Soccer in the City (2019) Movie Script

(ENGAGING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC)
[JOANNA] Soccer is the
most democratic sport
in the world, except for the
United States of America.
Lately I've been dreaming
Thinking that maybe
We're all gonna win
So I think it's
time to let go
I think it's time to let go
I think it's to let go
[RUBIO] Someone's always
behind you, don't mess it up.
(CROWD CHEERING)
[ANNOUNCER] Ball
deliciously delivered,
Trusty's in, and Trusty scores.
(ENGAGING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC)
No goals for the
weakness, yeah
They told us that
we reject, yeah
But with time we will
defeat the best, yeah
'Cause the sky
is never limited
I'm Justin Haak.
I play center mid
for New York City
Football Club, and
I'm 17-years-old.
This is the a park by my house,
just a couple of blocks down
that I would come to play
with my friends all the time.
Whenever I was bored, I
would just come out here,
play with 10 guys, pickup games.
This is the field
we would play on.
We would just put maybe
two bags right here
to make the goals,
then we would play
with 10 people,
five versus five,
maybe six versus six, in
this small little space.
[GIRL] Can I take
a picture with you?
[JUSTIN] Yeah.
Thank you.
Justin's a great story.
He was here from our
original team back in 2014,
and you know, he's
a kid from Brooklyn.
It's exciting, he's our
first academy player
that we signed from the
city, and I think he's earned it.
So I started playing
soccer when I was
about five, six-years
old at Chelsea Piers.
I was doing gymnastics,
and then I broke my arm there,
so my dad took me over to
soccer and that's when I started.
As soon as I started
playing soccer, I think
I just fell in
love with the game.
(GROUP CHEERS)
As soon as he joined
us he was this kid
who had tremendous
passion for learning,
for absorbing, for competing.
He wore the New York
City badge and continues
to with great pride, and
we just see him from really
11, 12-years-old in the area,
and now to what he is today.
He's almost a young
man playing out here
with the first team
players, is really a tribute
to him and our academy together
for the combined work
and his dedication.
After the first training
center, one of the coaches
told me, "If you keep
playing like that,
we'll see you a
lot more of you."
After a couple of months, I
was invited to actually join.
That's a neat milestone.
Justin's our first New
York City, five-borough boy
that signed for the first team.
He knows here he's in a
family that's gonna take care
of him and push him,
and develop him,
but he's at a great place
with great teammates
that are gonna help mentor
him and develop his game.
(PLAYERS LAUGHING)
When I walk onto the
field, it's a little more
than I expected,
especially the first time.
You nervous?
Yeah.
Why?
'Cause I never done this.
Enjoy it, my friend.
As the game grows, less and less
players will fall
through the cracks.
The opportunity that a lot
of the academies are opening
for players of all
different backgrounds,
they're offering
these players a place,
an opportunity, a
scholarship if you will,
as close to a professional level
as you can get for
a 14, 15-year-old.
[ANNOUNCER] Number
80, Justin Haak.
(CROWD CHEERS)
The fans, they're so
great in Yankee Stadium,
and it's a surreal experience.
I think the cities
in the United States
have a lot of good players.
It's just finding the
players, like for example,
this club and NYCFC is
doing a really good job,
and only this is now the
fourth year of the academy,
and we've already had
three home-grown signings,
so I think we're taking
steps in the right direction.
To a little kid that's
looking to be a professional,
I would say it's important
to always believe in yourself.
If you do that,
nobody can stop you,
and it's important
to work every day.
You can't take days off
and think, oh, I'm just gonna
relax today 'cause
tomorrow I can train.
You always have
to work every day.
(UPTEMPO SYNTH MUSIC)
Collectively at five,
pass and move, pass and move.
Give me a airplane,
you are the tail.
[NARRATOR] Lincoln
Phillips for over five decades,
he's been playing,
coaching, and keeping
a close eye on
soccer in America.
The game is played in a
hectic, stressful situation,
the players all around you,
and it causes a lot of stress.
And we should train within
the same environment.
[NARRATOR] During much
of the 20th century,
attempts to popularize
soccer in America
were often an
exercise in futility.
Leagues started, failed,
and then new leagues
would take their place,
destined for the same outcome.
Even while soccer remained
a passion amongst immigrant
and working class
communities, it could not
break through into the
American sports mainstream.
Immigrants, already
seeing the game,
it started catching on,
you know you had the son
of the immigrant,
he started to play.
In 1968, a recreational
league got together
and it was formed into the
North American Soccer League.
The game was played in quarters
and you had a vibrant league.
The soccer was excellent
because you had these guys
playing the soccer and so
on, but it was not vogue.
It was not in the schools.
And from '68 it went like
this and then it fizzled out
because people
started losing money.
They decided to bring
in some big name people.
And they brought in Pele.
[NARRATOR] In 1975,
Edson Arantes do Nascimento
came to America,
better known as Pele,
this international superstar,
and three-time World Cup winner,
was brought in to
deliver a much needed
shot in the arm to
the game, stateside.
Pele single-handedly,
single-handedly
because the year before
Pele came, we had about
maybe 3000 came to
see the Yanks play.
When Pele came the
following year, they went to Europe,
69,000 people showed up
because Pele was there.
Pele was a good pioneer
but unfortunately in building
the game, Pele was never
taken to the inner cities.
[NARRATOR] When Pele
retired for the second time,
just three years after signing
with the New York Cosmos,
professional soccer in
the US faded once more
into the background
of American sports.
A brief revival during
the 1984 Olympics
in Los Angeles helped put
soccer in the headlines,
but it was short lived,
dying again later that year,
along with the North
American Soccer League.
Then, on the Fourth of
July, 1988, FIFA made
the controversial
decision to give
the 1994 World Cup
to the United States.
The US had beaten out
Brazil and Morocco
for the right to
host the tournament,
and FIFA was widely criticized.
One journalist even
compared the decision to holding
a major skiing competition
in an African country.
But FIFA, wanted to help
reinvigorate soccer in America.
The 1994 World Cup
took place in a nation
that was just coming
out of the Cold War.
Spurred by patriotism
and pageantry,
Americans took notice
of the tournament,
and their team rewarded
them, delivering several
iconic moments including
a two-one victory
against tournament
favorite, Colombia,
resulting in flag-draped
festivities after the game.
And we got knocked out by Brazil
and I was there at that
game in California,
you should have seen the
people in that stadium.
Ah, and it was a good game.
And everybody said, hey,
I think we can do well.
[NARRATOR] Two years
later, Major League Soccer
was formed with 10
charter teams making
up America's newest
professional sports league,
and the sport finally
moved from kid's leagues
played on patchy
fields, to stadiums
full of supporters of
the beautiful game.
It's such a good vibration
It's such a sweet sensation
It's such a hot temptation
It's such a
Well a young player
today growing up
is completely different,
you know seeing that pathway,
seeing that there's a
thriving, professional league
in our country gives
any young boy or girl
that dream of playing
soccer, and on top of that,
facilities are improving,
coaching's improving,
the overall knowledge of
the game of the young players
completely improving
from years past.
