So, it’s been a long time since my first installment. Things have been busy for me since the season has started. Dunny has been hounding me to send him another article. I’ve had the topic for awhile but not the time to sit down and type it out.

There’s a momentum quietly building around the country with urban soccer. Recently, I took part in the 2nd Annual Symposium of the Urban Soccer Collaborative. I won’t go into the details (I’ll provide a link which summarizes the organization). The goal of the organization is to expose the Game to kids in underserved communities. This hits home personally because I was born in the inner city of Baltimore but moved out as a kid to the “Burbs. My life would have been tremendously different had we not moved. I’ve been extremely fortunate to meet some wonderful people, travel the world, and make a little bit of money all because of the Game.

Many of these organizations have been toiling in their own communities feeling like they’re alone. In fact, there were 2 groups in Atlanta that didn’t know about the other! I had a family friend ask me how to get her nephew involved in Baltimore. I had no idea. I could point her in the right direction in DC but not in my birthplace of Charm City. There were groups across the country from Atlanta to Compton to Nashville. They seemed to become reenergized by seeing other people going through the same struggles but still finding ways to make a difference. These are people who LOVE the Game but more importantly love the kids that are playing and not playing the Game. They look to use the sport to enhance the lives of those kids that are not being exposed to the beauty of the game we all love. At a time when we’re focusing on elite youth soccer, it’s great to be “brought back to reality” of people who are not making six figures coaching. I tip my hat to them. These are people who have and show their true passion for the sport and people.

Here are 2 links about the organization: http://www.blacksportsthemagazine.com/Magazines/May08.pdf (scroll down to page 28) and U.S. Soccer Foundation Attends 2nd Annual Urban Soccer Collaborative Symposium - US Soccer Foundation.

Dante