Americans have a strange relationship with soccer. It's the most popular sport in nearly every other country on Earth, but Americans often view soccer as the wimpy brother of rugby or American football.

The Wareham Youth Soccer Club (WYSC) is filled with players and volunteers who would take great umbrage with this characterization, however, and with good reason because the sport requires a lot of endurance: do soccer players ever stand still on the field?

The fuel that fires up the WYSC is the passion of the volunteers who make the program possible. From board members to coaches, virtually everyone is donating their time.

"We have people in the system who don't have kids here anymore...they still make that time to help the kids get better and enjoy the game. Without them there is no club," according to Wareham Youth Soccer Club President and Director of Coaches Paul Neely.

Neely cites one coach who he just brought on this year, saying "She's completely unsure of what she's doing but she's very passionate." Oftentimes, "We're training coaches as much as we're training kids." In this giant soccer family, the drive to help out is just as important as technical expertise. It's not just the parents of players who are contributing either. "We have kids who have gone through the program...who will come back as juniors and seniors and coach," says Neely.

In Massachusetts, soccer is relatively popular. Neely says that, "At least up until a few years ago, Massachusetts ranked second in the nation in the level of youth soccer participation behind only California, and ahead of states with better year-round climates, and higher populations."

The WYSC is divided by age, and also into the recreational and the travel leagues. Recreational soccer ends at age 14, with the more serious players going on to play on travel teams. "In general a Travel player is playing against a faster, more organized opponent...recreational teams tend to change players from season to season, while travel teams are likely to be made up of largely the same players." This allows the team to grow together and learn to play a more fluid game.

Although the World Cup tends to peak the nation's interest in the sport every four years, most turn out to be the same type of bandwagon fans who didn't start rooting for the Red Sox until October 2004.

"I believe that each time the Men's or Women's World Cup Tournaments are played, interest is soccer increases somewhat just to trail off again shortly after the tournament ends...What the World Cup does is give the passionate fan everywhere something to celebrate," says Neely. "It's only natural that different people take an interest in different sports."

As Neely acknowledged, "You'd have a tough time getting me to go to a cricket match."