And there is a lot of
good young talent in MLS
and in the United States and I
think we all believe strongly
that's there's gonna be
even more in the future.
[NARRATOR] Soccer in
America has continued to expand
in popularity as a
spectator and participant sport.
But even while the game is
growing, there remains a divide.
American soccer has been
largely a suburban pursuit,
without real roots
in the inner cities.
How can soccer's growth
in America continue?
What is happening today,
in soccer, in the cities
and in America, what
is happening today
is because of what
took place long ago.
It didn't occur in a vacuum.
People say, "Why isn't the game
catching on in
the inner cities?"
Okay, when you had a
chance to get a guy like Pele,
everything was done in
the suburbs, everything.
The access is the
same as when you look
at the education system
in the inner city,
and that dictates everything,
whether it is education,
whether it is opportunities to
play, it affects everything,
and we just have to be
conscious and depend
on organizations who see
the need to have some equality.
[NARRATOR] Perhaps
the biggest challenge
for the development of
American soccer is equality,
an equal chance for kids,
urban, rural, or suburban
to have the opportunity to play.
But for years, the barrier
has been overcoming a system
that predominates in
youth soccer, pay-to-play.
For American kids, the
opportunity to be seen,
to be scouted, and
to have a future
in soccer, comes with
a large price tag.
Many of the best leagues
and teams cost thousands
of dollars per year,
pricing out families without
the means to pay for
their kids to play.
Right now, the
pay-for-play model is hurting
the development
of soccer because
you just have kids
who can't afford it.
In no other part of the world
do you play soccer like this,
where you have to
pay so much money,
in order to be involved in
playing in the organized sport.
Other parts of the world,
you just get a soccer ball,
you go outside and play
with it, you find an open space.
Here, really to compete
you have to pay.
You have to spend
about $1500 a year,
that families are spending
annually on soccer.
It can go up to $5500.
How can people afford that?
Particularly,
underserved communities?
[NARRATOR] How
much talent has been
left behind without
the means to grow,
showcase, and make
use of their skills.
It's fast becoming
a transaction sport,
transaction versus passion.
Parents are saying, oh,
I'm gonna pay a little extra
because we have to want
this kid's college scholarship.
The kid is five-years-old,
and they're paying for
their college scholarship.
The pay-to-play
system is super baked
into development academies,
like those are usually
much higher price points
to get players not just
in to that system
but on the radar
of people who are
involved in that world,
even though there are supposed
to be scouting mechanisms.
The pay-for-play
model's entrenched here
because it's making
money for people.
I mean, it's a lot
of people in sports,
youth sports, and
it's not just soccer,
but soccer has taken
it to a high degree.
There's a lot of
money to be made
and it ends up
leaving kids behind.
How do you, not necessarily
dismantle pay-to-play,
but do you provide
alternative avenues
to get players into the
world, if not necessarily
into the most elite
elements of the system.
Wind me up now
And now wind me up now
I love it you wind me up
And now wind me,
wind me up now
[NARRATOR] Inroads
are being made.
Pay-to-play has been vilified,
but there exists
a middle ground.
One in which a viable
youth soccer business
coexists with
opportunities for kids
without the economic means
to join expensive leagues.
[COACH] I need everybody
down on the end line, please.
So, I played with the
Women's National Team.
So I wanna encourage all of
you to keep playing this game.
I love soccer, I've played
it since I was six-years-old.
It was always the
favorite part of my day
to run around and
kick a soccer ball.
Soccer is the most
democratic sport in the world,
except for the United
States of America.
We have to get past
that model and the way
to do that is to give
access to kids in the city,
and to take out the elite status
of soccer from such a young age.
If we just give access
and opportunity for kids
to play from when they're
six, seven-years-old.
[COACH] Two
minutes on this game.
Nice shot.
I play soccer because I
want to learn my skills,
so whenever I grow up I
can be a professional soccer player.
I started playing this
in school since I was third grade.
I said I wanna try
and then if I like it,
I'm gonna join next year again.
My brother, he played
this program as well,
and when I was in second
grade I started playing soccer,
and I thought I just wanted
to try it and see how it goes.
[NARRATOR] This changing
landscape is being led
by leagues, teams,
dedicated individuals,
and organizations,
like America Scores.
This nationwide non-profit
network was started in 1994,
in the afterglow of that
monumental World Cup,
in Washington DC,
where it now thrives.
DC Scores currently
provides free soccer
for over 3000 kids
throughout the nation's capital,
and America Scores
now serves over 13000
low-income youths in a
dozen North American cities.
DC Scores is an
inner-city soccer program.
Disadvantaged children,
almost 100%, that really have
no access otherwise
to organized sports.
So, our mission is
to help kids living
in poverty get and stay
on track, and we do that
through a really
unique combination
of activities that's
centered around soccer leagues.
Soccer's a sport for
everyone, regardless
of your experience, your
knowledge of the game, it really
only takes a ball and
barely even a a playing surface.
You guy here, looking at me.
Where are you going
for your shot?
Where are you guys going.
Sure?
Be ready, the next
person has to be ready.
It's about providing
that door-opening opportunity.
Making sure that kids know that
that's an option for them
and that's what we do.
There are different
opportunities for kids
to find a little
bit of themselves,
figure out why that
game matters to them,
and be a part of that
in their own right.
Look at this Harper,
look at this Harper, hey Harper.
That's it, we call
that an assist.
We call that an
assist around here.
For the vast majority of
kids, they're not gonna have
that opportunity to
play pro soccer, right.
What we are able
to provide is that
life-transforming
experience, and then the ones
who have that
talent find soccer.
For most of the
kids we work with,
they don't have access to
soccer teams, apart from us.
They would never play
soccer without a Scores program.
So we use soccer as that
life-transforming tool.
Well, I hope and pray to God
that the pay-to-play
system goes away.
I think in all other countries
that soccer is very popular
and more importantly,
international successful,
the majority of those
systems and those programs
are set up in the opposite way.
They go into these neighborhoods
and find the best talent,
instead of who has
the most money.
But it's gonna be a tough one.
It's not gonna be easy.
[NARRATOR] But
playing soccer is only
part of the equation at Scores.
The organization uses a
unique combination of soccer,
poetry, and service learning
to create neighborhood teams,
that provide whole child, mind,
body growth for
its participants.
The goal, to give
them the confidence
and skills to succeed
on the playing field,
in the classroom, and in life.
I am, I am not
who you think I am.
I am somebody you
should get to know.
I am sweet, strong, independent,
sit back and watch me grow.
Yes, I get upset,
angry, and mad, but,
I'm also capable of
making people feel glad.
The purpose behind is
not to teach them soccer.
The purpose is to use
soccer as a leverage
to teach teamwork but also
to encourage literacy.
If you don't do well in
school you can't be on the team.
Nowadays, everything
comes with a price.
