By Yoni Ginsberg
Walking through the doors at the Los Angeles Convention Center this past weekend, the excitement and enthusiasm present at the Soccer Nation Expo was easily felt. As people strolled through the booths and spoke to representatives from various soccer related companies, indoor soccer matches, played by local youth club teams offered a sense of the beautiful game right at your fingertips. At the center of the entire convention was a small turf field, where professional coaches demonstrated exercises and drills meant to help sharpen the skills of other trainers.
The standout booths, as would be expected, were from Nike, Fox Soccer Channel, The Los Angeles Galaxy, and Chivas USA. Scores of soccer camp representatives, countless apparel suppliers, and even a beach soccer shootout, where contestants try to hit targets on sand, were all contained within the walls of the two day event. One of the more interesting booths was that of San Diego Boca FC. The club was founded in 2009 in order to promote and develop professional and youth soccer in the San Diego Area. The club hopes to build a soccer specific stadium and have an MLS franchise in the next 5 years. Currently, the club is part of the National Premier Soccer League.
Soccer Nation was sponsored by CALSOUTH – SoCal’s official youth soccer org.
The event demonstrates to the American soccer community more than what is just visible on the surface. The number of visitors as well as the number of presenters, prove to us that we are not alone. The soccer community in this country is growing exponentially.
Not so long ago people scoffed at those who enjoyed the beautiful game. If it wasn’t Football, Baseball, Basketball, or Hockey, then it wasn’t a sport. But, my friends, now is our time. We have risen from the depths of the unknown and we are taking the country by storm. The country’s focus will soon shift from it’s pastime to what should be hailed and crowned as the absolute monarch of sports, our beautiful game.
With the help of such events as the Soccer Nation Expo, we can reach out to those who have not been blessed by our sport, to those who do not know the gracefully elegant touch of Messi, and to those naysayers who claim that our passion will never succeed in the United States. As a passerby commented just today at the Expo, “We’re here under a common goal, to enjoy our game and to be together.” Joga Bonito. Play Beautiful. OneLove.
