U.S. Soccer Foundation & Detroit PAL: Giving Hope to Children in Detroit through Soccer

By Zach Riggle

Broken. Beat up. Run down. Hopeless.

These are the adjectives associated with the current state of Detroit, MI, and it would be hard to argue anything but. A city whose fall has been the parallel story of the country’s economy, Detroit has become a living personification of America’s biggest problems. Taking a drive up Woodward Avenue, through corridors of Detroit’s deteriorating infrastructure, it would be hard for an outsider to uncover any optimism. But make the right turn or look in the right places, glimmers of hope do exist in some of the most unlikely spots – soccer fields.

“In no way possible would my soccer programs have survived without the help of the U.S. Soccer Foundation,” Think Detroit PAL COO, Tim Richey.

Every Saturday morning, when the snow isn’t falling, at Historic Fort Wayne on Detroit’s southwest side, soccer is on display. Nearly 2,000 of Detroit’s diverse youth, of all ages, are competing, practicing, and playing a game typically not associated with their demographics or cultures.

The African-American populations from the northwest and east sides, Latinos from the southwest neighborhoods, Eastern European and Bangladeshi families from Hamtrammak, among others, all gather on the same fields, to play soccer. At the center of this, stands one man, who saw the need for soccer -- the game he loves-- in Detroit.

Tim Richey, Chief Operating Officer of Think Detroit PAL, has been working to build a consistent, strong, successful soccer program since the World Cup came to Detroit in 1994. Richey, a native of Birmingham, MI and a talented soccer player in his prime, set out to start a grassroots soccer campaign to reach some of Detroit’s most impoverished areas. Using soccer as a safe and healthy outlet for many troubled children, Richey continues to build and expand his program.

“Sport is timeless,” Richey said. “Kids want to play, and need programs to facilitate that passion.”

With that attitude, Richey set out on a one man mission to expand soccer in Detroit. Often he would venture into the numerous recreation centers scattered throughout Detroit and its surrounding areas, meeting with supervisors to allow him to set up a registration table next to the front desk.

“I was usually the only white guy in these centers,” Richey said, “but never once did I feel unsafe or threatened.”

Richey, through his unimpeded efforts quickly became known as “the Soccer Guy” throughout Detroit. Even though he initially struggled to get children to sign up, Richey would continue to come back and would always show up with a bag of soccer balls and a motivated attitude when a practice was scheduled. This consistency would become the cornerstone for the survival of his campaign. Richey tells the story about one of the first soccer practices he hosted at Weigel Recreation Center to a group of African American girls around the age of eight.

“One really talented girl, straight from the Jeffries Projects, was getting frustrated during practice. All of sudden, during a drill, she just gets up and leaves. I went over and told her that she wasn’t leaving practice, and she couldn’t quit. She turned, looked me dead in the eye, and said, ‘what does it matter, you’ll be gone before me.’”

Richey, walked up to the girl, and with intensity, promised he wasn’t going anywhere. That girl, who Richey still keeps in touch with, played soccer and later served as a youth coach for Richey’s programs, graduating high school in the process.

“They [these kids] only know programs that have come and gone, parents that have come and gone,” Richey said. “If you’re consistent, and provide the opportunities, they will come. This is a community that craves programs like this.”

Since then, Richey has grown a solid base of soccer players throughout Detroit. In addition to the leagues at Historic Fort Wayne, Clark Park, also on the southwest side of the city, has become a haven for soccer. This upcoming Spring Season, Richey expects over 1,000 Detroit youth to be officially registered as part of Detroit’s competitive city soccer leagues.

Richey credits numerous people and organizations for the success of his programs, but really highlights two groups. The first being the U.S. Soccer Foundation, who in 1998, when Richey was just starting, provided the fundamental grant that supplied every form of necessary soccer equipment to properly teach soccer. Since that time, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has supported Richey and Think Detroit PAL with seven different grants.

“In no way possible would my soccer programs have survived without the help of the U.S. Soccer Foundation,” Richey said.

The second group Richey continues to praise is the solidified base of volunteers who give their time to serve as coaches. With over 1,400 volunteers, mainly parents, soccer is sustainable. Richey thinks that his volunteers have put in over 100,000 hours of work, from learning the fundamentals of coaching, to field maintenance, to providing transportation. In addition to being the key to the program, these volunteers are also what make Think Detroit PAL’s soccer program unique from most others around the country.

“Just like the kids,” Richey said. “If you provide the opportunity, parents will work. They are resilient, loyal people . . . it’s just the right thing to do.”

Soccer programs like those that Richey runs have, and will continue to be, a positive outlet for Detroit’s youth. For a city that can’t avoid its negative descriptors, playing soccer has become a safe and constructive sanctuary where kids can escape. Soccer provides the message of success and accomplishment, when everything else predicts failure.

“These kids are real. They deserve these programs. And soccer is instilling perseverance.”

Help support soccer programs that provide children with positive outlets and mentors by donating to the U.S. Soccer Foundation. Learn more about the U.S. Soccer Foundation.