FIFA failing to deliver NJ World Cup community legacy
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Aaron Razak called the 2022 FIFA World Cup "one of the best things I experienced." He watched matches on television at home with family and friends.
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A 13-year-old from Hopatcong, Razak was planning to watch the 2026 World Cup the same way – even though the games will be far closer to home.
He and other young players from Morris Elite got an early brush with soccer celebrity, leading the New York Cosmos onto the field at Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson on March 14. It was the inaugural match for the Cosmos reboot, a long-planned development which is tied to the upcoming World Cup.
"You never expect to meet these amazing players," said Razak, who picked Spain to win the title. "It's crazy thinking about it. You can drive an hour down the road and you're at the stadium, and you know they're right inside."
Though FIFA has promised to leave a legacy in each World Cup host city, local soccer teams haven't yet been offered many opportunities to get involved. There will be eight matches at the Meadowlands: five in the group stage, two knockout-round games, and the July 19 final.
NJ funding fan events, not fields
On May 6, the NJ World Cup Community Initiative announced $5 million in grants to 34 organizations hosting public fan experiences and community events. That is state money via the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, not from the host committee or U.S. Soccer.
Those events and others run by small businesses can be integrated into the host committee's Welcome World Rewards Program, where fans can check in to earn points redeemable for merchandise and other perks.
The grants went to multi-day events dubbed Flag Cities like Paterson and Hackensack, and to one-off activities – many of which are annual, but added a World Cup component to qualify. That fits in with what NYNJ host committee co-host city manager Bruce Revman said at the New Jersey Youth Soccer Summit on March 1.
"What do you all do that we can help you with? What do you all do that we can enhance? What do you all do that we can support, rather than create it and start from scratch?" Revman asked a room full of soccer coaches and community leaders slightly more than 100 days before the World Cup is scheduled to start.
At the time of the summit, the only Soccer Forward Fest scheduled in New Jersey will be hosted by Hazlet United at the end of May. The two-day Frances G. Young Recreation Tournament will bring 70 youth teams together, giving rec players a rare opportunity to face off against new kids from other towns.
More fests have been added in Leonia, Piscataway and Red Bank, among others.
"Where New Jersey Youth Soccer can make a difference is working with the Parks and Recs (departments) in different communities to help their programs in a tangible, operational way," said CEO Evan Dabby, who grew up in Tenafly and now lives in Freehold. "We can get more kids playing, not for the purpose of getting them on the national team, but getting them to enjoy the sport and participate."
New Jersey Youth Soccer was a promotional partner of the Club World Cup last summer. Dabby is open to strategic opportunities at the World Cup, on beyond individual coaches and parents who applied to be volunteers.
Soaring ticket prices and lack of accessibility may relegate local players to watching on screens like Razak did four years ago, rather than being in the stands at the Meadowlands or Philadelphia.
However, Dabby said there was a 30% jump in youth soccer participation after the 1994 World Cup. He is projecting New Jersey Youth Soccer registration to rise to 130,000, up 20,000 from last year. Clubs are already building infrastructure, particularly getting more coaches certified.
"The World Cup generates excitement. A local World Cup generates even more excitement. It hooks kids," said Tammy McConnell, president of Randolph Soccer Club. "I want people to watch soccer and love soccer and play soccer at whatever level makes sense for them. It's a lifestyle you can continue to be involved with. It can be a lifelong thing. That's really amazing."
If you build it...
Three years ago, the host committee promised to build 26 mini-pitches in New Jersey and New York. The first opened on March 30 with much fanfare at P.S. 17 in Jersey City. Groundbreaking for the second, at P.S. 112 in the Bronx, was held on May 8, in partnership with AirBnB.
The Jersey City mini-pitch, which is part of a construction project which will turn a sloped blacktop parking lot into a multi-use play area, was done in conjunction with the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Launched with some of the proceeds from the 1994 World Cup, which was also hosted in the United States, the foundation committed to build 1,000 safe places to play and serve 10 million kids by the end of 2026.
The Foundation has opened more than 850 mini-pitches to date, 31 of which are in New Jersey.
"Hopefully this can serve as the starting point for the next Christian Pulisic, the next Landon Donovan, the next Tim Howard," NYNJ host committee CEO Alex Lasry said at the P.S. 17 unveiling, referencing present and past USMNT stars from Hershey, Pennsylvania, central California, and East Brunswick.
"The next great U.S. athlete will be able to play, and hopefully they can be able to say they started right here on this mini-pitch," Lasry said. "This World Cup is really a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We're not just looking at the economic impact of over 1.2 million people coming to our region, over $3 billion coming to our region. But what the World Cup really can bring is a lasting legacy unlike one that we've seen before."
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: New Jersey Youth Soccer teams hoping for 2026 World Cup opportunities