Current Soccer Scene in Sacramento, California
Even though the rest of the country has slowly started to adopt soccer in a big way, building out new soccer stadiums, soccer fields, and supporting grassroot soccer leagues, Sacramento has almost always been a big proponent of this global game.
Sacramento was home to some of the biggest soccer tournaments throughout the early 1900s all the way up to today, and continue to support the sport more than almost any other city in the country. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many, as soccer has always been an international game and Sacramento is arguably one of the most international and diverse of all of the major US cities.
Those looking to get started in the local soccer community, as well as those that are interested in helping to throw this soccer community nationally are going to have a lot of opportunities to do exactly that in Sacramento.
The soccer scene has never been brighter in Sacramento and it currently is – and it’s only going to get even brighter as time goes on!
Soccer has always been huge in Sacramento
As mentioned above, soccer has always been really, really big in Sacramento, and it’s only grown since its earliest days.
Many of the biggest tournaments in the country originate in Sacramento, and some of the oldest soccer teams, soccer clubs, and soccer fields exist in Sacramento and throughout the Northern California region. Legendary players have come from all over this community, with more than 20 playing professionally in the MLS (or have played professionally in the MLS) and 20 more playing in Europe at the highest levels professionally.
There are still a variety of different major soccer tournaments held in Sacramento each and every year, and the US National men’s and women’s teams routinely make visits here to play in front of thousands and thousands of people.
The current health of the soccer scene in Sacramento is as solid as can be
The current soccer community in Sacramento is as solid and as robust as could be, and there are plans to build this community out even more just as quickly as humanly possible.
There are a number of semi-professional soccer clubs that currently exist in Sacramento or the Sacramento area (including the Sacramento Republic FC and the Sacramento Knights), and there are some pretty significant bids currently in the works to help get an MLS team in Sacramento.
The Sacramento Knights were able to routinely bring in crowds between 6000 and 7000 people per game for years and years, far outpacing the overwhelming majority of other semiprofessional soccer teams around the country.
This is only going to help the city of Sacramento and the community with their bid to attract an MLS team, though they are going to have to wait until the decision is made on the new Miami club.
Of course, professional soccer isn’t the only focus for those in the area.
There are year-round soccer training camps, soccer clinics, and all kinds of soccer fields for children, students, and adults that are looking to engage in this great game. We touched on it a little bit above, but Time magazine mentioned Sacramento as the most diverse city in the United States, and it continues to attract an international crowd.
These people bring with them a love of the game, and they are helping to expand that love of the game rapidly throughout Sacramento County and the rest of Northern California.
Sacramento is quickly establishing itself as THE place to train for soccer
The major reason that the US continues to kind of struggle on the international scene (outside of the dominant US women’s team, of course) is because there are so few international level training facilities dedicated to soccer in quite the same way that those in Europe and Asia are able to take advantage of.
Sacramento is looking to change that.
Along with the HNTB renderings designed to show the MLS what the new Sacramento Stadium will look like, there are also a considerable amount of proposals for major international soccer training facilities like the ones you’ll find in Europe. These “soccer academies” are half boarding school, half soccer training facility and should have no trouble producing the kind of top-tier superstars that the rest of the world has been producing and training for years and years now.
It’s very exciting stuff!