You make one wrong
move and you're
scarred for the
rest of your life.
When you're above mediocrity
you're bombarded with strife.
It's not like sitting down
and reading a 1000 page book.
They're able to express
their feelings through poetry.
They're able to get in
front of an audience
and it helps with their
egos and their sense of self.
America Scores is a
fantastic organization.
They marry soccer
and poetry together
to help kids express
themselves, and I think
it's an amazing concept
and I really enjoyed
my time time being an
ambassador for them.
The reason Scores is
so important is because
it's not even so much that
these kids are gonna go on
and you know play
at a high level.
It's the opportunity and
the choice that's given.
It's a positive choice.
It's a choice that
empowers them, and I think
every kid that goes
through the Scores program
comes out more enriched,
and more passionate,
and feeling like they
matter in what they have
to say, and what they
think and feel matters,
and that's the most
important thing.
Would you believe
me if I told you
that I fell in love at 10?
But not with some
charming little boy,
but from the words that
flow within my young soul,
was in the pages of a
book with the writing
so messy you just
wanted to look.
[NARRATOR] Brianna Scurry has
a long list of
illustrious achievements,
member of two Gold Medal-winning
US Women National Soccer Teams,
a world champion with the
US Women's Team in 1999,
National Soccer Hall of Fame,
and former ambassador
for America Scores.
These are the girls.
So this, as you can see, this is
the first ever Women's
Soccer Olympic Gold Medal.
This is 1996 in Atlanta.
And then this is
2004 Olympic Games.
These games were
in Athens, Greece.
This is my latest addition,
my National Soccer
Hall of Fame medal.
I was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 2017.
I take great pride
in being a pioneer.
There's a saying
about how pioneers
have the arrows in their backs,
but somebody has
to blaze the trail,
and I think for me one of
the biggest gifts of my life
is being someone who was
on an amazing team of firsts,
first ever Women's
Olympic Gold Medial,
and it's for me to be the
first African-American
female goalkeeper in the
Hall of Fame as well.
Somebody has to go first
and be that inspiration
for all the young kids
that look like me,
who are coming up behind
me to say to them,
you know what, she
did it, you can do it,
and for me, that's
what it really means,
and that's one of the
best parts of my legacy,
is I think that I've
been well represented
as an inspiration over
the course of my career
and I'm very proud of that,
and it's really a
great gift for me.
[NARRATOR] For Brianna
Scurry, being a role model
means being an advocate
for change and that includes
helping provide alternatives to
the pay-to-play model
that she feels is holding
back American soccer success.
It has become a
sport where if you
have money then you can get far.
Looking back on my
career, I know my parents
didn't have a lot
of money at all,
but I knew because we
moved to the suburbs
that was where I was even able
to get exposure to
even play soccer.
If we had stayed in
the city where we lived
when I was up until
five-years-old,
I probably wouldn't be
sitting here right now
talking to you,
because I don't think
soccer would even
been on the menu.
(GIRLS CHANT)
[NARRATOR] Organizations
like Scores give kids
a safe space to
learn, play, and grow,
and they are making
soccer accessible,
teaching life skills
and soccer skills,
creating a connection
between players and coaches,
and a connection between city
kids and the beautiful game,
a lifelong bond
benefiting the sport,
the cities, and
the participants.
You're talking about teamwork.
You're talking about helping
individuals rise from whatever.
You're talking about
being a family.
I think it was three
or four years ago,
it was right around
the poetry slam,
and I had a quadruple bypass.
While I was in the
hospital there was
a poetry slam that
evening and the children,
they committed that
performance to their coach.
That did more for me more
than any hospital or any doctor
could have done because they
actually won the poetry slam
committing their
performance to a man
that they just felt
they could love.
(LIVELY UPTEMPO MUSIC)
[NARRATOR] Despite the
prevalence of pay-to-play
soccer programming,
organizations like DC Scores
and anotherWashington-based
team, the Cosmic Wolves,
are making a difference
in young, inner-city
soccer player's lives regardless
of their economic means.
Come on Sergio, come on
Sergio, come on Sergio.
Go, go.
[NARRATOR] The Cosmic
Wolves are a haven
for those escaping the
grip of local gangs,
those who have
troubled home lives,
or kids who simply
need a second chance
and a place where
they feel safe.
More than just providing a
safe space, these organizations
inevitable discover
diamonds in the rough,
talented kids who just
need an opportunity to play.
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
(ENGAGING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(UPTEMPO TECHNO MUSIC)
After you start
doing it for a while,
everybody gets it, we're
gonna take one down, go.
So the Cosmic Wolves
started back in 2013
as a team called DC Cosmos.
The idea was a bunch of
young guys, we just had
graduated high school to
keep in touch together
and playing soccer, and
keep away from gangs
around that time, 'cause
there was a lot of them.
And then I thought
that you know,
playing soccer used to
keep our minds busy,
so that's how the idea
of soccer started.
Soccer means life.
Most of us, as Hispanic culture
the first the thing that
we do is start with soccer.
So we learn soccer in school.
We learn soccer out of school.
So, soccer's a part of
our life, that's it.
And our team is a way for them
to come and feel as a family.
And I wake up, because
by doing soccer and help
these young people, we can
keep our community safe.
I was a member of the gang,
so I looking for a
lot of opportunity
to get out from the
gangs, but nobody wants
to give me that
opportunity because they don't
believe me that I'm trying
to be a different person,
except for one guy, Rubio Gomez.
[NARRATOR] For Sergio,
opportunity came knocking
because the Cosmic
Wolves made it possible
for him to be seen, and
not just by any team,
but the prestigious Marcet
Football Academy in Spain,
which gave him the
chance to train
with them for two weeks
in the summer of 2019.
I think that he can
really have an outstanding future
in soccer if he stays
committed, away from what we try
to keep him away,
concentrate in school,
having good grades,
and I keep telling him,
the path to soccer has
to be to go to college.
If you want to be known
and seen through soccer
you have to go study
and play in college,
and that's when they'll see you.
Most other countries,
when you look at the way
that kids grow up playing
soccer it's this sort of
unorganized play activity,
as opposed to, okay I have
practice Tuesdays and Thursdays,
from six to seven at night.
That sort of thing is
just kids with a ball
out on a field, or on the
beach, or on the streets.
(RAPPING IN FRENCH)
[NARRATOR] Perhaps the
best model for America
to look at for an example
of on the pitch success,
is stemming from
incubating talented athletes
from inner cities can
be found in France,
winner of the 2018 World Cup.
In need of a reboot
of talent for a team
that after winning
in 1998 and finishing
as runners up in 2006,
had fallen on hard times,
Les Bleus focused on
finding gifted youth players
from non-traditional
backgrounds.
Pablo Picasso is my city.
It's my neighborhood,
it's my home.
My background in
football started
when I was working
for the first time,
and I was playing for the
club of my neighborhood,
the club of my city,
Nanterre at five,
and when I have
16 I play for PSG.
I need to stop it because
I have two injury,
and one in my knee,
one in my foot,
and after that I
stopped football.
