5 Ways to Increase Access to Futbol for a Younger Generation
It's pretty clear that soccer is not a dominant sport in the U.S.
While still in an upward spiral of growth, it is an ecouraging thought to imagine it will become a dominant sport one day. In all honesty, I don't know why I care so much. Maybe it is out of selfishness. Maybe I want to see our country produce top quality soccer. Maybe I want to share and promote the sport because I know what it gave me in return. Maybe the lessons found in the sport are bigger than the sport itself. Regardless, this is another caffiene fueled piece that seeks to question the American soccer status quo and challenge the innerworking of how we approach youth soccer in our country.
Lower Club Fees.
The cost to play American club soccer is too high. Even Zlatan Ibrahimovich, during his short stint with the LA Galaxy, pointed out this problem with our pay-to-play model. “It has to be said that the sport is expensive, very expensive,” Zlatan said. “For example, in order for my children to play in a good football team, I have to pay $3,500 per child. It is not for the figure, but for the whole concept...I dislike it very much because not everyone has the money needed and the sport should be something for everyone, because it unites people of whatever origin.”
In most countries, the sport serves as an equalizer between classes, but in our country, it is the opposite. Parents, and even players, are forced to shell out massive amounts of cash to play a season in the club soccer system. While this system allows clubs to thrive in affluent ares, it creates a massive disparity between those that have less. In my own experiences, I have found that the hungrier, grittier players, the players with real talent and less resources are riddled out of the system at key stages of development. Often times, they can't afford club fees. In other cases, their morale takes a big hit when teams are forced to disband due to finances, eventually leading them to quit soccer. Our higher divsions lack gritty, technical players with ability and IQ. Instead, we import players from other countries with these traits, while a good amount of our home grown players are comprised of ex colleigate players that were able to pay their way through a system of soccer development. No disrespect to any home grown player who have worked immensively hard to get to that level, but the route to get there is inefficient. This is a big problem if we want to become serious competitors on the world stage. We can change this by dropping club prices, and alter the sources of funding.
Build a Community.
Money doesn't need to flow in solely from parent's checkbooks and credit cards. Instead, we can build sustainable systems to raise money through community. I have always been amazed at how small clubs overseas are able to pull this off.
Throughout my experiences with the game, I have noticed the importance of a club's field and infrastructure, especially, the clubhouse. Maybe foreign to some Americans, the clubhouse is a building, typically next to the field, usually with a bar and other facilities for members of the club. This is an important resource in raising capital. Parents filter inside during and after training sessions to pay for a drink, a meal and, most importantly, a sense of community. Drawn togther under the crest, fans share a laugh and watch players train from indoors. Players limp inside for team meals, and club administrators hustle off team merchandise in the doors of a club house. The same facility is used to host events, like birthdays and team gatherings. This is not only an important piece of raising capital, but growing community. A stronger sense of community is a stronger sense of loyalty.
Build Partnerships.
What is interesting is that most youth soccer clubs are already using highschool sports facilities for their practices. If highschools and soccer clubs worked together to create a more cemented partnership, where clubs could benefit from using more facilities, such as gyms, lockerooms, and classrooms, while the schools could benefit from additional funding and maintenance to these facilities, then a sustainable community could finally grow. Soccer clubs can worry less about players leaving for a competitive advantage and schools reap the benefits of talented athletes that are drawn to the facilities. A partnership would also mean more specific communication between highschool and club coaches. Right now, the consequences of playing both highschool and club soccer at the same time are ridiculous and harmful. Instead, coaches should work togther to create a healthier training environment that is advantageous to shared athletes.
Small business endorsements can also play a serious part in community building. Through opportunities of signage, jersey sponsorship, community events, and even merchandise sold inside the club house, small businesses would be willing to increase their footprint if clubs and schools allow them to. The growth of community is the way forward!
More Fields.
"If you build it, they will come." This is a quote from a 1989 sports fantasy drama, Field of Dreams, where Kevin Costner plays a baseball fan and Iowa farmer that is inspired to build a baseball field in his backyard because of a vision. Actually, one of my favorite movies, and similar to the movie, if you build facilities, kids will come. More soccer fields not only benefit the community, but grant opportunities to development programs and their operations to grow soccer talent. I know limited space is always an issue, and this an even better reason to shoot for a street soccer court.
More Courts.
We need a bigger street soccer culture in America. Street soccer is easily accessible and more informal, and the best part, you don't need much to build it. It would require adding goals to a slab of concrete, or a basketball court.
Former professional soccer player and NBC Sports analyst, Kyle Martino is particularly kicking ass in this direction with his "Over/Under Initiative." According to Forbes' Michael Rueda, "Martino's latest project...seeks to turn inner-city basketball courts into dual-sport spaces by installing permanent soccer goals under basketball hoops. Martino spent eight months with a top sports equipment engineer designing Goalpher, a patent-pending, black and bright-yellow soccer goal that, when not in use, stores easily and quickly into the surface under a hoop." The installation of soccer goals on basketball courts is exactly the type of projects we need to grow the sport and give kids the access they need, to play, to compete and create.
Venice Beach Futbol Club is another fantastic example of an entity helping to grow the sport and give kids access to the game. Sunday afternoons on the Venice boardwalk, just west of the basketball courts, a soccer community is growing. The music is loud, and the futsal is fast. Kids laugh, shout, and awe at the sight of sharp footwork and cleanly chipped goals. Soccer balls bounce in between the feet of the old and the young under an orange setting sun and palm trees. Tim Walsh, Dillon Chapman, and the rest of those sketchy characters have created an atmosphere that invites players to fall in love with the game, with a community that encourages freedom and self expression. This is what VBFC gets right. Football is not about showing up to a field, and having parents or coaches yell at you for 90 minutes. Football is about independence and creation. You don't need a million people watching, you don't need excessive gear, you just need a ball, and you're free.
Lotte Wubben-Moy, professional defender for Arsenal in the FA Women's Super League, best characterizes this freedom in street soccer through her piece in The Players Tribune. "Football is art. I really believe that. It’s a space where you can create, express yourself and be free. When you make a pass, when you take a shot, you are the owner of that creation. No one can take that away from you."
In Conclusion
When we do a better job opening up our sport to everyone, the world becomes a better place. We give kids another opportunity at self expression and autonomy that they never knew they had. Whether we are leveling the playing field to enter competitive youth soccer, creating sustainable community interactions that will allow soccer to grow, or just making the sport more present and accessible to kids at all ages, we can build a path forward for more soccer players, and better humans.
