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[ MEDIA RELEASE ] |
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[ 01/14/2006 ]
142 River Street, Oneonta N.Y 13820
Tel: ( 607)432-4057
Fax: (607)432-4430
E-mail: albert@colassoc.com
SPORT PRESS RELEASE:
Growing American Soccer's Long-Term Popularity
[Oneonta, NY; 1/14/06]: Soccer's #1!! Well, maybe #2 or #3 in popularity as an American sport? There are leaders in the sport who have indicated that the goal is achievable within the next 10 years, while others see it as just wishful thinking.
Well now there's a new force within the sport business community that's combining efforts to take-up the challenge to grow a "culture of soccer" in America. Dr. Ted Fay, Senior Research Fellow and Acting Director of Research & Academic Programs at the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston and Albert Colone, founder of the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, NY, have been refining a comprehensive research and development initiative since 2003. The overriding goal of their program is to develop a passionate, life-long fan interest and public connection to all levels of the game.
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University has agreed to serve as the sponsoring academic institution of this revolutionary sport research and development program. Late in 2005, Fay, who is also an Associate Professor of Sport Management at the State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY), presented the sponsorship opportunity to the Center's leadership.
Colone, project manager to the soccer research and development initiative, indicated the results of both the program's research and implementation phases will have a profound effect on all facets of soccer in the U.S. and thus favorably impacting the continued growth of the sport from youth levels to the pros. Colone noted, "the likely big winners in what we're going to produce will be Major League Soccer [MLS] and other professional leagues, the college game particularly at the Division #I level, as well as youth soccer programs in communities all across the nation." He went on, "we are hopeful of having a several pilot studies actively engaged within a year after kick-off."
This new national sport development initiative will be formally introduced on January 19th at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America [NSCAA] Convention being held this year in Philadelphia, PA. The NSCAA, founded in 1941, is now the largest sport coaches association in America with more than 17,000 members.
Here's how the lead-up research component is going to work!
The multi-method research plan will include the conduct of 3 - 5,000 quantitative surveys as part of a strategy to better understand the root causes of the extraordinary attrition from "the game" by millions of pre-adolescent and adolescent youth and to explore how to increase and retain active participation in all segments of the game as part of a lifelong connection or "retention" to the game.
Simultaneous to the quantitative study focusing on youth, a corps of professional interviewers will help implement an unprecedented, intensive qualitative research strategy consisting of 400 - 600 open-ended interviews with youth, teens and adults in order to isolate and determine the principle factors or "drivers" that are necessary to develop a passionate, life-long fan interest and connection to all levels of the game (e.g., high school, college, pro, or national team). Particular attention will be placed the value of ethnic traditions of economically disadvantaged youth and families from urban and rural areas.
Based on the findings of this research, a strategic analysis will focus on 10 - 16 "soccer hotbeds" throughout the U.S. to test the set of research hypotheses related to the development and retention of passionate soccer fan interest that would be necessary to help stimulate increased growth in private and public financial investment that would be necessary to develop soccer into a mainstream sport culture.
Dr. Ted Fay is a Senior Research Fellow and Acting Director of Research & Academic Programs at the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Management at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. Fay holds a Ph.D. in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts, a M.P.A. in Public Affairs from the University of Oregon, and a B.A. in Government from St. Lawrence University. He is an active member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) and the North American Society for Sociology of Sport (NASSS). He also has many years of experience as a coach, program director, marketing director, strategic consultant and national and world championships director in Olympic and Paralympic sports including cross country ski racing, biathlon, ice hockey and team handball. Dr. Fay previously conducted a soccer fan-based research in 1993 in collaboration with his colleague, Dr. Mark
McDonald, Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts, during the inaugural USA Cup preceding the 1994 FIFA World Cup under the sponsorship of Soccer USA Partners.
Albert L. Colone currently is president of Colone Associates, a soccer business consulting Company, located in Oneonta, NY. See Colone Associates at: www.colassoc.com . Prior to forming Colone Associates, Albert held the position of executive director of the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York from 1979 to 1997. He pioneered efforts towards creating the definition and concept for the Hall and subsequently, helped found and establish the National Soccer Museum and its allied educational programs. He also founded and organized City of Oneonta adult recreational soccer programs and the Oneonta Mayor's Cup Collegiate Soccer Tournament, once considered the longest running NCAA Division I tournament in America.
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