United States Soccer Federation

United States Soccer Federation

As the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the United States, U.S. Soccer has helped chart the course for the sport in the USA for 90 years. In that time, the Federation’s mission statement has been very simple and very clear: to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.

To that end, the sports growth in the past 15 years has been nothing short of remarkable. The most recent example of that progress was the opening of U.S. Soccer's National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. This state of the art training facility and stadium encapsulates perfectly U.S. Soccer's focus on facility and player development in the new millennium.

Some of the other powerful earmarks of U.S. Soccer's growth can be seen in the many successful international tournaments that have taken place in the United States, including the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. That successful tournament was organized in the United States on behalf of FIFA in just four months (after it was moved out of China because of the SARS epidemic) and would eventually attract more than 350,000 fans and achieve a financial surplus for FIFA of more than $6 million.

In the 1990s, U.S. Soccer served as the host federation for World Cup USA 1994, the highest attended event in FIFA history, and as the host federation for the most successful women’s sporting event in history - FIFA Women’s World Cup 1999. U.S. Soccer also has been the host National Governing Body for two highly successful Olympic soccer tournaments (1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta).

Founded in 1913, U.S. Soccer was one of the world’s first organizations to be affiliated with FIFA, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, soccer’s world governing body. U.S. Soccer has continued to grow in the 91 years since, and now has the largest membership among U.S. Olympic Committee national governing bodies.

Almost three decades prior to U.S. Soccer’s formation, the first international soccer games to ever be played outside the British Isles were played between the U.S. and Canada in 1885 and 1886, respectively.

Known originally as the U.S. Football Association, U.S. Soccer’s name was changed to the United States Soccer Football Association in 1945 and then to its present name in 1974. U.S. Soccer is a non-profit, largely volunteer organization with much of its business administered by a national council of elected officials representing four administrative arms: youth players 19 years of age and under; adult players over the age of 19; the professional division and athletes.

Progress
After building the platform on which the Federation would stand, U.S. Soccer turned toward a more tangible measuring stick: success on the field. Everyone involved with the sport knows that only consistent success at the sports highest level can entrench soccer in the mainstream media.

The addition of World Cup-miracle worker Bora Milutinovic as head coach for a fast-improving Men’s National Team was the first step in that process. With Milutinovic on board in the early 90s, the U.S. Men captured the inaugural Gold Cup competition in 1991, laying claim to the championship of CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football). That victory was the first in a long-line of successes for the team, which culminated in a second-round appearance at the 1994 World Cup.

The men’s team would continue to succeed on their road to what was eventually a disappointing 1998 World Cup performance, but with Bruce Arena righting the ship and guiding the U.S. Men to their fourth straight World Cup appearance, the development of the young professional in the U.S. is at an all-time high.

Rise
Part of that development can be traced to some of the revolutionary programs created by U.S. Soccer through partnerships with Nike, Major League Soccer and other organizations, including Nike Project-40 (a first choice option for young players looking to increase their professional stock by training in a professional environment every day).

The further development of the young professional began with the birth of Major League Soccer, the highest level of professional club soccer ever seen in the United States, which first kicked a ball in 1996. In a span of 10 years, the professional sport in this country went from the doldrums of not having seen a pro league since the demise of the North American Soccer League in 1984, to seeing a firmly entrenched league averaging crowds in the mid-teens, with 10 current franchises surviving in their original cities, with responsive media coverage and strong sponsor support. Something almost impossible to envision in 1990 or even 1995, a powerful, competitive and stable professional league is a reality today.

For the U.S. Women, it would be easy to put the team’s well-documented success down simply to the advantages women have in American society (compared with that of some other nations around the world) or to just the advent of Title IX (which freed the way for women’s sport participation in 1972), but that wouldn’t tell the entire story.

From the start, U.S. Soccer has been committed to developing women’s soccer and has prided itself on being at the forefront of women’s athletic issues across the United States. From the development of full-time residency programs for the players, increased compensation for participation, full-time coaching positions and attention to detail like the development of the “nanny” program to help address the issue of full-time players that are also full-time mothers, U.S. Soccer has set revolutionary standards for other organizations to follow.

Of course nothing can compare to the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team on the field, where they went from being America’s best kept secret after their victory in the 1991 Women’s World Cup to American pop icons when they captured the 1999 crown in front of a national TV audience of 40 million plus. The victory vaulted the sport into a rarified air that few sports celebrities ever enjoy, with the covers of Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and People just the tip of the iceberg. An iceberg which crashed through the hull of the mainstream media’s perception of the sport when the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team closed out the 1990s with the incredible achievements of earning Sports Illustrated’s 1999 Sportsmen of the Year Award, and being named ESPN’s Team of the Year.

