Stoppage Time Special: Building Soccer Leagues from Scratch

This Stoppage Time release brings you an excerpt from Episode 6 where we traced the unlikely rise of Arkansas adult soccer. In this segment, we spotlight how late-80s street games grew into a full league by the early 90s, weathered disputes and mismatched divisions, and eventually gained official city backing after a period of chaos and community perseverance.

We walk through the origin, eight teams, one division, and more passion than resources, and the turning point when Parks & Recreation's support faded, leaving one volunteer to hold the league together for four years. Then comes the inflection: disputes escalate, the mayor intervenes, and a formal role is established to oversee adult leagues and support youth programs. That institutional support transforms the grassroots grind into durable infrastructure, providing players with a fair schedule, coaches with a framework, and the city with a civic asset.

From there, we zoom out. The United States still struggles with access: safe pickup spaces, mini-pitches, and affordable routes to good coaching. We make the case for building more small-sided courts in dense neighborhoods, splitting divisions by skill early, and keeping fees low through sponsorships and scholarships. Along the way, we celebrate the volunteer backbone, 95 youth coaches this season alone, captains who lead twenty adults with care, and matchday helpers who keep the experience welcoming. Whether you dream about an Arkansas USL club or simply want more kids touching the ball, this conversation maps how to grow a soccer culture that’s open, joyful, and sustainable.

If this resonates, follow and subscribe for new episodes, share with a friend who loves the game, and leave a review telling us about the pickup field where it all started for you.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:03):
Welcome to the Stopping Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel of someof the best moments from the
show so far, and every otherweek we will be bringing you a
special five to seven minutesegment featuring the best
stories, tales, and moments ofthe podcast.

SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
We started in the late 80s.
We started that way.
And by early 90s, like threealmost four years later, we had
uh there was enough teams to doa league.
Yeah.
And that's how we came toRogers.
Uh I remember going to see uhParks and Recreations.
Uh this gentleman Jeff Barker.
Uh he's known as Chileno.
Okay.
He speaks Spanish, his parentsare missionary.

(00:40):
Went to see him and like, heyman, can you help us?
And he's like, you're trying togive me fire?
You get too emotional when itcomes to soccer.

SPEAKER_01 (00:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (00:48):
Like, yeah, we have rules, man.
We control it.
And he helped us.
Uh after one season, I wasvolunteering.
He left.
He went to work for Walmart.
So I was doing that adultleague, as my me, myself, and I,
yeah, for four years as avolunteer.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04):
And we started with eight teams.
We got to the 2014s and by uhstarting in 1993.
By 96, we had 24 teams.
And I was like, man, this is alot of work.

SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (01:16):
To run out 26 teams already, I mean, staying list
and everything.
And by that time, we still onlyhad one division.

SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
So there's sometimes you have teams that were
competitive, and the other teamwas not really competitive.
So that's when you had theproblems, if you will.
But the skill level is not thesame.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I was like, okay, beingthere, done that, got a t-shirt,
move on.
And I like, because I wasworking at JB Hunt at that time.
By the way, I saw Mrs.

(01:43):
Han call and soccer ball, and Iwas like, oh man, this is gonna
happen.
I worked for her uh 27 yearsago.

SPEAKER_01 (01:51):
She's such a great lady.
I know.

SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
I mean to me so much for the smoke of the soccer
ball, I like it's gonna happen.
So, but but anyway, uh so uh thethe leave continued, but they
had problems at that time.
The mayor at that time, he like,Caesar, we had a problem, man.
We had a riot, teens didn'tagree, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (02:11):
And you're like, hey, what it would take.
And I'm like, uh, if you hireme, yeah, yeah.
Basically, John St.
Pierre, he was the mayor at thattime, and Rogers, he basically
went to City Council created aposition for me to work in on
the personal creation, run theadult league, help with the
youth.
But now with the years, I'mstuck with both.
Anyway, it's not.

SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Well, isn't that isn't that though?
I mean, it's it's crazy how italways comes back to I think
it's just part of soccer culturearound the world where it
started from pickup.
I think so.
And that's that's where I think,and now we're going off on a
whole other different tangent,but I think where the US still

(02:53):
lacks is access to the games andkind of that street soccer, that
pickup mentality of constantlyout there wherever you can find,
you know, a 10x10 space orwhatever it is.
Um, and so it's space, it'saccess, it's that pickup culture
that just isn't quite there yet,uh, all the way through the US

(03:19):
and and kind of the youthstructure.
It's starting to, it's startingto, and it's starting to get
there.
You're starting to see some ofthese mini pitches get involved
uh and and placed intocommunities.
And how is, you know, there's alot of focus on access now
because in the US it's soexpensive to play the game at a
high level, and that removes andcuts you off from so much of
your talent.

(03:39):
So programs like yours are socritically important that help
with allowing for uh others inthe community that may not be
able to afford that high-leveltravel soccer to still be able
to come up through those ranksand and get exposed to to good
coaching and things like that.
So I think, but it all the wayback even to the start of of

(04:01):
your program, it started becauseyou guys were getting together
and playing pickup and and thenkind of grew from there.
And wow, has it grown, right?
40,000 players now over thecourse of the years.

SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
I mean, and that's what I think it takes I was,
I'll say, I mean, to me, I tellpeople, I mean, like, a
volunteer for years, and thenthey noticed that I was, I
guess, good to the community, ifyou will.
Yeah.
Keeping people entertaining, youknow, and holding accountable.

unknown (04:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
That's what I then they just put it, make it a
schedule, hold peopleaccountable for it.
I mean, and uh that's what ittakes.
I mean, worldwide to the sportthat that's how it function.
Because I mean, if you go to theI see you we're in the you know,
Liverpool.
I like Liverpool for me.
I mean, that's a thing that Ilike for England.
I mean, I follow uh Barcelona,man, I think the arrollo.

(04:51):
Uh, but then uh for England,Liverpool that thing that I want
to go to the stadium and see theBeatles too.

SPEAKER_01 (04:57):
Uh it's an incredible experience, let me
tell you what.

SPEAKER_00 (05:00):
But even if you go to the Liverpool level, they
have volunteers, um the games.
I mean, people the ushers,people they got passion for.
And that's what I hope to bewith the Arkansas USL team, you
know.
Because I hope it's somebodythey can, hey, yeah, see when he
has, hey, I can get my cousin,hey, I have to do this.

(05:24):
I mean, it takes all that.
It takes people organize theparking, cleaning afterwards.
I mean, yeah, telling peoplewhat you you see here, you see
it there, they say your tickets.
It takes all that to make thatgame, the beautiful game, at
that level choose to it's stillaffordable, if you will.
Right.
Because I mean, if you payeverybody, if we think the

(05:45):
tickets are high right now, itcan be higher than that.
Oh, it can be way higher.
It can be way higher.
So it could be way higher.
Yeah, I think it takes all thatto make it happen.
Like in the youth program, thispast season we had 95 coaches,
all pure volunteers.

SPEAKER_01 (05:58):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (05:58):
Pure volunteers.
Uh in the adult league, I tellthem you're not only volunteer,
but you're a leader.
You have 20 players under you,you know.
I mean, yeah, yes, sometimesthese players are more crazy
than me.
But it takes all that to make ithappen.
That's what it takes.
And that's what I say.
I mean, this uh I think isreally needed.

(06:19):
It's about time.
And uh Harris, I mean, I hopeyou really, I mean, and I see
you knocking the right doors.
I mean, like back again when Isee Mrs.
Hunt with the soccer ball in themagazine, I'm like, hey, that's
what we need.
Please invest.
Please invest.

SPEAKER_01 (06:35):
If you're listening.
Um, but yeah, I mean, I thinkyou you touched on a lot there.
There's um the passion from thecommunity and people that want
to see things happen.
When you have that commonrallying point that people can
unify around, it just makes itthat much more um fulfilling, I

(06:56):
guess, for somebody to helpdrive their energy towards and
and be able to put that to gooduse in a volunteer capacity.
And and, you know, programs likeyours and um would and and in
other sports would not survivewithout volunteers.
And so um, you know, kudos toyou for being able to and and
your staff and and and the cityfor being able to, you know,

(07:19):
continue to provide a platformwhere people can do that and
also come and and benefit from.
So thank you for joining us forthis stoppage time special of
the Pitch to Pro podcast.
If you've enjoyed theconversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro Podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FT.

(07:42):
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