I did a piece for Tom Dunmore’s excellent blog Pitch Invasion today about how I became the obsessed soccer fan that I am. Kudos to anyone who can name a player for the Dayton Dynamo!

Any list of soccer meccas in the United States would have to include Nevada Smith’s. The bar, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, has bringing in the soccer faithful of New York since 1994. Today, on any given weekend day, the bar shows games from morning till night. Matches from England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the United States and beyond (catering to a group of supporters of SK Brann, Nevada Smith’s even shows Norwegian league) fill the bar’s many televisions spread over two floors. Weekends are “a constant coming and going of people,” Nevada Smith’s owner Jack Keane told me recently. “On a busy Saturday, there’s no doubt that we have between 2000 and 3000 fans that come through the doors.”

Fans at Nevada Smith’s (photo: New York Daily News)

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When I travel abroad, people often tell me that the United States is good at soccer only because they import foreigners to play for the national team. While this strategy was key in our development as a soccer nation, it is far, far less common today. The 1990s saw the US scour European leagues for players with American connections, coming up with gems such as Ernie Stewart and Thomas Dooley (both of whom had American servicemen fathers) and duds such as David Wagner and David Regis (the latter was a Frenchman whose late call-up into the 1998 World Cup squad led to great friction within the team and was a large part of the team’s horrible showing in that tournament). But since the turn of the century, the US has invested a tremendous amount of money into youth development, and nearly all of its players have been born in this country. Despite this, the image of the US as a sub-par team that must import foreigners to achieve success has lingered. Yet ironically, in recent years the US has helped to develop several players who have gone on to play for other countries internationally.

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First of all, I want to apologize for the sudden disappearance of Culture of Soccer last year. Starting graduate school ate up most of my time, and I couldn’t keep up the site. However, now that I am a couple of years into my PhD, I find myself with a bit more time and I am happy to announce that I will be restarting Culture of Soccer shortly. I will likely do updates about once a week and I hope to regain many of the fans this site had developed previously, as well as attract some new followers. I have many ideas for stories to write and I will come across new ideas as part of my studies, which will focus on the role of immigrant soccer leagues in the United States. I’m also happy to hear suggestions from readers. If you have an idea for something I can write about on Culture of Soccer, please email me at david@cultureofsoccer.com.

It is an understatement to say that the path from Uganda to South Carolina is not well trodden. But in the past few years an increasing number of young men from Uganda have been making the unlikely journey to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina to study and play for school’s soccer team. Winthrop’s connection with Uganda began several years ago, and since that time several players from the East African nation have played for the Eagles. Daniel Ridenhour, an assistant coach at Winthrop, recently traveled to Uganda on a recruiting trip. He spoke with me shortly after returning to South Carolina about his time in the country.

Daniel Ridenhour (L) talking with locals in Uganda (photo: Daniel Ridenhour)

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The only thing more incredible than the fact that brother and sister Alexis and Amber Hernandez both play for youth national teams is the fact that both represent Mexico. The Hernandez siblings have lived their entire lives in California, but in the past year both have worn Mexico’s famous tricolor. Children of a Mexican-born mother and second-generation Mexican-American father, Alexis and Amber are among the latest in the growing number of American-born players returning to their ancestral homeland to play their soccer.

Alexis and Amber Hernandez with Mexican youth national team coaches (photo courtesy of Hernandez family)

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