3 ms·

Iceland's success is probably not reproducible in a larger nation. Due to their numerous indoor fields, which draw on the plentiful/cheap electricity from geoth

Iceland's success is probably not reproducible in a larger nation. Due to their numerous indoor fields, which draw on the plentiful/cheap electricity from geothermal power to keep the lights heated and grass growing, and their plethora of coaches (I heard 500 per capita) for their 300k population, it's really not feasible in China.

GFischer 8y ago
Here in Uruguay we don´t have cheap energy but we do have a ridiculous number of both professional and amateur leagues and coaches (and a lot of grassland to convert into soccer fields) For a population of 3 million: - Pro league with 30 pro teams (each with a youth system with 7-8 teams) + 80 semi-amateur teams (with promotion to the pro leagues) That's between 10.000 and 20.000 players in the pro system. 100 (or more) each year are sold overseas. - Very serious amateur league with 8.000 players every weekend in the capital city, Montevideo (any of those 8.000 players could be a pro in a weak national league) plus 2.000 players in the league for smaller cities. - Teenagers play leagues much like Americans might play high school and college sports, there are probably 30.000 teenagers playing in leagues - 140.000 players in all the leagues across all the smaller cities. So that's about 200.000 active players for a population of 3 million - I was one until a few years ago :) If China or India could achieve that much sports penetration (imagine 200.000.000 Chinese playing competitive soccer every weekend!), I don't doubt they'd be one of the top ranked teams in the world. https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.html https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.h... https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugadores-casi-10-equipos-n1155154 https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugad...
- tiuPapa 8y ago
  India has the penetration with cricket. Football has been growing, but I don't see any significant improvement happening before at least a decade.
bohadi 8y ago
500 coaches per capita? Energy resources for success in soccer? I'm happy for their team to go far this tournament as much as the next guy, but what in the world are you talking about?!
vraid 8y ago
> I heard 500 per capita You may have swapped your units there. 150 million coaches would be somewhat excessive for a population of 300 thousand.

GFischer 8y ago

Here in Uruguay we don´t have cheap energy but we do have a ridiculous number of both professional and amateur leagues and coaches (and a lot of grassland to convert into soccer fields) For a population of 3 million: - Pro league with 30 pro teams (each with a youth system with 7-8 teams) + 80 semi-amateur teams (with promotion to the pro leagues) That's between 10.000 and 20.000 players in the pro system. 100 (or more) each year are sold overseas. - Very serious amateur league with 8.000 players every weekend in the capital city, Montevideo (any of those 8.000 players could be a pro in a weak national league) plus 2.000 players in the league for smaller cities. - Teenagers play leagues much like Americans might play high school and college sports, there are probably 30.000 teenagers playing in leagues - 140.000 players in all the leagues across all the smaller cities. So that's about 200.000 active players for a population of 3 million - I was one until a few years ago :) If China or India could achieve that much sports penetration (imagine 200.000.000 Chinese playing competitive soccer every weekend!), I don't doubt they'd be one of the top ranked teams in the world. https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.html https://www.ovaciondigital.com.uy/futbol/mundo-futbolistas.h... https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugadores-casi-10-equipos-n1155154 https://www.referi.uy/tierra-fertil-2017-emigraron-107-jugad...

tiuPapa 8y ago
India has the penetration with cricket. Football has been growing, but I don't see any significant improvement happening before at least a decade.

bohadi 8y ago

500 coaches per capita? Energy resources for success in soccer? I'm happy for their team to go far this tournament as much as the next guy, but what in the world are you talking about?!

vraid 8y ago

> I heard 500 per capita You may have swapped your units there. 150 million coaches would be somewhat excessive for a population of 300 thousand.