Growing the Game

On November 17th, FOX Soccer analyst Eric Wynalda, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the second-leading goal scorer in U.S. history, had an opportunity to sit with FIFA President Sepp Blatter for an exclusive, wide-ranging television interview at FIFA headquarters in Zurich. President Blatter was questioned on a number of relevant topics including racism, corruption and the sport’s growth in the US. Excerpts from this exclusive interview air Sunday (Nov. 20) at half time of the Chelsea

The honor of being the the first-ever Pelé Sports Fan Ambassador goes to Brandon Ferguson, President of the AK-ROWDIES. The AK-ROWDIES were created to provide support to athletic teams at The University of Akron in Ohio. The ROWDIES are best known for supporting the men’s soccer program led by Head Coach Caleb Porter.  They have become the country’s largest collegiate soccer supporters’ group, developing a style reminiscent of Europe’s most popular clubs. “We want to be like those teams who are taking

Zach Smith (gold) is defended by Giuseppe Cosentino (white) Players from across the U.S. and Canada gathered in Canton, Ohio this July to participate in the Samurai Sportswear Soccer Combine Presented by Mercy Medical Center. The event is certainly an original one, serving as North America’s first and only free soccer combine for elite players.  The high school girls event took place on July 8-10, 2011 and featured nearly 80 players from across the Midwest U.S. and beyond. Forward Madison Williams (Perrysburg, OH)

“In 2008, I went to the Czech Republic and I was sitting in this small cafe in Prague,” Chase Neidig, a sports developer for Tourbeau Sports Group, said. “There was a boy there and he wouldn’t talk to me; he didn’t know one sentence of English. But when I pulled out a soccer ball, his eyes lit up.” Neidig wants to use that shared connection to help the Gambia, a small country in West Africa. His charitable organization, SoccerSphere,