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| The Voices of Soccer (March 2004) |
By Joe Cummings
Two years ago, I was a panelist at the National Soccer Hall of Fame for a presentation entitled “The Voices of Soccer.” I certainly was quite pleased that someone felt that I was one of the anointed voices of this sport here in the United States, but as I expressed quite vociferously, this was a mistake.
On the panel with me were Kevin Crow, the former chief operating officer of the WUSA; Don Garber, the commissioner of MLS; Sunil Gulati, managing director of soccer for the New England Revolution and vice-president of U.S. Soccer; Peter Wilt, general manager of the Chicago Fire; Tim Murphy, former general manager of the Philadelphia Charge; and Francisco Marcos of the USL.
Well believe me, we are not the voices of soccer, and we clearly are not the faces of soccer, for in that regard, our sport needs to be a reflection of our country. The panelists all were men, only one person of color and the individuals who represented the WUSA never played women’s soccer.
The voices of soccer don’t all speak English, and they don’t all wear suit coats and ties and, as the participation numbers bear out, ours is not a sport dominated by male voices.
For me the voices of soccer aren’t even adult voices. They are those of children who begin playing this game because, more than any other choice they may make, they make this one because the game is fun.
They are the five-year-old players with baggy shorts, shiny boots and shin pads that consume their legs. They are the U-10 players who squeal when the ball trickles slowly across the goal line.
I sometimes wonder if we even need more players, more coaches or more referees to have this sport gain momentum in the United States. What we really need are more sponsors who love the sport and want to spend their marketing dollars to prove their love for the sport, and more sports editors who no longer want to dedicate 10 pages to football, basketball, baseball or hockey, but will actually seek out soccer articles. We need TV producers who know how to present our sport in an entertaining fashion.
We need each of you to fight for this sport, not to sit back passively and assume that good things will happen.
Now it must surely seem that I am preaching to the converted with that message. Perhaps I am, but we are so close, and yet there is so much more to do.
What we need we already have. We have the greatest sport in the world, and its time has come. We must no longer stand idly by and allow the doubters to block our way.
We have the sport played by more people, viewed by more people and cheered by more people than any other sporting activity in the world.
I urge each of you to be a voice for soccer. We must continue to nurture the disciples, the ambassadors and those who spread the word and we must create a forum for the soccer followers to be heard.
You are those individuals.
Thank you for what you have already done. But more importantly, thank you for what you will do. |
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