Football is important here
because it's the only thing
that kids have to do,
you just need a ball,
you just need your
friends, it's the most important
because everybody play
football every day.
You can play everywhere,
in the street, in the park,
in the pitch, in
front of your tower
for different neighborhoods,
you don't need coaching,
you just need a ball
and your friends,
and you will spend lot
of time play football.
Le Monde Est a Nous
is my organization
in my neighborhood.
It means in English,
The World is Ours.
Yeah, this is the pitch of
my first tournament in 2018,
with Nike, I keep
the line for the kids
for make like a pitch.
The kids play football
everyday here.
I want to put the
spirit, I want to put
the mentality in the
kid of my neighborhood.
You can have what you want
if you want to have it
and the world is ours,
the world is yours.
If you come from
this neighborhood,
you can have much more
because you have nothing.
If you want something you
have to fight with the world.
You can see this
window, this is the window
of Moise Adilehou, he
plays Africa Cup of Nation.
He plays on the
National Team of Benin.
You can see also around 10
kids come from in Pablo Picasso
and are on professional
clubs in France.
And for me Pablo Picasso
creates the kind of football.
[NARRATOR] One such
success story came
the northern suburbs
of Paris, Riyad Mahrez,
a child of Algerian
immigrants, Mahrez now stars
for both Manchester City
and the Algerian National Team.
When you come from a
neighborhood, poor neighborhood
in Paris, or in the
world, it's the same.
The dream is your way.
You don't need the best pitches.
You don't need the best coaches.
You just need to
create some advantage.
You just need to give
a chance to kids.
There's no one answer
of okay, well in Europe
they do XYZ, in Brazil they're
doing all these other things.
But I think that there are
multiple pathways to discovery
for players in other
countries that we don't have.
I think that scouting
is very different.
Here, you kind of have to
hope or there's scholarships,
things like that, it's a
much more regimented system.
Whereas there I think it's a
little bit more locally-driven.
US Soccer's big goal is to
let's win international games.
Let's find the best,
elite athletes.
If you grow the pool wider,
theoretically that's
gonna help you.
It's just that's never
really been their motto,
but there are some
signs that possibly
they could be improving that.
[RUBIO] Someone's always
behind you, don't mess it up.
Every country's got
different ways of training
and we're doing a good job here.
I mean in Europe they've
invested in soccer for many,
many years and we are in
many ways catching up.
They certainly
have set standards
in terms of coaching licenses.
What you realize now is
that the coaching in MLS
is getting much better at
academy and professional level,
much more sophisticated,
you have American coaches
working with foreign coaches,
and ideas are being shared,
and coaches in the US have
done a really good job,
and we need to continue
to learn as well.
[NARRATOR] While lack
of access to the game
may have inhibited
soccer development
in America, homegrown
stars are emerging.
American, Christian
Pulisic is an international star,
and the development of
players like Justin Haak,
Sergio Zabala and others
is proof there are
diamonds in the rough
waiting to be discovered,
and MLS teams, alongside
organizations like America Scores
are helping enable
that discovery.
Now, we didn't quality
for the World Cup,
couple of our teams
and so, so what.
Italy, some of these teams,
at certain times didn't qualify,
but does not say the
soccer is not developing.
Qualifying for the
World Cup is not
the only criteria for the
development of soccer.
Come on Pablo, yes Mikey.
Now we go back around.
Open it up, yes.
I think the biggest
barrier that we found
is lack of organized
play in the city itself.
There are a ton of
kids in this area
that aren't playing anywhere,
aren't on organized teams,
aren't on high schools,
but they love the game,
they're talented, and they
just need an opportunity.
So we've tried to partner with
some different organizations
to really reach out into the
different parts of the city,
and that's the challenging
part of my job,
it is to go find those kids,
to give them an opportunity,
and it is to try really
find the next player
that can do it for DC and
then maybe our national team.
Yeah, I think to develop
the culture of soccer
in this country, we have
to do what programs like DC Scores
are doing and get into
the elementary schools,
influence them at
a very young age.
Give them soccer.
Give them another outlet that
they have maybe after school
where they can come out,
they can play, and these kids
are gonna remember that
for the rest of their lives.
Not only that, we're
gonna then find
a couple needles in
the haystack that have
that passion and
they wanna continue.
As we're growing
as academies, more
and more resources
are being put into it.
MLS itself has really
taken off in terms of viewership,
fans, and just becoming
a really stable,
strong league in the
international game.
Because it truly takes
more than a couple people
to make a difference
in this area,
and there are just so many
kids out there that can do it,
and we hope to keep pushing
and finding the next guys.
We have a system
where we're giving kids
the opportunity to
grow from the academy
and join the first team
at a very young age,
and they're like wow,
this stuff's possible,
and it's given them a
dream, it's given them
something that they
can thrive to be.
I think we're doing it
the right way and I think,
us as Americans we
have to embrace that,
not try to be the
Europeans in the way
that they're doing things,
each country's different.
Every culture is different
and I think that we're doing it
in a way where one day
we will see a difference,
we will win a World Cup,
and then people are gonna start
to say, maybe we should
do it the American way.
And whether that kid
becomes a professional,
and a national team player,
and plays in a World Cup,
or whether it's just an
opportunity for the kid
to get a full scholarship
to college, or to go play
in college and get
an academic degree,
that's still a betterment
of the person's life,
and that's something we
preach from our players
all the way through
out staff to our club.
It's so much easier
to do it together
than it is it is individually.
Hey, yeah we're
just getting started
Take your fears
and let them go
For the lovers and
the brokenhearted
Take a deep breath
Make the world a
little colorful
It communities like East Harlem,
and in the communities
where we are working,
we see a lot of immigrants,
and for them they've come
from communities or
countries where soccer
is a passion and it's
their national sport.
So for them to come
to a new country,
not knowing the language,
the soccer and the program
is a great way to
accelerate their assimilation
into the country
and the community,
as well as, learn the language,
and soccer is the
language they all share,
and so we've seen the
kids really quickly adapt.
Peru, how many
players do we have?
Listen guys, listen.
[BOY] We have six players.
You have five?
Colombia, you have five as well.
[NARRATOR] In New York
City, America Scores
offers free soccer
to thousands of kids,
and MLS side NYCFC
works tirelessly
within all five
boroughs of New York,
not just to find the
next Justin Haak,
but to give back to the
community, and youth soccer
is a tool for youth
success and assimilation.
One of the programs
created by NYCFC
to do so is Saturday
Night Lights.
A big focus for us is
trying to identify local,
young leaders who can step
up, give them the tools,
the training, to be the
next leaders in their community.
What's the setup for the
tournament today then?
In addition to receiving
quality soccer coaching,
we also try and provide
youth development opportunities,
and making sure that
they're on pathways
to staying on track
to graduation.
Well, Saturday Night
Lights is a collaboration
between the District Attorney's
Office and New YorkCity FC.
