New York City takes next step as capital of soccer
June 10, 2014 (New York, NY) – New York, which last week welcomed David Villa as the first signing for its new Major League Soccer team, took a further stride forward in its quest to become a global capital of the beautiful game on Tuesday, when it played host to teams and organizations from around the world to explore soccer's power to transform communities.
Yankee Stadium, where New York City FC will play for the next three years, was the venue for Beyond Soccer 2014, where top names from global soccer including Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Kaizer Chiefs, and Tottenham Hotspur joined Major League Soccer teams and players at the event.
“At FC Bayern Munich we are great believers in the power of football to be a positive influence in the community and we want to demonstrate this also in the USA,” said Rudi Vidal, CEO of Bayern Munich LLC, who spoke on the opening panel.
Beyond Soccer is staged in partnership by sport for social change organization Beyond Sport and streetfootballworld, a global network of organizations using soccer to address social issues including poverty, crime and violence.
The keynote address was delivered by Mark Abbott, President and Deputy Commissioner of Major League Soccer, before a special panel entitled ‘In Safe Hands’ brought together two top goalkeepers to discuss the game in the US – Luis Robles of the New York Red Bulls and Karina LeBlanc of the Chicago Red Stars. Also present for an intensive day of workshops and breakout sessions were New York City FC, the New York Cosmos, Seattle Sounders FC, Fulham FC, Fenway Sports Management – owners of Liverpool FC – and many others.
With the New York Red Bulls, New York Cosmos and New York City FC now all calling the city home, and major matches such as Portugal's pre-World Cup clash with Ireland also being staged in the city this week, New York is symptomatic of a country embracing soccer more and more with every passing year.
Juergen Griesbeck, Founder and CEO of streetfootballworld, said: “We believe that the whole football system can align behind a shared social mission that reflects both its origins and the needs and values of the billions of people around the world that give it such power. Perhaps no other country in the world has more potential to realize this dream than the USA.”
This is the second time Beyond Soccer has come to the USA after a successful edition at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Union in 2013 and previous editions at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in England and in Cape Town, South Africa. This is the first time Beyond Soccer will be organized alongside Beyond Sport United, which takes place at Yankee Stadium the following day, Wednesday June 11, and brings together world experts to discuss how teams and leagues can better engage in communities under the slogan ‘Different Leagues, Same Team’.
streetfootballworld drives a network of local organizations that use football to provide opportunities to disadvantaged young people and builds a coalition of powerful partners to create social change. For more information visit www.streetfootballworld.org
Beyond Sport, whose global partners include Barclays, TIME, Unicef and ESPN, is a global initiative that seeks to celebrate and support any organization or individual with the goal to drive positive social change through sport. For more information on Beyond Sport and the Beyond Sport Summit and Awards, visit www.beyondsport.org
For updates on Beyond Soccer on Twitter follow @sfw_tweets, @BeyondSport and #BeyondSoccer.
ENDS
Image: The soccer for social change community meets at Yankee Stadium, New York - (l-r) Juergen Griesbeck, CEO and Founder, streetfootballworld; Nicholas Carey, VP of Sponsorships, Wells Fargo; Rudi Vidal, Managing Director, FC Bayern Munich LLC; Karina LeBlanc, Chicago Red Stars goalkeeper; Jonathan Neill, Director, Head of Sponsorship Partnerships & Relationship Management, Barclays; Mark Pannes, Ownership Group, AS Roma; Nick Keller, Founder of Beyond Sport.