| Urban Soccer Collaborative: An Open Letter |
Dear Colleague:
Recently, a collection of dedicated youth soccer coaches came together to form an inner-city soccer program in Trenton, N.J. The concept of inner-city soccer is something many of us have been contemplating for a long time but were hesitant to venture into. Our program, the Glenn Myernick Soccer Foundation (Mooch Soccer) has been in existence now for more than two years and I have to say that the experience has been incredible and has far exceeded any of our expectations.
I would like to extend an invitation to all of our fellow coaches at the collegiate level to embark on similar programs in their communities.
After speaking with Al Albert, the former coach at William and Mary, and University of Notre Dame women’s coach Randy Waldrum, who is also the current president of the NSCAA, we have decided to form the GLENN MYERNICK SOCCER FOUNDATION OUTREACH PROGRAM in conjunction with the URBAN SOCCER COLLABORATIVE.
It is our hope that we can tap into the talent and experience of the greatest soccer coaches in the United States to extend our program to thousands of children who NEED to be a part of something great in their lives.
About the Glenn Myernick Soccer Foundation (www.moochsoccer.org)
Named for one of the greatest players and coaches in U.S. Soccer, the foundation was formed in April 2007 with the goal of bringing “the beautiful game” to as many children of the inner city as possible.
Why College Soccer needs to be involved
- The future of our game could very well be found in the inner city.
- We are the only country in the world that has an entire population of children that are not playing soccer. The untapped athletic ability and talent in the urban areas of the United States is staggering.
- Your time and effort could very well make a HUGE difference in the lives of many children.
- There are many ethnic children (and American born kids) in the cities that just need some structure, good coaching and a place to play.
- College soccer programs have tremendous built-in resources such as facilities, coaching staffs and players. The program can also serve as a great public relations vehicle for your program
Reaching out to give the gift of soccer to an underserved child could very well be the greatest soccer experience that you will ever have.
I know it has been for me!
Charlie Inverso
Director of Coaching
Glenn Myernick Soccer Foundation
f you are interested in starting an urban program please contact Tony Williams of the Urban Soccer Collaborative at tony@starfinderfoundation.org
Part II
Our Story
First let me say that YOU CAN DO THIS. My initial feeling was one of doubt and trepidation. I began to start to listen to the people who told me that we couldn’t do an urban program and that kids in the city don’t want to play soccer. That is a bunch of nonsense. The kids' enthusiasm made us believers!
During our first scheduled practice my greatest fears were realized. I thought that after a great deal of excitement and anticipation (and preparation) that when I arrived at the field only three kids would be there. I started to hear the voices of the naysayers who told me that the inner city was no place to conduct a youth soccer program.
I thought that when I arrived for the 3pm scheduled practice that only two kids would be there waiting.
I was wrong. There was only one kid at the field!
But soon after all of the players starting filtering in and there was even some neighborhood “walk-ons.” One “walk-on” in particular made for a great story which is indicative of the special nature our foundation. At the initial practice there was a huge young man standing quietly over by the fence almost hoping that someone would come over and ask him to jump in. I walked over to talk to him but my biggest concern was that the boy, who stood at 5’9”, was too old for our group. As I approached the young man named Mozart I was absolutely stunned to find out that he was only 11 years old!
Mozart has been a loyal and dedicated member of the “Mooch Soccer’ program and is well on his way to becoming a very good player. If you take a look at our web site www.moochsoccer.org and view our DVD you can see Mozart in action.
Soon practices became a regular part of the coaching staff’s routine. I can honestly say that there were times in the first season that, before arriving at the training site, I wondered if I was doing too much soccer and had bitten off more than I could chew.
My answer within two minutes of the kids' arrival to the field was always an emphatic NO! The kids always energized the staff and me. Just watching them arrive at the field was a feeling of happiness and satisfaction that I cannot describe. I always felt that my buddy, Mooch Myernick, was enjoying the sessions more than anyone!
First Year Achievements
- Establishment of three different levels of our program
- Level 1 The Playground or Introductory level
- Level 2 The Fall Recreation Program (already in existence)
- Level 3 The “Mooch” program for more advanced players
- In our first year we were able to provide regular training for an eight month time frame (December through July) and expand our program to many more kids in the city of Trenton
- Within seven months of starting the program we had four different age groups competing in three different indoor leagues. We did not have enough quality players to enter teams in an outdoor league for our U-11 through U-14’s so we were able to align our players up with local quality clubs
- Our first official “Mooch” team in the Central Jersey U-10 league coached by Mooch’s son, Travis Myernick.
