - including a goal from 50 yards away - to lead the United States' onslaught of Japan four years after losing to them in the final.

"It was nice to see someone other than the typical stars for the U.S. step up," St. Marys girls soccer coach Seth Hertenstein said. "I think that shows some people, some little girl, that you don't have to be that star to step up and be the hero. You can be just a role player and then all of a sudden step up and take over a game or even a tournament and dominate."

"What's going on with this national team (is) you see so many great young players," Ring added. "I mean, Julie Johnston I think was our best player, and she's young, she's dynamic and just awesome. There's a defender getting a lot of young girls to understand that it's not just the scorers who are important, it's what everybody on the team does. Yeah, it's been inspiring."

Players from the U.S. national teams have become household names. Women such as Johnston, Lloyd, forward Alex Morgan, veteran star forward Abby Wambach, and men like forward Clint Dempsey, forward Jozy Altidore, goalie Tim Howard and now-retired Landon Donovan have inspired a new generation who hope to become the next great American soccer star.

"Between last year's World Cup for the men to this year's for the women, the excitement between the players and kids getting to see the talent that's out there, whether it's Michael Bradley, Fabian Johnson or any of the guys from the national team or anybody from the women's side, (it's inspiring)," Ring said. "My daughter still has a Mia Hamm shirt to this day from '99 when we went and watched them in Chicago. Absolutely, it does inspire them."

"Anytime the kids can watch as much soccer as they can, it helps. It helps them learn the game, and they kind of want to emulate those stars," Celina boys coach Ryan Jenkins said. "It's been kind of nice, some of the bigger stars have stayed in the MLS as opposed to going over to Europe. Some of the bigger stars have stayed home, which has really helped grow the game."

The number of soccer players in Celina youth leagues (U8, U10, U12) has increased exponentially over the last two years. As of 2012, 211 combined boys and girls were playing soccer. That number jumped to 333 in 2013 and then to 411 this past fall. Parks and Recreation director Don VanderHorst said that while signups for fall are still ongoing, the numbers should be about the same this year. By comparison, the Celina recreational department reported a combined 352 baseball and softball players during the summer.

"The best thing that's helped, especially for Celina and St. Marys, is we've built nice junior programs," Ring said. "We're getting good athletes. From the parents' side, I think a lot has to do with the acceptance of soccer overall. The parents aren't saying 'No. You can't play soccer.' They're like 'You want to play, you go ahead.' That's a big change.

"Twenty years ago when we started these programs in St. Marys, that wasn't the way it was. Now we have 44 boys playing this fall and 48 girls playing."

Strong youth programs in Celina and St. Marys have laid the foundation for the rival Grand Lake high schools to turn into historical powers in the Western Buckeye League. The Celina girls hold the most league titles all-time with seven and the Roughrider girls last captured one in 2010. Ring's boys' team won back-to-back league titles in 2013-14 and the Celina boys are coming off their first ever regional appearance in 2014.

"I just think success breeds success," Celina girls coach Cal Freeman said. "When the little kids see these role models and they see what they would like to be some day and then they're be able to go out and compete, they pretend to be their favorite star, I just think that's great. I think it helps, not only from the parents' standpoint to encourage their kids to play, but it also brings the enthusiasm from the kids to the field."

"You talk to some of the parents when I first started, they didn't have the opportunity to play soccer because the school didn't have it," Jenkins said. "Now it's been around a while, the kids are growing up with it at home, so that's really helping keep the popularity going. In our area, we've had some success on the boys' and girls' sides, and it's been real fun."

Jenkins, a 2002 Celina graduate, recalled how much excitement there was in the country after the women won the Cup in 1999. Jenkins said that while the win boosted the sport's national popularity, the excitement eventually faded. He doesn't see that happening with the way things are currently.

"Back when I was in high school, there was a much smaller group that liked soccer. I mean, they were there but not to the extent it is now," Jenkins explained. "More and more people know the game and follow it, whereas before it was kind of just small group. If you played, yeah, you followed it. But a lot of people just kind of brushed it off.

"It was big when the women won it in '99, but then it kind of faded after it happened. It seems like with the success they've had over the last four years - the men and the women - it's building now."