It's a program that is
delivered through us here
in the community
and we serve kids
in the East Harlem neighborhood,
on Friday and Saturday
nights, where there's
the highest incident of
crime in the neighborhood.
Paul saw something
in me, I guess
that I haven't found
in myself in a while,
and it was that sort
of light that I brought
to everyone and
everyone around me.
[GROUP] Teamwork.
The only sport really
popular in the Bronx is basketball,
and growing up as a
kid I would always play
with my younger brother
and then one day I came across
this program, it's called
Saturday Night Lights,
and it changed my
life completely.
It opened the doors to soccer.
I think at my age
most people would
be like, why are
you playing soccer?
It's all about basketball.
Its' all about softball,
that kind of stuff.
But now I'm starting
to see more girls
join more leagues, girls
getting the opportunity
to just be in a
competitive team.
One of the things that
we like to do with the players
is develop their character
and things like respect,
honesty, more of those
character traits.
We just try to see what
they're lacking and work with them
to recognize what they
need to improve on.
So what's really
beautiful about this program,
that we have a real mix,
and it doesn't matter
if you're just starting
out to play soccer.
It's boys and girls.
Our youth who are very
competitive play in a travel program.
The environment is about
safety, and inclusion, respect,
and everybody's learning
from each other.
So it's an excellent
player development environment,
at the same time being open
and inclusive for everybody.
There are major
barriers, but soccer
is thriving here in
the inner cities.
These kids are play across
all of America, it exists.
The system of leagues, and
tournaments, and travel,
those are the barriers,
the talent is here.
The passion is here,
it's always been here.
We just got to be creative and
resourceful, and think about
different ways how we can
keep kids off the streets
and into positive
environments where they
can connect with
positive role models.
That's why we launched
the New York City Soccer
Initiative, a commitment
to build 50 community
soccer pitches over five years
in the neighborhoods
that need them most.
[NARRATOR] An area
equally as challenging
as East Harlem is the South
Bronx, home of Yankee Stadium,
and youth soccer team,
South Bronx United.
Formed in 2009 by teacher,
Andrew So, SBU gives
inner city kids an
opportunity to play, to get
off the streets, and to
develop life and soccer skills,
with one of the world's
most iconic stadiums,
and NYCFC's home
field, just feet away
from the SBU practice
pitch, Andrew So, dreamt big.
South Bronx United
is a non-profit
that's done amazing
work for years.
They come at it from an
incredible heart in terms of trying
to help kids in the
Bronx have better lives
and be off the streets, and
youth soccer is that vehicle.
We started South Bronx
United in 2009 with just
a single boy's soccer team
for kids ages 12 to 14,
and by the fall we had
three teams, and by the spring,
we realized with so many
youth and families asking
for a program, that we also
started a recreational program
and from the beginning
served 300 kids that first year.
So we've grown
significantly since then.
And the main thing is that
we're not just a soccer program.
We're a community based
organization that uses soccer
and uses the passion that that
youth have for the sport, but
really to focus on goals
around making their lives better.
We have 100% graduation
rate for our seniors
in our SBU Academy
program graduating
high school, and 94%
go on to college.
[NARRATOR] Sometimes the
results achieved by SBU
even eclipse Andrew
So's wildest dreams.
My name is Prince Amponsah.
I play left centerback.
My game is mostly to
help on more and more
of the attacking
side, but I'm learning
how to be a better
defender everyday.
I would say my favorite
centerback is probably
Jerome Boateng, probably
because he's also half-Ghanaian.
(ENGAGING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
I grew up in Accra.
My parents are from Kumasi.
Just one day we woke up
and I guess my parents
were like we're
going to America,
and we got here, and
that's pretty much it.
I remember I came out
here with a friend
and we were just playing,
and a coach saw me,
and he just told me
to come on a Saturday
to sign up for the
recreation program.
I remember him on this
field when he was seven-years-old
and you could tell from
that moment that he was special.
He was dribbling through
everyone that were
three, four, five
years older than him.
There's a handball
court around where I live
and usually I would
go there and just
ping the ball against the
wall, and that's pretty much
how I just learned to
have fun by myself.
It's usually always
open because nobody
really comes out here
to play handball anyway.
I'm usually the only out
here with a soccer ball
and everybody else is
on the basketball court.
So it's pretty hard
finding somebody
who wants to play soccer.
Unless you've ever done
it, it's hard to imagine
and understand the
challenges facing moving
from a totally different
country, a difficult culture,
here, not just
the United States,
but specifically the Bronx,
it's a tremendous adjustment,
and it's not until they
find that first friend,
or group that they
can really identify
that they're really able
to feel like they've adjusted.
It's like a second language.
They make not speak
English, but they speak soccer.
Truthfully, I always
felt I had an edge
on people in terms of the game.
I would say I wasn't the
most talented but I could play,
and when I got here I was
a bit better than kids here
in the beginning, but it
all evens out by now, yeah.
It's amazing what they do.
We've had a relation with them
out here at NYCFC from day one,
and Prince is one of
many great stories,
and we just love to see
how he's been developing.
He's such a great
kid and he is someone
that we believe also has
a future in the game,
with his attitude, and
his ability as well.
But a lot of that and that
foundation was at South Bronx
who has been doing a
great job for many years.
It was about four
years that I played
for South Bronx
United and I remember
City was beginning
a program here,
and they had like a U14
team that they started with,
and I remember just being
invited to training sessions,
and just training with the
first guys that would play
for that team, I was a
bit young at that time.
So, I remember training with
them for about a couple months
or so, and then the
next year I heard
they were making another team,
and that's when I got the
call to come join the club.
It was the happiest day,
probably of my life.
I felt that I could
actually take soccer somewhere.
Prince came with a really
strong mind and a strong heart,
to help him make it through
that, and really persevere,
and help him adjust to
new environments too,
'cause going into the
NYCFC Academy with other
young people that are
very different from him
and from different backgrounds
required some adjustment
for him and he was able
to really handle that.
Well in five years I see
myself playing professional,
initially would love to
play for the badge, for City,
just because it be just
amazing to live so close
and to play for
such a great club,
and then the sky's
the limit I guess.
It's really hard to
live in a community
where there is a possibility
so many things could go wrong,
and how that influences
all the kids,
and all the young
boys that are growing,
but I like to think of
it as a personal choice.
Like, if you find something
that you truly enjoy and focus
on it, I feel like it can
alienate you from all the bad
things that are happening
around your community.
Soccer, as it continues
to grow, the next big frontier
to cross in this country
is in urban areas.
We are as urban as you get
and we're excited about
that opportunity and
challenge at the same time
to help grow the sport,
and young players and families
moving here from all over
the world at the same time,
we need investments, long-term
commitment in urban areas,
in underserved communities,
because that is just
the responsibility,
especially of us
as a sporting organization
to connect to the community,
and if we can find talent,
great, but that's not
the sole purpose of giving
back to the community.
