The History of Soccer in the Chippewa Valley: The Global Origins of the Game, the Arrival of Soccer and its Impact in the Chippewa Valley

Abstract

This paper is an effort to present soccer as the premier sport in the Eau Claire area amongst youth. It will show its popularity not only with young but also older players as well and its impact on the local sports scene. Also I am hoping that it will help those who read it, to better understand its global popularity and its impact on different societies around the world since its invention thousand years ago. Soccer has conquered the world and the only place that is not considered a major sport is the United States. The nature of the game (no timeouts, low scoring matches, foreign roots) combined with the unfriendly TV marketability have relegated soccer to a youth only sport. That notion has started to change the last twenty years or so with the successes of the U.S. Women’s National team and the exportation of American soccer players in countries like England, Germany and Holland where soccer is considered the national sport. At the local level the success of the UWEC women’s team and the various high school teams have brought soccer in the forefront and out of the shadows of other sports in the area. With over two thousand kids and six hundred adults participating in various soccer leagues in Chippewa Valley, soccer has become the fastest growing sport in the area.