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Introduction
Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world, with over 240 million registered players at all levels, and at least 3.5 billion fans ( Soccer ). Despite its relative simplicity, the sport has tremendous appeal, ranging from kids playing with an old ball in the yards of Rio de Janeiro to a professional final hosted at Wembley Stadium with 100,000 fans and tens of millions watching around the world. Most large countries have an internal soccer league, which oversees and organizes semi-professional and professional teams at different levels and are generally responsible for the development of the sport in their respective countries. The ways that leagues operate depends on a wide range of factors such as popularity of the sport locally, available financing from the government and sponsors, available infrastructure, experience, and goals. In this paper, starting a new league will aim to utilize a grassroots approach as it is most effective in the long-term for the quality of the sport locally and financially the most sustainable.
Grassroots Strategy
The grassroots strategy generally refers to the development of the league by focusing on a wholesome player pathway starting from early youth and creating community conditions so that more people are interested in the sport and willing to try it. The goal is to offer age and stage appropriate development activities in soccer and to educate all involved stakeholders including players, parents, and coaches on making the participating in the sport a challenging but positive experience (Andersson 615). Grassroots embraces long-term player development, identifying those who possess strong interest and early capabilities for soccer, and working to develop their abilities, behavior and emotions, functioning, and potential as they age. In order to do so, a grassroots approach requires infrastructure and organizational structure for the league to exist at all the appropriate levels of development for a healthy player base growth. As children grow into adolescents, and adolescents into youth and young adults, the grassroots design cultivates high-skilled, emotionally mature, educated, and dedicated players that are capable to play soccer at a high professional level within a team environment ( U.S. Soccer Grassroots Player Development Framework ).
Finances
The following is a breakdown of revenue and expenses for the new league.
Long-Term Development
Despite being economic powerhouses, the United States and China both have relatively weak mens national teams and overall, a low quality of leagues. For the US, the MLS is seen as a place for superstars to retire at for a good salary, while the Chinese CSL is viewed as a joke, and the few expensive players they are able to loan, indicate it as a vacation . In both cases, the leagues are not showing much promise because their domestic leagues, which is a vital building block for strong national and professional teams, are mired in mediocrity ( Chinas football troubles ). Part of it is the strategic approach that the league has and another part, is the finances, an element that even the best European leagues have struggled with recently, largely due to the overinflated costs of superstar salaries as well as maintaining a team of professional players.
The top-down approach which may be effective in many other areas such as building infrastructure, does not work well within a professional sports league. In order for a league to be successful, it needs a strong foundation. Soccer federations often see this by attempting a top-down approach of hiring excellent staff and star coaches, making sweeping changes, and imposing new systems to force a certain culture and it continuously fails because it is unsustainable despite the fast and focused approach. Meanwhile, the grassroots strategy offers opportunity for long-term development from the bottom up. It allows to gradually build systems that are necessary to support athletes, to generate a healthy culture, to inspire and train leaders, as well as establishing a potentially financially viable organization. Much of these elements depend on the organizational culture, that at its essence is based on the ecological approach, meaning that perception cannot be detached from action (Pichardo 1189). The interactions that are involved in the daily basis (perception) drives actions.
The key to long-term sustainable development is understanding the concept of value in a football league. Development patterns can be complex and require significant resources, so there has to be an understanding regarding the path the league is taking, particularly being grassroots and built from the bottom-up. It needs to be taken into account that politics and society, management and control, and business are all intertwined in the leagues structure. Attempts to pursue fast returns or not adequately supporting the organizational mechanism will lead to a dysfunctional system (Rozier). Some aspects which have to be considered are policy and rule of law at the federation and league levels, guiding behaviors and customs to represent proper values, and ensuring that competition order is adequate. After all, the most successful leagues are those where regions offer strong competition and there is innate culture of soccer, not just in the population but within the leagues themselves. These leagues demonstrate high levels of professionalism across all levels, from professional to youth programs, and have effective supervision, similar to a large business.
The long-term development of the league using the grassroots strategy will have to incorporate three key elements. First is guiding ideology and transformational leadership. There should be a modern soccer philosophy developed and established that would serve as a vision for the league and its foundational principles. Services and parts of the league should be used to comprehensively develop the players, and everyone involved, building a culture. Furthermore, transformational leadership is needed to essentially drive the organization towards this vision and long-term goals, using reform and innovation as a driving force. Efforts should be made to build the organizational foundation, develop a talent base, provide infrastructure and facilities for all levels to increase the popularization of soccer and to continuously increase the quality of the sport.
The next step to consider is strategic positioning. Soccer is a sport which carries extensive influence, both domestically and on the global stage. The development of soccer in a new league can promote a comprehensive development of sport and allow the league to enter the top echelons of performance in the sport. It can also expand consumption and stimulate economic growth, both for the league and national soccer federation, but a range of other industries, if there are those willing to be involved and finance the sport. Furthermore, soccer has a significant educational function on youth, and it can be used as a vehicle to promote healthy social and other values, that will lead to respectful and hardworking adult athletes. The grassroots approach can also be used to empower those not commonly involved in soccer to participate, such as more women and minorities, creating equal opportunities (Wesely and Dublon).
Conclusion
Finally, what needs to be considered are development principles. As discussed, sustainable development is one key principle, ensuring that the environmental and societal impact of the leagues activities are in-line with the best practices. It is important to maintain a pattern of development, use scientific and business planning, and be socially oriented in order to build an orderly organization over time, starting with the youth programs and the grassroots efforts of growth. Reform and innovative development take on many forms including institutional changes and focusing on governance that is in line with the rule of law and complies to the latest recommendations of the public interest and sports development.
Works Cited
Andersson, Erik. A Referee Perspective on the Educational Practice of Competitive Youth Games: Exploring the Pedagogical Function of Parents, Coaches and Referees in Grassroots Soccer. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, vol. 24, no. 6, 2019, pp. 615628, 10.1080/17408989.2019.1652806.
Chinas football troubles reflect broader issues within the economy. The Economist, 2021.
Pichardo, Andrew W, et al. Integrating Models of Long-Term Athletic Development to Maximize the Physical Development of Youth. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, vol. 13, no. 6, 2018, pp. 11891199, 10.1177/1747954118785503.
Rozier J. III. Organizational expansion within professional sports. The Sport Journal, vol. 21, 2018. Web.
Soccer. Library of Congress, 2022.
U.S. Soccer Grassroots Player Development Framework. Arlington Soccer Club. Web.
Wesely, Marissa, and Dina Dublon. Empowering Women at the Grassroots. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2015.
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