The Game Grows In New York

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Yes, it's a play off "A tree grows in Brooklyn"

Here's a series I'm working on looking at people with unique perspectives in or around the New York City soccer scene and asking them about their involvement in the game and how, in their opinions, best to grow soccer to the level of the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB.

For the first installment of the series I spoke to Christian Fuchs' of Leicester. His family lives in NYC and he has an academy in the city.

http://thenycfcnation.com/2017/07/t...terview-with-leicester-citys-christian-fuchs/
 
Thank you, Chris. Looking forward to seeing more of these. Good job.
I got off the phone with Tim Parker of the Whitecaps not too long ago so hopefully that will be out next week.

Let me know if any of you guys has someone (or an organization) who would be good to feature.
 
This is great stuff. I did not know that his family were here in NYC. What is the story behind that?

He's actually from Long Island. There were 400 or so Tim Parker fans in the right field bleachers last season.
 
I meant Fuchs, but I do think I remember that about Parker too.

From the WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...christian-fuchs-draft/?utm_term=.7d5ed75377ed

Fuchs met Ethan’s mother, Raluca Gold-Fuchs, a Romanian-born New Yorker, in 2012 when Schalke was on a summer exhibition tour of the United States. “After the long season it’s less about football and more about having a good time together. We went to a club, and there she was,” Fuchs said. “I had never believed in love at first sight before, but it just happened.”

They married and had a son, 1-year-old Anthony, but “Raluca runs an event business in New York, and Ethan goes to school there, and we don’t want to stop all that,” said Fuchs, who stood to benefit financially with one last contract in Europe before relocating. “She flies over to Europe every two or three weeks. I try to be in New York as often as possible.”​
 
From the WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...christian-fuchs-draft/?utm_term=.7d5ed75377ed

Fuchs met Ethan’s mother, Raluca Gold-Fuchs, a Romanian-born New Yorker, in 2012 when Schalke was on a summer exhibition tour of the United States. “After the long season it’s less about football and more about having a good time together. We went to a club, and there she was,” Fuchs said. “I had never believed in love at first sight before, but it just happened.”

They married and had a son, 1-year-old Anthony, but “Raluca runs an event business in New York, and Ethan goes to school there, and we don’t want to stop all that,” said Fuchs, who stood to benefit financially with one last contract in Europe before relocating. “She flies over to Europe every two or three weeks. I try to be in New York as often as possible.”​
It's a nice story and he works his ass off when you consider all the things he does as well as how much he travels.

He's definitely coming over here when his contract is up. Maybe sooner if either NYCFC or RBNY want to buy out his contract or Leicester is willing to let him go on a free transfer. I'm sure Fuchs can try and talk his team into letting him out of his contract if it means he will be closer to his family.
 
It's a nice story and he works his ass off when you consider all the things he does as well as how much he travels.

He's definitely coming over here when his contract is up. Maybe sooner if either NYCFC or RBNY want to buy out his contract or Leicester is willing to let him go on a free transfer. I'm sure Fuchs can try and talk his team into letting him out of his contract if it means he will be closer to his family.

Enjoyed the interview. From your article and other press I've seen from him he seems like a great guy. Hopefully he lands with us at some point ideally sooner than later.
 
One thing that I think is under-reported regarding soccer is the city school teams, private and public. We're all focused on clubs and academies but there are still players and coaches for these schools that raise players. If I remember correctly, The Collegiate School won four straight basketball and soccer state tournament with the same head coach. He coached both basketball and soccer. They had a dynasty.
 
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Great to hear about his POV on what's wrong with US soccer training vs european training.

Website looks nice too.

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One thing that I think is under-reported regarding soccer is the city school teams, private and public. We're all focused on clubs and academies but there are still players and coaches for these schools that raise players. If I remember correctly, The Collegiate School won four straight basketball and soccer state tournament with the same head coach. He coached both basketball and soccer. They had a dynasty.
I want to eventually reach out to some local clubs and organizations, but what makes it harder is that I'm not in NYC anymore so I can't just go out to the Met Oval and talk to people.
 
From the WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...christian-fuchs-draft/?utm_term=.7d5ed75377ed

Fuchs met Ethan’s mother, Raluca Gold-Fuchs, a Romanian-born New Yorker, in 2012 when Schalke was on a summer exhibition tour of the United States. “After the long season it’s less about football and more about having a good time together. We went to a club, and there she was,” Fuchs said. “I had never believed in love at first sight before, but it just happened.”

They married and had a son, 1-year-old Anthony, but “Raluca runs an event business in New York, and Ethan goes to school there, and we don’t want to stop all that,” said Fuchs, who stood to benefit financially with one last contract in Europe before relocating. “She flies over to Europe every two or three weeks. I try to be in New York as often as possible.”​
It's a nice story and he works his ass off when you consider all the things he does as well as how much he travels.

He's definitely coming over here when his contract is up. Maybe sooner if either NYCFC or RBNY want to buy out his contract or Leicester is willing to let him go on a free transfer. I'm sure Fuchs can try and talk his team into letting him out of his contract if it means he will be closer to his family.
Thanks, guys. Interesting. He seems like a great guy. Hopefully, we can make it work for him better than the Red Fools.
 
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I got off the phone with Tim Parker of the Whitecaps not too long ago so hopefully that will be out next week.

Let me know if any of you guys has someone (or an organization) who would be good to feature.

FC Dallas has the best Academy. Would like to see an interview with someone there about that
Philly Union has the boarding school. As I am moving to Philly in two weeks, I want to know more about that and what that model looks like
Kwadwo Poku will always be interesting to me
Jason Kreis, two years out, would be interesting to me
Adrian Heath would be interesting because he probably has a great perspective on building an expansion side
Anybody in the Steve Nash clicque - Stu Holden, Del Pierro, etc.
Mark Booth or Patricof would be my priority if that could be done
 
Since you asked, I'd be interested interviews with:
  • People running the SCs, including roxfontaine
  • People running rec leagues and more serious rec leagues. Minh at Bowery Prem, for example, or the NYC FOOTY crew. Can put you in touch if you want, just LMK.
  • Budding lifestyle brands - thinking of people like Nowhere FC and The Good Life and 10s club.
I'm interested in the insider perspective but also the outsider people who are contributing to awareness of the game in a less institutional way. LMK if you think I can help with any of this, especially since you're further away now.
 
FC Dallas has the best Academy. Would like to see an interview with someone there about that
Philly Union has the boarding school. As I am moving to Philly in two weeks, I want to know more about that and what that model looks like
Kwadwo Poku will always be interesting to me
Jason Kreis, two years out, would be interesting to me
Adrian Heath would be interesting because he probably has a great perspective on building an expansion side
Anybody in the Steve Nash clicque - Stu Holden, Del Pierro, etc.
Mark Booth or Patricof would be my priority if that could be done
Wait, you're moving to Philly temporarily or permanently?
 
Since you asked, I'd be interested interviews with:
  • People running the SCs, including roxfontaine
  • People running rec leagues and more serious rec leagues. Minh at Bowery Prem, for example, or the NYC FOOTY crew. Can put you in touch if you want, just LMK.
  • Budding lifestyle brands - thinking of people like Nowhere FC and The Good Life and 10s club.
I'm interested in the insider perspective but also the outsider people who are contributing to awareness of the game in a less institutional way. LMK if you think I can help with any of this, especially since you're further away now.
This is a great list. SGs are at the top of my list already.