http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=1e36feb7b0b56ab51f6c302ba625eeae#U.S. Very short article, but a debatable point, considering strides made by those Americans not part of minority groups, and an increasing fan base from them....I'm latino myself, but i would not put as much faith in our input helping so much when it comes to the future of MLS,
Why? Second-Generation Latinos are a marketers dream. Contrarty to stereotypes, Latinos are somewhat affluent and will want to consume a number of things their parents didn't have or couldn't give them. Given the strong cultural ties to soccer, it's safe to bet that second generation Latinos will be a major part of the MLS fanbase. If you don't believe me, look at supporter clubs. The vast majority of Latinos in the MLS supporter clubs are second generation, especially kids in their late teens and early 20s. Sachin
From the article: "The future of the 8-year-old U.S. professional soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS) – which is still a money-losing enterprise – lies with soccer talent surfacing in second-generation Latino immigrants and the love of soccer prevalent in the growing Latino community" I was referring more to second-generation Latino players playing such a huge part of MLS future...I agree that the MLS fan base is Latino in a good percentage, and will hopefully continue to be so..... But player-wise, i see more of a distribution among all ethnicities in America when it comes to the makeup of the MLS teams/National teams, as it is happening right now with the youngsters coming in...
2nd Generation Latinos are important for MLS... But teams must go out and look for them! Which they do not! The best Latino American players play in the parks, NOT USSF youth leagues...
I agree with this to some extent. A factor that one must recognize is that these Latino park phenoms may not be facing organized and committed opposition like they may find in a structured league, which may account for some of their rumored abilities at this point. And if you know there are some kids being overlooked and I know it, how can the USSF not be aware of this cauldron of talent? If they are aware, does the system stop them from aggressively scouting the parks?
Didn't Bruce basically say this supposed hidden El Dorado of unknown Latino players is a load of crap and that USSF scouting has gone up and down places like East LA, etc., and that it's just not true. I mean, if Rodrigo Faria could make it in such a quick time from out of nowhere, what would be holding back these other guys? I guess if they're trying NOT to be found, they won't be, but sooner or later someone is going to see standout talent at open tryouts, etc. However, I completely believe that 2nd generation Latino immigrants are an absolutely essential part of the MLS fan base.
The city of Houston built a club "The Houstonians" around the poor inner city kid that plays in the park type player. They made playing for the team free (tax dollars!) and have or had a competitive program that has sent at least one team to nationals. There were some issues that came up with the people running the club though and I'm not sure if the team is still free or how things work with it, but I would like to say that in Houston the clubs have had a longstanding policy of picking up these "park" players and integrating them into USYSA teams. Santos Lazo who played for El Salvadors national team and plays pro in El Salvador played daily at a nearby park, in the hispanic means league, and with the USYSA club Quest (with Eric Quill and Johnney Torres). When the competition level gets high the clubs that want to win will find these players and find ways for them to get on their team.
A lot of first and second generation Latino kids aren't just playing in inner-city parks anymore. I believe Arturo Alvarez, whose parents are from El Salvador, played at Mayde Creek HS in way suburban Houston. That school's in what used to be a very Anglo, very middle- to upper-middle class suburban school district. There are kids from immigrant Latino families all over the 'burbs now and more probably find their way onto clubs than may have been the case in the past. It's inevitable that more kids like him will end up on MLS rosters. I can't seem to find the article on the Houston Chronicle's site anymore, but Glenn Davis a couple months ago had a really interesting interview with one of the USSF staff members whose primary responsibility is identifying kids in the U-15 to U-17 groups. He was in Houston recently and mentioned how he and others in the USSF scout Latino and other kids from recent immigrant families who, for whatever reason, may still not be getting into the traditional clubs.
Rodrigo Faria is not a good example of a typical Latino kid. Rodrigo grew up in Brazil and came to the states to get a college degree. His soccer abilities were made in Brazil, not the US.
No, but Rodrigo came from out of nowhere on MLS's radar screen--my point being that if the supposed bias or obstacles existed, why didn't it affect him just like everyone else? In this day and age, there's very little stopping determined talent from getting noticed, one way or another.
Please. What else would the league commissioner say in an interview with Exito, a publication whose readership is mostly second generation Latinos? What will Garber say in his interview with Ebony?
Which would be a good thing, given that a study a few years ago showed that people become fans of a sport not by playing, but by watching. The study showed that fans become fans because (a) their fathers (note the gender here) take them to games in their pre-teens, (b) because their teams are strongly identified with the community and (c) because their teams have some 'heroic' players that the kids look up to and identify with. I'd contend that soccer moms, as much as they've helped players get started, don't fit the bill. My guess is that they don't initiate the 'let's go to a game' suggestion. Further, unless they are part of a community with a strong soccer tradition, soccer isn't the sport watched in the fan role anyway. I think MLS's challenge is three-fold: Getting dads to take their kids to games, building the relationship of the team and the community and having the 'heroic' players. Watching soccer as a fan is more likely if your parents came from a country where soccer was a key sport. It's much less likely if the immigration happened several generations ago (like mine, which is three generations--I learned to love the game when I was in my thirties and wasn't aware of it before then). That's about the only advantage the MLS has with second generation kids from soccer cultures. MLS still has a big challenge with building the team/community relationship everywhere--and an even bigger one with keeping popular players on one team long enough for the hero worship to build and not be destroyed because the player was traded due to salary cap problems.