The magic question becomes: what will it cost to get a team up and running?
Tulsa has had a strong soccer culture since the 1970's you'd think it would be a cinch.
Back in the 70's soccer had huge popularity because every child from about age 7 and up played. My whole family played, and every friend I knew. My mom even played. We went to Rough Neck games whenever we could because it was exciting to see a sport you were involved in.
When Charlie & Paula Mitchell moved in across the street from us, we thought we were in celebrity heaven.
By the time my little sister started in soccer (about 1977), something new had come along that sucked the kids right off the field. Every day after school, there were fewer and fewer kids showing up at practice. I stopped participating, and I remember why!
The Atari 2600 hit the market. No more trips to the arcade on the corner. A $200 gift for the whole family. Myself and my band of motley mop heads would gather in a dark living room after school, and be there until dinner, only to return after speed-eating a bowl of whatever.
After that day, I don’t remember participating in the sport, going to a game or a single soccer reference. Because most of the schools treated soccer as a non-scholastic sport, it slowly died, as did many other after school kids sports. The incentive to go see soccer heroes on the field died with it.
That was my experience.
