Greg Foster walked through Kino Sports Complex on Saturday morning wearing a fleece jacket embroidered with the logo of FC Tucson, the team at the top of the city’s soccer ladder.
Foster, one of the team’s managing members, understands the importance of the annual Tucson Association of Realtors Shootout, which draws thousands of local and regional players.
At Kino, Foster could walk from field to field, selling coaches group-priced tickets to the upcoming MLS Preseason Desert Friendlies, which will feature some of the league’s top players.
“American soccer is a pyramid,” Foster said. “These youth tournaments form the foundation of the pyramid.”
The FC Tucson logo will never be as recognizable as the “block A” in Tucson, but Foster liked what he heard from most of his conversations. The majority of Shootout attendees he talked to were already familiar with the budding organization.
Building a market for high-level professional development soccer in Tucson relies on the popularity of the sport at the youth level, where there has been a plateau of participation.
Mack Romero of Fort Lowell Soccer Club has seen a leveling off of children joining the sport.
“We’re seeing growth in the club every year, but as far as in Tucson, we have approximately 10-11,000 players who play soccer and we have been at the number for the last few years,” Romero said.
Romero says the stagnation is a due to a mix of factors, ranging from increasing attention on concussions to slow economic development.
The number of youth soccer players in Phoenix has grown from 20,000 to 40,000 players over the past couple years, Romero said.
“We’ve had great growth in the state,” Romero said. “Tucson has not shown the same growth.”
Arizona is one of the few states in the country where there has been an overall uptick in numbers over the past few years, Romero said. He is working to boost participation within Tucson.
As the Arizona Youth Soccer Association District II commissioner, he recently started a referee program which has grown the referee pool by hundreds.
Next weekend, the Pima County Junior Soccer League and FC Tucson are teaming up to host Get in the Game, an event at Kino that intends to attract more Tucsonans to the sport.
On Jan. 27, FC Tucson will host its first MLS preseason game, featuring the Portland Timbers and the New York Red Bulls.
Luis Robles, who once played with Tucson Soccer Academy, is a goalkeeper for the Red Bulls.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids to watch top players out on the field and build a bond with some of the best players in the United States,” Foster said.
