‘Better and better’: World Cup could grow SC’s soccer successes

COLUMBIA — Tables were filled at a restaurant in South Carolina’s capital as excited American fans, wearing USA hats and shirts, filed in to watch the country’s latest try at ensuring a more permanent fixture for soccer.

The United States men’s team had won its World Cup group and advanced into the round of 16. It faced its biggest test of the tournament Monday against European power Belgian, and it was a can’t-miss event for most everyone in the room.

“This is really something,” said Patrick Burnette, co-owner of Soda City Football Club, a Midlands soccer club which hosted the watch party at Carolina Ale House.

This World Cup was the latest opportunity for the most popular sport in the world to take a stronger hold on Americans.

Burnette is in his second season with Soda City FC, a venture that has a men’s program that competes regionally and a youth component where boys and girls can gain the fundamentals of the game and prepare for whatever soccer future they seek to have.

Burnette believes the World Cup and the increased attention for the men will bring more inquiries from families who want to continue their experience on the soccer pitch.

“The more success the U.S. has,” Burnette said, “it will bring soccer to the front of our sports mecca here instead of football, baseball and basketball.”

Soccer has long tried to get a toehold in the American sports psyche, with several notable achievements.

There was a buzz in the late 1970s when the North American Soccer League and international stars such as Brazil’s Pele and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer brought their celebrity to the U.S. and brought out crowds whenever they played.

The United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, and Americans got to see the world’s best play close to home.

The U.S. women have been a dynasty of their own in winning four World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019) and five Olympic gold medals, including the last one in Paris two years ago.

College soccer

Each success has helped the game grow in South Carolina, already noteworthy in college soccer.

The University of South Carolina has had members of the U.S. national team on its roster, including forwards Clint Mathis (1994-97) and Josh Wolff (1995-97) and goalie Brad Guzan (2003-04).

Clemson’s men have won four NCAA soccer championships, including in 2021 and 2023.

The Tigers have produced U.S. national team members in defender Oguchi Onweyu and midfielder Stuart Holden, who was part of the broadcast team for U.S. games during this World Cup.

And then there’s the most successful soccer player to come out of a South Carolina school in Clint Dempsey, a Furman striker (2001-03) who is tied with fellow U.S. star Landon Donovan of California for most international goals by an American (57).

“South Carolina has produced some really good players for quite some time,” said Tony Annan, men’s soccer coach at the University of South Carolina.

He’s also built a following among the fan base as the Gamecocks have led college soccer nationwide in home attendance, averaging more than 4,300 people per game last year at Stone Stadium, which holds 5,700.

Annan sees enthusiastic young players at his yearly summer soccer camps who want to continue supporting the sport and turn out at men’s home games.

“Without a professional soccer team around, this is how they get their fix,” said Annan, who’ll start his sixth season with the Gamecocks.

Youth and professional soccer

There are some 25,000 registered youth players in the state, according to the South Carolina Youth Soccer organization.

That group, whose mission statement is “to make soccer the preeminent sport in South Carolina,” has launched the South Carolina Premiere Alliance designed to elevate the “highest level of youth soccer competition within the state.”

Kevin Heise, the athletic director and boys’ soccer coach at Gray Collegiate Academy, appreciates the efforts soccer youth groups have taken to grow the sport and make it accessible to all who want to play. Heise, coach at the charter high school with a sports focus, remembers the days when development was largely left to the individuals who might have only discovered their affinity for the game at a middle school camp.

These days, he said, youth groups are investing in the game and helping to lock in talented players to the high school competition. In all sports, there are amateur groups aimed at helping their students gain college scholarships.

“I do think the high school game’s more relevant than it’s ever been,” Heise said. “In terms of participation numbers, filling their programs and not just at the varsity level, but at the JV (junior varsity) and middle school levels.”

The state’s highest level of team soccer is the Charleston Battery of the United Soccer League. The team was founded in 1993, which makes it the oldest continually operating professional soccer club in the United States.

The team has averaged 3,931 fans so far this season at their Patriots Point stadium (5,012 capacity), among just seven of the 25 USL Championship league clubs to post an attendance increase this season.

Team assistant communications director Ben Clemens said many youth soccer groups come out to games and are among the loudest fans.

“They really love seeing the players up close after games,” he said.

No one knows for sure how much of an impact this year’s World Cup might have.

Fans at the watch party in Columbia earlier this week — there were similar gatherings near Greenville and at Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island where the Women’s Tennis Association holds a clay-court event each spring — were disappointed with the 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.

But most enjoyed the USA’s three-week run of success and are hopeful for more when the event celebrates its 100th year in 2030.

After hosting the World Cup in 1994, the U.S.-based Major League Soccer (MLS) was born and is still going strong with players like Lionel Messi in Miami.

U.S. fans can continue cheering for Messi in the World Cup, as he again plays for his native Argentina, which is defending its 2022 title. Argentina is scheduled to play Switzerland on July 11.

The World Cup final game is set for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Annan said this was as strong a U.S. national team as he can remember.

“It can get better and better here,” said the Gamecocks coach, an Englishman who attended three of his country’s World Cup games this summer. “We hope it will after what we’ve seen so far.”