Favor the Bold
The strongest evidence of the mark U.S. Soccer is making worldwide can be seen in the fact that the U.S. Soccer National Team programs have qualified for 19 consecutive FIFA outdoor world championships (a number currently surpassed only by Brazil). In 2002, U.S. Soccer was the only federation in the world to lay claim to three major international championships, with the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Teams sweeping their way to CONCACAF Gold Cup crowns and the U.S. Under-19 Women’s National Team winning the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship.

There is no doubt that U.S. Soccer is coming off of a five-year period filled with unprecedented success. The U.S. Men advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, beating Portugal and Mexico along the way, and captured the world’s attention in the process. The U.S. line-up featured two 20-year-olds in Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, who just three-years prior had won the Gold and Silver Balls, respectively, in leading the U.S. U-17s to an unprecedented fourth-place finish at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand.

The U.S. Men’s Olympic Soccer Team shocked soccer followers at the 2000 Sydney Games, finishing fourth, drawing with eventual champion Cameroon and lasting longer than traditional powerhouses such as Nigeria and Brazil. For the U-20 MNT, similar success awaited them at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates. The team was seconds away from a semifinal berth, but had to settle for a fifth-place finish in the tournament after stoppage time and overtime goals from Argentina ended the squads record-setting run. Also in 2003, the U-17 MNT matched their U-20 counterparts with a fifth-place finish at the U-17 World Championship in Finland behind the inspired play of Freddy Adu, who appeared in both world championships for the U.S.

The U.S. Women won six tournaments in 2000, took home the silver medal from the Olympics and permanently altered the landscape of women’s sports with their historic win at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In 2003, the team lost their world champion crown, but still maintained their perfect top three record in Olympic and Women's World Cup play with a third-place finish on home soil.

The U.S. Women’s Youth National Teams program has also set their standards high, with the U.S. Under-19 WNT sweeping their way to the first FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002. In winning six of the last seven Nordic Cup championships (and five in a row), the Under-21 Women have also measured up to the WNT program’s standards of excellence.

Building the Future
Since the start of the new decade U.S. Soccer has set their sites on establishing a strong base for the future of the sport in the United States. As part of that process, the Federation developed and presented a five-year business plan that was approved by the Board of Directors in October 2000, and began to lay the groundwork for the player and facility initiatives coming to fruition today. Since the start of 2001, the plan has been modified and updated based on the dynamics within both the sport industry and within the U.S. Soccer family.

In the three years since the implementation of this business plan, U.S. Soccer has:

identified challenges
created and refined their cost model
re-organized and reduced staff
increased efficiency and the level of service provided to their members
achieved positive financial results
built an operating reserve.

The first objective after creating and approving the business plan was to stabilize the financial position of the organization by creating an operating reserve as recommended by the Budget and Audit Committee. Over the past several years, the Federation has been able to satisfy their operating reserve and increase their efforts in player development.

Throughout the five-year business plan the question "Where does U.S. Soccer want to be in five years?" was consistently used as the barometer in the organization's decision making.

The basis for activating these strategic areas for U.S. Soccer was to have the financial resources to sustain an activity or program over an extended (five-year) period of time. Sustainability over a period of time is the key to starting programs and seeing them through to completion as opposed to a start/stop approach to programs.

U.S. Soccer's Business Plan Overview ... Phase I
In August of 2000, the Federation’s Board of Directors reviewed and unanimously approved Phase I of the Federation’s Business Plan. This marked the first step in executing a framework that emphasized a lean, efficient organization that would be fiscally stable, provide outstanding service to our members and invest in the future of our sport by emphasizing player and facility development.

Phase II
In October of 2000, the Federation’s Board of Directors reviewed and unanimously approved Phase II of the Business Plan, which outlined in substantial detail, the complete financial framework and execution strategy. This framework provided a clear accounting of the Federation’s multiple business units and showed the critical business dynamics that would need to be addressed for long-term success.

Phase III
Phase III of the Business Plan was reviewed and unanimously approved by the Federation’s Board of Directors in May of 2002. This Phase provided an updated look at our overall business and continued to emphasize our commitment to meeting our five-year objectives and increasing our investment in player development for the future success and growth of our sport.

Phase IV
At the November 22, 2003, Board of Directors meeting, the Federation’s Board of Directors reviewed and unanimously approved Phase IV of the Federation’s business plan. This plan continues to emphasize the Federation’s commitment to player and facility development that was introduced in Phase I. It also elaborates on the Federation's main initiatives and charts the course for the Federation to invest in and grow the sport of soccer for the future and for the benefit of all of its members.

Phase IV Development: 2004-2006
Because of the success of U.S. Soccer's business planning in this decade, the Federation is now in a position to execute their stated initiatives:

U.S. Soccer Initiatives
Player Development
Facility Development
Coaching Development
Referee Development
Event Development
Staff Development
Quality environment for our National Teams
Governance/Diversity Task Forces

As part of these goals, U.S. Soccer has committed $30 million in addition to their normal operations to invest in these initiatives over the next three years, with $14.5 million earmarked for Player Development and $13.6 million going into Facility Development and $1.9 million being reserved for other initiatives.