442 Article on Philly Youth Soccer Team

[MUTINYFAN]

I was reading the latest 442 issue on the newstands today. There was an article about an African-American soccer team from the inner city in Philly. The coach of the team stated that it was a shame that Philadelphia has only 2 youth soccer teams in African-American areas. He then went on to state that as long as soccer is not targeted towards A-As; the U.S. will be a second rate power. He also stated that there are some who don't want A-As to become involved in soccer because it would go the way of basketball. There was a mention of racism by white suburban teams.

I enjoyed the article on a very touchy issue. I always have seen AYSO youth soccer as a development ground for mainly white players and college soccer also to a certain but lesser extent. And I agree that for America to become a first rate power we need more African-American players involved and Hispanics as well (hopefully Chivas takes care of this in the long run). This issue has been previously discussed on these boards but that article brought it to my attention again.

[JohnR]

I was reading the latest 442 issue on the newstands today.

Only the latest issue on your newsstand. :)

He then went on to state that as long as soccer is not targeted towards A-As; the U.S. will be a second rate power.

Silly. Toss out African-Americans and the U.S. still has more people than Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Argentina combined.

He also stated that there are some who don't want A-As to become involved in soccer because it would go the way of basketball. There was a mention of racism by white suburban teams.

This also seems a bit silly. I've never heard a racist comment in 5 years of suburban soccer. If a kid can play, people want him. And if parents can pay, club directors want their money.

Now, I will grant that there are institutional reasons why African-Americans don't greatly participate in soccer, but I wouldn't put racism very high on that list.

[voros]

You could pretty easily come up with a plausible USMNT starting lineup right now with 5 African Americans in it: Beasley, Johnson, (two of) Pope/Gibbs/Onyewu, and Howard.

A lack of African American kids doesn't seem to be a problem for us. A lack of kids from large geographic swaths of the population is.

[JohnR]

A lack of kids from large geographic swaths of the population is.

FYI, I was told yesterday (don't know if the rumor is true) that Chicago Storm, the MISL team, will be opening a "Storm Juniors" youth soccer club in Chicago proper. This would be a rare thing indeed, a real-live serious competitive soccer program situated within a major city's limits.