After a pause for the pandemic, Atlanta United renews mission to grow the game of soccer
Atlanta United has resumed soccer clinics that were paused during the Covid-19 shutdown.
Emil Moffatt/WABE News
It’s dusk, just outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the grassy area normally filled with tailgating fans is the site of a free soccer clinic for young kids.
For Atlanta United, the club’s role in the community goes beyond just creating new soccer fans.
“It’s also about teaching them these important life skills,” said Leigh Jakes, Atlanta United’s manager of camps and clinics. “Leadership, conflict resolution, teamwork.”
Jakes grew up in McDonough, Ga. After playing college soccer at Northwestern and professionally overseas as well as here in the U.S., she now teaches young players in her home state.
“Looking at all the tournaments and just the growing size of clubs and organizations, I can definitely see that it’s just continuing to grow throughout the state,” said Jakes.
Atlanta United travels to the Bronx on Sunday for its first-round playoff match with New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. The club has been back on the field since the summer of 2020, but the Five Stripes’ mission to grow soccer in the state of Georgia is just getting started again after the pandemic shutdown.
In the five seasons Atlanta United has been around, the club has started programs to build soccer fields. They also hold clinics, that are especially focused on Atlanta’s west side and in Clarkston where there’s a large immigrant population.
But over the last year and a half, as the world has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s been difficult for pro sports teams anywhere to make personal connections with fans – especially newer teams.
“The Atlanta United fandom is going to be more precarious until they have those decades of experience in the market where people have in fact grown up with them,” said Michael Lewis who teaches sports marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.
But Lewis says the culture that Atlanta United has built in just a few short years – including the club’s 2018 Major League Soccer championship season – has led to one of the most rabid fan bases in town. The team continues to hold most of the attendance records in MLS history.
“They were masterful in terms of creating this moment in Atlanta where people came together and suddenly had a soccer team,” he said. “Except for instances where the Braves are winning the World Series, I almost feel like I see more Atlanta United merchandise and t-shirts and jerseys than I do the other teams.”
Winning also plays a large part in keeping fans interested. Atlanta United struggled to start this season, but a mid-season coaching change shook things up and the team eventually earned a spot in the MLS playoffs.
The turnaround was enough for the club to award a contract extension for technical director Carlos Bocanegra.
“We want to be the premier team on this continent, we want to be a global brand,” Bocanegra said this week. “But we’re not going to forget about what’s gotten us to that point here – focusing on our community, our city and continue growing this club.”
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