The Valley United Soccer Club has boys’ and girls’ travel soccer teams at all age levels up to 18 years. The club has been successful and grown in popularity over the years; however, an obstacle to its continued growth is a shortage of practice and game soccer fields in the area. The club has tried to make a case to the town council and the parks and recreation committee that it needs more soccer fields to accommodate the increasing number of kids who want to play on club teams. The number of kids who have played soccer on club teams and the town’s population for the past 15 years are as follows:

Year Club Soccer Players Town Population 1 146 18,060 2 135 18,021 3 159 18,110 4 161 18,125 5 176 18,240 6 190 18,231 7 227 18,306 8 218 18,477 9 235 18,506 10 231 18,583 11 239 18,609 12 251 18,745 13 266 19,003 14 301 19,062 15 327 19,114 The soccer club wants to develop a forecasting model to demonstrate to the town council its expected growth in the future.

a. Develop a linear trend line forecast to predict the number of soccer players the club can expect next year.

b. The town planning department has told the soccer club that the town expects to grow to a population of 19,300 by next year and to 20,000 in 5 years. Develop a linear regression model, using the town’s population as a predictor of the number of club soccer players, and compare this forecasting model to the one developed in part (a). Which forecasting model should the club use to support its request for new fields? LO.1