Club and recreational soccer is the heartbeat of the sport in America. Millions of kids and young adults are playing, many of whom have their eyes on college scholarships, Olympic and national team programs or playing professionally.
That increased demand for more technical training has swelled the ranks of top club teams in Colorado and across the country.
Rush Soccer is one of the most dramatic examples. What began as a merger between Club Columbine and Lakewood United has spread to 14 states with a membership exceeding 25,000. Club president Tim Schulz said Rush increasingly offers more professional components, even employing sports psychologists.
Rush has a strong list of notable alumni, including national team pool players Conor Casey and Todd Dunivant, and Major League Soccer players James Riley and David Wagenfuhr.
Other clubs around the state have followed Rush’s lead, growing in number to gain an edge in the competitive market.
Not surprising, prices have gone up for elite teams that often travel to six or more national tournaments a year.
Athletic academies have begun popping up around the country, offering specialization in the sport and a high school education.
Tom Goodman was recently named general manager of the Fusion Soccer Club in Denver, which formed after a merger between Denver Soccer Club and the Aurora-based Sting. He estimates it costs a player more than $3,000 a year to play on one of Fusion’s top teams.
Rush developmental programs range from $50 to $3,500 a season for upper elite teams.
Denver Soccer Club gave out more than $17,000 in competitive scholarships last year and about $8,000 in developmental scholarships, Goodman said. Rush gave out 80 developmental and competitive scholarships.
But the high cost only fuels the notion that soccer is a sport for rich kids from the suburbs and needs to cast its net wider.
Jim Moorhouse, director of communications for the U.S. Soccer Federation, said that image isn’t true anymore and diversity on the men’s national team is improving each year, up and down the ranks.
Moorhouse admits the Latino market remains tough for the USSF to crack. There were no Mexican-American players on the U.S. World Cup team in Germany.
Claudio Reyna and Pablo Mastroeni have Argentine parents; Carlos Bocanegra’s ties to Mexico ended several generations ago, Moorhouse said.
Another top concern of the USSF and local clubs is the quality of coaching and development of style, which many players equate to a reflection of their country’s nationalistic soul.
“We’ve borrowed and begged for a style,” Schulz said of the typical U.S. player, noting that more diversity in the ranks will eventually stimulate more flair on the field.
A club such as Rush has 190 developmental and 70 competitive coaches, as well as 10 full-time staff coaches in Colorado.
The USSF’s best effort to standardize the process has been to offer certification classes. But suggestions by the USSF are only that. There are 55 state soccer associations that decide on their own what is best.
According to former USSF president Dr. Bob Contiguglia, that much bureaucracy makes implementing policy difficult.
The countdown to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa begins Monday, and the U.S., by virtue of a favorable North American region, has solidified itself as a favorite to make the tournament.
How long the U.S lasts there and at future World Cups could depend on how it redefines what makes a soccer player great.
