From the first time a child puts foot to ball until the day a grinning team captain hoists a trophy above his head, soccer provides steps that lead to ever-higher levels. Players can start at any age -- 5 or under if you are a future Mia Hamm or Landon Donovan. Older players can also find places to begin basic play and take their game as far as they are capable.
Youth
Organized soccer tots programs expose children as young as 18 months to soccer. Children at age 4 can join clubs and leagues for recreational soccer at the U5 level. Soccer clubs begin offering competitive play at the U9 level, either as select recreational teams or travel teams for the best players. Solid players may be selected for a high school team, although the very strongest players will likely instead be selected for travel teams, their state or region's Olympic Development Program or the 78 teams associated with U.S. Soccer's academy system.
Amateur Adults
If you want to try to learn or play soccer as an adult, you can join a league appropriate to your level, be it recreational or competitive. Leagues may further subdivide recreational and competitive play into multiple divisions ranging from easiest to most difficult, sometimes with separate master's divisions for players who are over 40 or over 55. Another option is informal pickup soccer, which offers an option to work on your creativity.
Academies and Colleges
Older teens and young adults serious about the game can play college soccer or attend the IMG Soccer Academy in Florida, affiliated with U.S. Soccer, or academies affiliated with Major League Soccer teams. College soccer attracts the bulk of talented female players looking for a professional career or consideration for the U.S. women's national team, while male players are more likely to go through the academy system, modeled more on Europe's system of identifying top players.
Professionals
Professional soccer in the United States includes Major League Soccer, an 18-team league in the U.S. and Canada featuring outdoor games, and Major Indoor Soccer League, with seven teams that play in indoor arenas. Semi-pro teams also play in smaller markets. Top U.S. male players can gain contracts with European teams, with American goalkeepers seen particularly in the English Premier League. Female players can join one of the six teams of Women's Professional Soccer.
Competitions
Pro U.S. players can gain consideration for the U.S. men's and women's national teams, which play in the Olympics and the World Cup. With its brightly dressed and deliriously excited fans chanting and singing, the World Cup is favored by amateur soccer viewers for its spectacle and provides excellent exposure to undiscovered athletes who end up with big contracts. Soccer cognoscenti enjoy the World Cup, particularly as a means of following Brazil's powerhouse national teams. But they often prefer European club soccer, particularly the UEFA Champions League, over the World Cup for displaying the very highest level of soccer -- as teams like Manchester United and Barcelona duke it out for a cup with teammates who know how to work together better than national teammates, who have more limited time together.
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