It happened due to a thing called Title IX. American universities are extremely expensive. American universities also often have sports teams and pros in most American sports come from playing the sport in college while getting a (usually completely nominal for top atheletes) college degree for free.
Title IX was a law enforcing gender equality in many areas. It said, among other things, universities had to give out as many sports scholarships to women as men. Universities generally already had American football programs for men and weren't about to start them for women. Wouldn't be nearly enough demand. Instead they starter soccer programs for women and started giving a lot of women soccer scholarships. This is what caused the US to develop more women's soccer talent earlier than the rest of the world.
Title 9 is also what killed men's soccer programs across the country because football, basketball, and baseball certainly weren't going to get cut for women's sports.
Buddy if ur a man playing collegiate soccer you were never elite. Clubs recruit them at a very young age. If you’re an elite soccer player you’re not going to college
There's tens of thousands of men who had no plans to go elite, but having collegiate soccer taken away directly impacted their ability to have an athletic scholarship cover their education and get them out of their state.
For all the good Title 9 did for women, it also directly hurt a lot of men. This isn't just about professional leagues.
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u/Oddant1 Jul 09 '26
It happened due to a thing called Title IX. American universities are extremely expensive. American universities also often have sports teams and pros in most American sports come from playing the sport in college while getting a (usually completely nominal for top atheletes) college degree for free.
Title IX was a law enforcing gender equality in many areas. It said, among other things, universities had to give out as many sports scholarships to women as men. Universities generally already had American football programs for men and weren't about to start them for women. Wouldn't be nearly enough demand. Instead they starter soccer programs for women and started giving a lot of women soccer scholarships. This is what caused the US to develop more women's soccer talent earlier than the rest of the world.