(ENGAGING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(UPTEMPO BEATBOXING)
[NARRATOR] In
Philadelphia, Mark McKenzie
and Auston Trusty have taken
their city game to the pros,
starring for their hometown
club, the Philadelphia Union,
and also featuring on the
US Men's National Team.
I know I can depend on
him, because he has like,
his engine goes, he
kinda picks me up,
especially days like
this when you need
that extra push, I can
depend on him as well.
That's lovely, I
appreciate that, bro.
Hey come on, don't
leave me hanging.
[ANNOUNCER] Miller's in
the clear, no offside flag.
Juan goes down, clean tackle
(CROWD CHEERS)
The first time I
started playing was,
I can't remember, it was
probably like, three,
three or four when I like
kicking the ball around.
Yeah, it was a bunch of different sports
at the time though.
So, I was just kinda
kicking everything,
bats and everything,
throwing everything.
Oh yeah, I was probably
three at the time.
I played here.
And yeah, it's memories,
dude, a lot of games here,
a lot of practicing,
a lot of touches here.
I played everything.
I played soccer, I played
baseball, I played basketball,
and I really big on
basketball, for a long time
I was real big on baseball too,
it was just kind of
balancing the seasons,
and it got to a point
where baseball and soccer,
"Oh snap, like which
one I gotta do?"
[NARRATOR] Both Auston
and Mark were identified
early as potential pros,
and offered spots in the
Philadelphia Union Academy.
Inner city kids, who would
have once shun soccer,
are now succeeding at
its highest levels.
I know, 10 or 15 years ago,
they wouldn't be playing
soccer right now.
Only because the other,
more mature sports
are set up to handle that,
whether it's basketball
or football, they've got
the programs in place
they have the history,
they realize where the talent is,
and a lot of the
talent is inner city.
It was definitely a
moment where I understood
that it was gonna take
a lot of sacrifice,
especially as a young kid,
but I knew that in order
for me to achieve my
dreams of being a professional,
I had to sacrifice; I
think going into the academy
was when my whole mindset,
I wouldn't say shifted,
but it definitely went to kickstart
constantly progressing,
constantly developing,
figuring out
ways in which I
could grow my game.
[TRUSTY] I don't think
there's a straight pathway
and I would say just to
keep grinding no matter what.
(ENGAGING MUSIC)
Well the good thing
about being involved
with the Philadelphia
Union is that the club believes
in local talent, and it
believes in homegrowns.
That when you get these
guys, all our guys live in
and around the
Philadelphia area,
most of them live
in the city itself,
they can see for
themselves what the needs are.
They can see the love for soccer
that the people of
Philadelphia have,
and so it's really
not a problem getting
these guys involved, in fact,
many of them are
on the front foot.
They come knocking on our door.
They want to be involved
in this project from the off.
We play off each other,
when one guy's lacking,
Coach Hermann's like,
yo, let's go guys.
On the field and the field.
[MARK] Exactly.
[TRUSTY] It's a
brotherhood, it's not the same,
it's also the other home
growns too, all the young guys,
we've all been there and
they care about each other.
[MARK] The amount
together definitely helps as well.
[TRUSTY] Yeah.
I think everybody
has their own path,
everybody had different
trials to get where we are now,
and we're still
facing stuff as it is,
but I think that's kinda
what makes the journey so fun.
Philadelphia's got a
great history of soccer in the US
and many great soccer players
have come from Philadelphia.
But the reality is, it
has been the facilities,
the soccer facilities
in Philadelphia have
been under-invested in
for a number of years,
and so whilst there are
many diverse, rich communities
in Philadelphia that love
the game of soccer, there are
very few places for them
to play and practice,
in any sort of a quality field.
[NARRATOR] A perfect
example of the Union's commitment
to growing soccer
is found in the work
at nearby Chester High School.
Chester is an
impoverished part of the US.
It has economic difficulties.
And all the difficulties that go
alone with economic difficulties
The High School at Chester
has not had a soccer team
for over 30 years;
we have a high school
in the backyard of an MLS
club, who has not fielded
a soccer team for over
30 years and we decided
that was wrong and that
we needed to do something
about that, because
Chester's full
of good athletes,
and they were missing
out on the opportunity
to play soccer.
One thing leads into
another and we're finding
that people want to
get involved and help,
and most notably, the
people of Chester as well.
This is not something that
we're doing in a vacuum.
The Philadelphia Union,
they're doing a whole lot.
At first they started
out with Chester,
building a mini pitch in
Chester, right outside of school,
but also they've actually
partnered with the city
of Philadelphia to build
about 15 mini-pitches,
and also two full-sized fields.
So I think it's slowly by
slowly they're incorporating
soccer in the city and
growing it, and they realize
that potential in the city
is, it's big time you know,
so it's just kind
of growing the game
of soccer and growing
the team brand.
[NARRATOR] Players like
Mark and Auston now know
what it's like to have
fulfilled the dream
of playing in
professional sports,
and they're using their
success to give back.
Helping kids, helping
communities, and just maybe,
helping to develop the
next wave of homegrown talent.
I'm ambassador for a
foundation in Wilmington, Delaware,
it's called Future Soccer Stars;
it's based on inner city kids
who don't have access,
being that now it's kind of,
in a way an expensive
sport to play.
So, just giving these
kids an opportunity
to come out, kick the
ball, laugh and joke,
and get to know
'em a little bit.
[MARK] I mean I suppose
we're leveraging the power
of soccer to bring those
communities together,
to connect them with each
other, with their new city.
This is not just about
growing the game.
It's about personal
development and personal growth.
Breaking down
barriers is important.
You know, there's a lot
of people in this world,
and there were people
fighting for me
and in order for me to
get into this position.
If I can be that
inspiration for somebody,
you know open that door
for somebody else, to say,
I contributed to that, yeah
I've broke down that barrier
for the next generation,
I will gladly take part.
One of the easiest
answers for actually catching up,
it's not even building
more pitches, it's finding more
alternate spaces to
actually have them playing soccer
that might not even be
intended for soccer.
(BEATBOXING)
[NARRATOR] One of the
biggest challenges in overcoming
pay-to-play and breaking
down barriers is accessibility,
simply getting
kids on the pitch.
One city has found
a novel solution.
Soccer in the Streets
is a local, Atlanta,
non-profit organization
that helps to provide
soccer programs for those
kids that do not have access
to some of the soccer programs
that are typically
out here in the city.
An organization like
Soccer in the Streets,
where their sole goal is
to get kids off of the streets,
while doing something productive
for them, that's beautiful.
One of the biggest
barriers by far to kids
adopting the sport in
urban neighborhoods,
is the transportation
issue, they can't get
to games, they can't
get to practices.
So we believe by working
through transit hubs,
like railway stations and
using them as a vehicle
to get the kids between
practice and games,
we solve that issue,
so why not build
a soccer field on a
train station rooftop?
All of a sudden, you're
now making a train station
more than just a place
to get on a train.
It's now a place to play sport
and connect with
other communities.
