Message from our resident Soccer Nut & Co-founder Tyler Ricks

As many of you know, the sport of soccer has fueled more than one “Yum Moment” in my life. The World Cup inspired me to share one with you. For obvious reasons, I will call it Yum Moment #10.

I started playing soccer when I was 5 years old. One of my most vivid childhood memories was watching Pele on tv in his last game with the NY Cosmos. It was the first time that I witnessed hype and emotion on this level for the sport of soccer. He instantly became my favorite athlete and later my idol after I saw the movie “Victory”.

It was a few years later that I realized the USA was an anomaly…that the rest of the Civilized World was absolutely NUTS about “football”. My youth coach (from England) encouraged us to follow international soccer, which at the time, meant that we tuned into Univision. In fact, I still have World Cup games in Spanish on VHS tapes.

Watching international soccer (the energy, the passionate fans, the hooligans) filled a void. You see, unlike football, baseball or basketball players, we did not fantasize about playing professional soccer. Why not? The reality us that we did not have the talent, fan base, infrastructure or the financial support to make it sustainable. The media did not cover the sport, so we did not see our heroes in action week in and week out. In addition, few players from the United States found success overseas. So we did not dream of taking the game winning penalty in front of a packed stadium.

A few years ago, I had the chance to realize a childhood dream. I was a Director of Marketing and we shot a commercial with Pele and Freddy Adu. I went to the shoot and got to meet both of these great players. Pele was upbeat and full of energy. I had the opportunity to kick the ball with him a little bit between “takes”. It was amazing that at 60+ years old he still had a magical touch on the ball. I can still feel my cheeks cramping from the permanent smile I wore that day.

The best part of watching the World Cup last month was seeing the continued growth in support for U.S. Soccer. It is awesome to know that MLS, Americans playing in Europe’s top leagues and the expansion of media coverage around the sport have given our kids the fuel for these dreams. Being a youth coach, I saw firsthand the buzz that the World Cup created, with the kids…the dreams they acted out after practice ended. Their parents begging them to leave the field. “But dad, it’s USA vs. Algeria and we’re in overtime…just five more minutes”.