Youth soccer has long been a stalwart cornerstone of the middle class here in America. So popular and common is the association, the term “soccer mom” has inked itself into our vernacular. Soccer on a larger scale however, has for the most part, failed to catch on in the United States. Strange that many children nationwide play the game at a young age, but the support system kind of putters out before high school.

Perhaps it is in part due to a lack of a connection to the community. Many times, Major league soccer sets up shop in large cities and they fail to connect to the suburbs, thus the middle class. The Hunt organization owned FC Dallas has a unique set up. Pizza Hut Park© is in Frisco, Texas and has a large and continued interaction with the community.

The FC Dallas foundation has a program called “Kicks for kids” and it provides under privileged children with tickets to FC Dallas soccer games.  This provides a healthy outlet for kids, and creates a relationship between FC Dallas and the community that is invaluable.

The NBA and had similar programs in the 80’s and 90’s and the benefit for the NBA cities was tremendous. Many current NBA players come from inner city areas that are underfunded, and lower income children may never have ever dribbled a basket ball were in not for these programs. Boys club© and the YMCA© helped plant the seeds for many modern day basketball players as well.

Baseball, we know is known as America’s pastime, and this was in part because every boy from walking age to high school knew the game, loved the game, and were the future of the game.

With a more focused vision, and better infrastructure, soccer can take root in the United States and have more homegrown talent for its future. MLS soccer, and mainly the FC Dallas organization, seems to have realized this.

To learn more about “kicks for kids” and other FC Dallas community programs, please visit http://web.mlsnet.com/t104/community/