Soccer in the Streets is like
the transit above us,
all about connection.
One of the histories of
transportation and transit
is how it has cut through
neighborhoods, and we're really
looking for to Station
Soccer re-knitting,
and bringing back
together some of the parts
of the community that may
have been cut through.
Let's take, what was
a patch of dirt behind
a chain link fence and
make it a place for kids
and the whole community
to come together.
It's something that
makes me very proud,
as President of Atlanta
United, that we can be doing
exactly what our
mission statement was
for Atlanta United
Foundation, which was to try
and break down the barrier of
entry, so that any youngster
in the city can have
access to playing soccer.
We built the original
project at Five Points,
which was the central hub space,
that was very successful,
that that was not
in a residential community
like the West End.
This was an unused
space since 1978.
Nothing's happened here.
We had over 150 kids
show up and register
for West End United
Station Soccer.
We're now energized and
we want to grow this
into other communities
that need access.
These kids become a
product of their environment.
So we're trying to build
the best environments
that they can be proud of.
We're giving them connectivity
and access that they never had.
They'll make friends with
folks from new neighborhoods,
new communities, so
it's just gonna expand
their minds and help them
become better adults.
The crazy idea's never
crazy when everyone
starts to believe in it.
It's the sort of a once
in a lifetime opportunity
to get this right and
make a mark on Atlanta,
and hopefully on the
country, and possibly on the world.
(ENGAGING
PERCUSSIVE MUSIC)
Get up and get it
Get up and get it
Get up and get it
Get up and get it
No time to cry
When you reached another
Sweat and bleed for the
things that matter, oh yeah
[NARRATOR] Giving
kids access to soccer
is not a problem
unique to inner cities.
Rural communities often
face the same challenges:
lack of access, lack of
funds, and lack of opportunity,
all of which can lead to the
lack of a future for the sport.
In Central California,
the Chevron Soccer Academy
along with Open Goal
Project, is helping kids learn
about success on the pitch
and in the classroom.
Open Goal Project
started in Washington DC,
okay, you guy know where DC is?
(GROUP ANSWERS
AFFIRMATIVELY)
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
But we're here
and we're excited,
and we're passionate
about doing what we do.
We are focused on making
soccer as accessible as possible,
and giving high-level
soccer opportunities
to as many people as possible.
We're very fortunate
in this country,
that we have plenty
of fields, and lots
of girls and boys who
wanna play soccer.
What we have right now is
a problem of how do we get
all of those kids on
to the soccer field,
and the model of
pay-to-play in America
excludes a lot young
people from participating,
and that's now how it should be,
and that's why the
Chevron Soccer Academy,
like we're seeing behind
me, is really important,
because it allows kids
who may not have access
to everyday programming,
or come out even
have a clinic for once
in their life to see,
how soccer can make them feel.
So, like I said
yesterday, you knock someone down,
you help them up, no matter
happens if your win or lose,
you're gonna shake hands
after your game, right,
and then make sure we're
respecting the game,
respect the coaches,
respect your opponents,
respect yourselves, okay.
On a soccer pitch, it's 11 v 11.
Its not 1 v 11,
it's not 1 v one,
you guys are a team, you
have to work together,
to get to the end line,
to get to the finish line,
and that's how great
teams win trophies,
and medals, and everything else.
In our community soccer
is used as a venue to escape,
understand that the kids
that you have now here,
you probably have a
good 5% that the parents
make enough money to
survive, and so when they come
to play soccer they see it
as like, well, it's a relief.
It's a venue for them to escape
sometimes rude neighborhood,
necessities, that
otherwise would get 'em into trouble.
This plane vs this plane.
I'm very narrow here
and I'm very big here.
So you wanna be
as big as you can
in the soccer field when
you're protecting the ball.
In our area, our
parents, they work, they leave home
maybe at 4:30 in the
morning, five in the morning,
and they don't get
home until like
six, seven, some
times eight o'clock.
So they don't have another
other, role models,
and so when they come
together and they have
to work together, and
they develop together,
then they develop
as human beings.
You know, life is about
problem-solving and so if we can
combat learning how to do
problem-solving from two angles,
stem and soccer, we got
a winning combination.
What I love about soccer
and the Chevron Soccer Academy
is that we're not
just teaching soccer.
We're helping these young
people recognize that the lessons
that they're learning on
the field actually make them
brighter stars and shine
off the field, because again,
we talk about the things
that they need in their life.
We're kind of sneaking
around, and giving life lessons,
they don't know it until
they look back and go,
oh my gosh, I learned so
much being on the soccer field.
Open Goal's mission
and the work that they do
totally aligns with our
objective of providing access
to kids that wanna play soccer,
and continue to play
it at a high level.
So they just seemed
like the perfect partner
and a really good synergy.
[NARRATOR] Success
breed success.
Open Goal Project was
born in Washington, DC,
working alongside DC Scores.
The non-profit organizations
is now making soccer accessible
to highly-skilled older
kids to help bridge the gap
between recreational soccer
and elite soccer opportunities.
Open Goal's project
mission is to really use
soccer as a vehicle for
growth, and greater life
experiences, whether it's
on the field or off the field.
The boys and girls we work
with can really go a lot farther
on the field and in life
if we're empowering them
with the resources that
they need to succeed.
We essentially found
that in Washington DC
that the pay-to-play model
was excluding a lot of kids,
and that a lot of those
players are very talented
and can affect the
overall American soccer
landscape in a positive way.
So, just to give these
kids a platform to reach
the next level in soccer
and in their lives.
We started initially
by just fundraising
in 2015 for three kids, and now
at our sessions we
have dozens of kids.
Inside of your foot,
back to the other side,
inside of your
foot, very simple.
Precious is, a
young lady we met,
I'd say maybe three years ago.
We had heard about her.
From the first ball
I saw her control,
she like controlled it
with the outside of her foot.
You could just tell immediately
that she had
something different.
My whole family
basically plays soccer.
Like my mom, she used to
pay for a club team in Nigeria.
I pay soccer 'cause
I've been playing it since I was young.
It's always been my
passion to further
my soccer career and play
at the highest level.
I knew I had a chance when I led
my school team to
the championship.
So then that's when I was
just thinking to myself,
like, I'm really
good at this sport.
Then Amir came out, saw
me, and he just helped me.
So Izzy would be
running this way.
I'm this way.
Maybe, would she just loop?
Somebody should be
running into that space.
If you're coming this way,
she's gonna have to follow you.
We helped her get
into travel soccer.
She now plays for one of
the best teams in the area.
She's gotten recruited by
several Division I schools.
I mean, she's still a
sophomore in high school.
She's at the top of her
class, academically.
I could go on and on.
Like a few local schools,
that you'd consider,
so do you have your top
choices, which are good schools.
I would also be happy to see
your games a little bit closer.
Georgetown, UNC,
and UVA, I like UVA.
And then you wanna
make a next tier,
like three schools that
you would also go to.
