A video interview about youth soccer
The countdown to Seattle is on, which means I have a lot of blog content I want to get up before I leave. A week today!
Over the last few years, I've gotten back into football in a big way. Attribute it to having easy access to the FIFA video game and NBC Sport's coverage of the Premier League through my roommate Harris, the Prem getting more and more exciting, or the growing influence of the sport stateside, but it's my guilty pleasure. While the season is out I'm keeping my addiction satisfied with a daily dose of probably-fake transfer rumours.
One of the things that are most interesting to me is the growth of the sport in the U.S. It's no doubt that the increased access as I already mentioned has made its popularity soar, but one of the things most confusing to me is how it can be so massive nationwide on a youth level and yet not have already blossomed into a national pastime.
I've written about the increasing influence and youth aspects of the sport before, in posts I've uploaded here and here, but for the last video in my capstone series of micro-documentaries, I knew I wanted to do something related to soccer.
I thought it would be interesting to interview a youth soccer coach, as they are often the first point of contact kids have with the sport, and especially being in the city, where space is limited and the youth is urbaner — environments where soccer thrives internationally.
I found a coach of Bosnian origin — himself a journalist by day — who coached youth soccer after hours at a high school not far from where I live, and he agreed to speak to me and let me into a session. It was very freeform, but it was great to see unbridled enthusiasm for the sport being allowed to flourish in a safe and encouraging environment.
So here's the final video in my award-winning series of short interviews; a conversation about youth soccer in Boston with Omar Sacirbey. As it was the final one in the series, I had a bit of fun with this one. Watch out for the bass. Enjoy!
