I don’t know if I’ve shared this with you before: I’m old.
Turning 50 this year.
As I sit here in my gray recliner in Carrollton listening to Tyler Childers cover Pink Floyd’s version of “Time,” I’m also thinking about this weekend’s events in soccer and contrasting it with what I knew of the sport as a kid in the 1970s.
It beats going to the grocery store.
Gio Reyna bags three assists for Borussia Dortmund.
Chris Richards starts for Bayern Munich and gets an assist
Sergino Dest starts for Barcelona, becoming the first American to play for the Catalan giants.
Those are just a few of the highlights of Americans around the world over the weekend.
It’s stunning how quickly the sport is developing and advancing in the United States through the global marketplace.
As a kid growing up in Mableton, there was no access to information – or knowledge of – Barcelona, Munich, Dortmund – other than if they were the game on Soccer Made in Germany, or in a book scavenged by the library. In the 80s, those clubs would mentioned during broadcasts of the World Cup. Still, just fuzzy ideas in my mind.
My 7-year-old self kicking a ball in the backyard against the house or a blanket hanging over a wire strung between two tall pine trees had no dream of playing of professional soccer. It wasn’t a seed in my mind because there was nothing from which to draw. I couldn’t play for Barcelona because I didn’t know it existed. I couldn’t play for Munich or Dortmund because Soccer Made in Germany could barely be watched on our old TV, much less heard through static.
It was an impossibility because it was unknown.
I’ve long thought that if the U.S. wanted to become a soccer power, a small portion of the kids in our vast country needed to see that the sport provided a path to make as much money and fame as can be done by playing in the NFL or NBA.
Players aren’t going to make that kind of money or get that kind of recognition playing for clubs in MLS. It may happen one day but it’s not going to happen right now outside of a isolated examples. That’s OK. MLS is still developing and getting better every season.
But showing that kids can dream of not just signing with but playing for Barcelona, Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, etc. changes that dynamic.
Soccer can become a choice of sport instead of an introduction to sport, which is still is for most kids.
The next step to draw some of these kids is for Richards, Dest, Christian Pulisic, Reyna, etc. is to continue to be impactful players. TV commercials in the U.S. Endorsed products in the U.S. Name-dropped in songs.
That brings more fame. That brings more money. That brings more glory. That brings more kids to the sport.
Then, the American marketplace, already being seen as a pipeline by teams in leagues run by federations with relaxed passport rules, will truly open up. There will be enough enough talented players for clubs around the world, enough talented players to spark rosters in MLS and USL.
Enough to help America become a true power in global soccer.
For the first time in my life, I can feel a truly positive tide for the sport I love in our country.
I hope it’s realized before I get too old.
Anyone need anything from the grocery store?
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