Beckley, WV (WOAY) The 2026 World Cup is well underway, and a new generation of American soccer fans gets to see international competitions take place in their home country.
In 2022, 8% of Americans said they actively followed soccer; in 2026, that share increased to 12%. For 18-34-year-olds, the leap is even bigger, from 13 to 22%, according to statistics from yougov.com.
Jason Logan, Chief Complex Officer for the YMCA of Southern West Virginia, thinks one possible reason young people are leading American soccer’s growth is the sport’s accessibility at a young age.
“It’s one of those sports that you can get involved with very young. You know, here at the Y, we offer U-4 soccer, obviously, the youngest you can get in. So you could be 3 to 4 years old, jumping in. And I think a lot of times people come in, and they experience it, their kids enjoy it, they enjoy it, enjoy the atmosphere, the program… and they just keep coming back.”
Youth sports are great ways for kids to learn social skills and teamwork, and coaches like Logan want to help the next generation make the same kinds of connections on the field that they did.
“…All through, you know, middle school and high school years, then going to college and playing soccer at Marshall and then, you know, after that, moved back to Beckley, started a family… and then got back involved in soccer and coaching and such, and then ultimately got back involved with the YMCA, which is a special project for me because I grew up in the Y, and now I get to give back to those kids that were me at one point in time.”
Soccer is the most popular sport globally, with estimates ranging from 3.5 to 6 billion fans worldwide. Logan says he has seen it foster connections across cultures, even in our backyard.
“America, obviously, is an influx of all kinds of different people from different countries and different, you know, backgrounds and cultures and such. We have a lot of the guys from the Mexican restaurants who come out and play on Saturday mornings… So they always end up playing a pickup game, and then you’ll see different groups of people come out and, you know, a lot of times you’ll see an intermix of different cultures playing, and you know, that’s beautiful because with the game, you don’t need to speak the same language—you just go out and play.”