- Two of our boys made the varsity soccer team at Trenton High School as freshmen.
- Establishment of venues so that our training involved three different sites (Mercer County CC turf stadium, Robbinsville Indoor bubble and the neighborhood site at Hedgepeth Williams Middle School)
- We were able to develop a true soccer environment at Hedgepeth Williams Middle School in Trenton (Please check out our DVD at www.moochsoccer.org), where kids now go and play pick-up games on their own.
- In March, our U-12 were champions of the Robbinsville Indoor League!
How to Get Started
1. Learn about the community and find the right niche
- You will need to find out:
- a) If there already is a recreation program in existence. An existing program will make the process a lot easier.
- b) About existing facilities such as fields and gyms.
- c) The names of important contact people such as recreation directors (if you decide to conduct the program through the recreation department), school officials (if you decide to run the program through the public schools), local club soccer coaches and administrators (you could possibly run the program as an outreach program from a local club)
- You will need to make decisions about:
- a) How long you want your program to run and at what time(s) of the year
- b) What are your goals? Purely recreational or do you want to develop players
2. Get a good group of administrators/volunteers.
- You will probably not have the time to take care of the administrative tasks that are involved in running a successful program. The administrative problems of an inner city program are different than that of the suburbs.
- The most common administrative problems are:
- Finding fields and gyms
- Transportation
- Communication with players and parents about practices and games
3. Prepare a budget
The expenses running an inner city program will vary. Typical expenses for running a program are:
- Field Rental – Most of our field are donated but we want to give the kids the opportunity to play on good fields so in the spring we rent the turf facility at Mercer County College. Former NY Cosmo great and US Soccer Hall of Famer Bob Smith allows us to use the state of the art Robbinsville Indoor facility once a week, free of charge
- Transportation – We rent buses 15- 20 times a year to bring the players to Mercer CC and Robbinsville
- Staffing – While it is nice to believe that we can get volunteers to serve as coaches, you will be able to attract better coaches if you pay them a stipend for the season. Volunteering over an eight month period gets old fast. I believe that the top priority for your program is to find quality coaches.Our coaches are paid $50-60 per session.
We were fortunate to find banks, businesses and individual’s who generously donated funding to keep our program going. There is even the creative possibility of designating the naming rights of your program in honor of a local soccer player/administrator/coach from the local area. I strongly recommend having a solid financial plan in place before getting started
4. Have a Plan
The most challenging aspect of a city program is to organization. Many of the kids come from unstructured environments and so organization is something that is vital. Getting kids to the training venue is difficult so you must consider where and how you are going to conduct your sessions
Some ideas that we have experimented with are:
1. Bring the game right into their neighborhood
2. Using elementary schools as an after school program
3. Bringing an after school program to an already established program such as the boys and girls club
4. Providing bus transportation to the training site.
5. Have a vision but don’t be afraid to digress from your plan
The great aspect of running an inner city program is that you can do things your own way. You don’t have to conform to the rigid ways that have somewhat crippled the growth of players in the suburbs.
Our goal was to take a group of youngsters that already have some soccer in them and try and develop players who could play within in a team concept. We also realized that we could not “overcoach” and squeeze the natural gift of soccer out of the boys.
6. It Doesn’t have to be a “CITY PROGRAM”
There are many kids who do not live in an urban area that do not play soccer. For example, the Township of Hamilton (Mercer County, N.J.) has one of the oldest and largest youth soccer programs in New Jersey
However, there are kids that live on the outskirts of Hamilton (particularly ethnic kids) that are not in the mainstream of the suburban scene. We recently started an outreach program at the neighborhood elementary school for these kids.
7. Name of the Program
The name of your program is important. It represents who you are and what you are about. It is certainly not a requirement to name your program The Glenn Myernick Soccer Foundation or Mooch Soccer. However we would like all of the collegiate programs to be an alliance under the (GMSFOP) Glenn Myernick Soccer Foundation Outreach Program and URBAN SOCCER COLLABORATIVE.
8. Curriculum
The development of a curriculum is presently underway through the Urban Soccer Collaborative.
The time to start is now. I have spoken to a lot of coaches that said “I would love to start an inner city program and once I hit the lottery this is what I am going to do.” Your chances of winning the lottery are one in a billion. Your chances of starting a rewarding program that will bring you a lifetime of memories is 100%
Resources
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| The Technical Area, NSCAA eNewsletter |
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