I don't think I would
actually be playing soccer,
at a high level, or
probably playing soccer at all,
I feel like 'cause I stopped
playing soccer for my school
at 7th Grade, that
was right before Amir
hooked me up with,
like club teams.
I feel I would just be
in school just being
a regular student, trying
to find something else.
(INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC)
I take my academics really
seriously now compared to when
I did in middle school
years when I just thought
school was just something
I was forced to go to.
But now that I know that in
order to be a student-athlete,
you need to be a
student in order
to like, go where you wanna go.
So if I beat the
defender there, right,
and I'm into this space
but that second forward
is running into that
space, do I just go out wide?
I know my mom is
really proud of me
of all the goals that
I've accomplished,
especially at such a young age.
She's not really
expressive about it.
I'm that type of person as well.
I don't really express things.
But I know deep down
she's really proud of me
and how I was able
to handle schoolwork
and also be flexible
with my soccer life.
So, I know she's proud.
Show you my basketball skills?
Have you got some?
Yeah, I used to play
basketball for Cap City.
[AMIR] I've never even
seen you shoot a basketball.
[PRECIOUS] I'm good at it.
[NARRATOR] With programs
in place that offer inner city
and rural youth the
opportunity to play,
regardless of
finances, to showcase
their soccer skills, what
needs to happen next?
America has taken big steps
in leveling the playing field
and making soccer for all
more than just an expression.
Whether it's clubs like
NYCFC, the Philadelphia Union,
or DC United, or
organizations like America Scores,
Soccer in the Streets, or
South Bronx United, access
is being expanded and
opportunities are being created.
That's really the
million dollar question
in American soccer
is, well first of all
do we even need to move
beyond the concept of,
is soccer a niche
sport in America?
Hopefully over the
next 20, 25 years,
maybe it'll take
less time than that,
We can get into some inner-city
and rural communities,
give kids access and
opportunities at high-level soccer,
and then I think that will
really change the landscape,
and change what our
national team looks like,
and how we compete against
the rest of the world.
[NARRATOR] The American
women have dominated
international play for
years, and inevitably
the men will eventually,
win a World Cup.
Everyone is aware of it now,
the men not qualifying
for the past World Cup
was truly a wake up call,
and I think people attribute
the lack of successes to
the fact that we aren't able
to get all of
these talented kids
in the city playing
the game of soccer.
You're eliminating 60% of the
best athletes in this country
purely because they don't
have the funds to play soccer.
There's always
going to be talent
that goes to other sports,
there's always gonna be talent
that falls through the cracks,
I think it's such a big country,
Europe has so many
countries where each
individual federation can look
at just the talent
within this small area.
You can drive from across
the country in two hours.
Whereas the US, it's
huge, I think there's over
20 million registered players
here, a lot of those countries
don't even have close
to 20 million people.
[NARRATOR] But more
importantly, soccer,
the beautiful game, the
world's biggest sport,
the most democratic sport
is being made available
to more American
kids, regardless
of location,
gender, or finances.
So I think there's
efforts being made by clubs,
by grassroots
organizations, by non-for-profits,
to plant the seed
and educate kids.
For us, we have that
opportunity and potential advantage
to get into the city and
find the neighborhoods
that kids love playing soccer,
and help cultivate
that a little bit more.
I think, expose
them earlier to it.
Kind of not forcing
'em to play, but having
that exposure to the
game, it helps a lot.
[TRUSTY] I think
it's also changing
the perception of soccer,
it's all changing.
I don't think there's
another sport that promotes
so much emotion on
and off the field.
It just has so much
passion that you can see it
in the crowd, you can
see it in the players,
you can see it,
you just feel it.
It's a working-class sport.
It's a white-collar sport.
It's every country, every
culture, every ethnicity,
it promotes I suppose an
emotional passion that's just
unparalleled when it
comes to other sports.
[NARRATOR] When kids
find a team, a passion,
confidence, coaching, and
leadership everyone benefits,
no matter when or if
success on the field follows.
I think the messages keep going.
These things take time.
Now you have a
lot of these folks
who have soccer
essentially as their religion,
who are now moving
to the United States,
and soccer is something
they brought with them,
and now is the time to
foster that amazing talent,
to try to find those
diamonds in the rough in places
where the American game
hasn't been there before.
What's also changing I
think for soccer in America
is we know get the
Premier League.
We now get to watch all of
the best soccer in the world,
younger Americans too
are saying, that's cool,
I'm interested in that,
I wanna play that.
We're still trying to,
like, little kid trying
to run up and catch up
to its older siblings,
and so eventually
we're gonna catch 'em,
but we're still
chasing right now.
Soccer and soccer
training is not a short time,
it's just get down to the
game, no pretty drills,
no pretty equipment
and so on, it's soccer.
Let us play soccer
(ENGAGING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
In 10 years from now, I
don't know where I will be,
but wherever I go I know that
I will have soccer with me,
the sport, that shatters
barrier and embraces diversity,
the sport, that is very
much like my city, DC,
we live in time
with backgrounds,
beliefs, politics, can
be divisive, where news
can confuse and make
communities feel indecisive,
but DC, like soccer is a space
where we're all
united to get excited,
where collaboration is demanded
and by the city it
passes, and moves,
to make space with the
ball, city that will stand tall,
to protest the bad call.
City of three a days,
hustle, early morning to late
practices, the city of
movers, and shakers,
debaters, floppers, and
actresses, the city of teamwork
makes the dreamwork
from traffic to footwork
The city of network
and net worth
from Anacasia to Petworth,
a city of cultures,
merged together with
one goal, to win.
A city where a loss feels
like a cheap shop to the shin.
A city that is the nation's
capital, but is international.
The city of the
level-headed, radical, irrational,
from corner kicks
to slide tackles,
where movements are magical.
[ANNOUNCER] Putting
one up for Acosta.
Goal!
[ANNOUNCER] DC
United's first ever goal.
A city of history,
mistakes, growth,
and pain, a city of
misery, blasts, joy, of gain.
A city of mystery and
layers, a city of culture
and players, a city that
is a glaring reflection of me,
a city that's a glaring
reflection of we.
10 years ago I did not
know where I would be,
but right now, I'm a city
that embraces diversity,
'cause we live in times
with backgrounds, beliefs,
and politics can be
divisive, but DC, like soccer,
is this space that we
all can feel, united.
(ENGAGING DRAMATIC MUSIC)
We gonna be all right
We gonna be all right
Brother calling
me on the phone
Saying I'm done with it all
Safe to say I'm done
with it all, too
We're trying to right
all these wrongs
Never seemed so impossible
It's clear to me we're
scared to hope to
I don't know why,
I don't know why
I cannot stop this
feeling inside
I don't know why,
I don't know why
I cannot stop this
feeling inside
No matter how
bad all this gets
I can't stop this
voice in my head
This voice in my head says
We gonna be all right
We gonna be all right
I was talking with my sister
Asking when it's
all gonna end
Funny 'cause I
don't have a clue