The Super Y-League, the base of the USL pyramid, gains momentum as it enters Year 3.

Francisco Marcos calls his wife a typical soccer mom.

“She has no problem dealing with Sat urday-morning soccer, God bless her,” says the president of United Soccer Leagues. “But the problem with soccer moms is they want to take over Saturday-night soccer too. Well, the only similarity between Saturday-morning and Saturday-night soccer is that the ball is round.”

Saturday-night soccer – the game’s top level – is Marcos’ passion. After more than three decades in American soccer, he is still working hard to improve elite soccer for youth players. It has not been easy.

Four years ago Marcos announced plans for the Super Y-League. As the first developmental stage of professional soccer in the United States – the base of the pyramid for the USL’s PDL, D3 Pro League and A-League and, of course, MLS – he envisioned the Super Y-League as the U.S. Youth Soccer Association’s national competitive league.

That did not happen. Because youth soccer’s governing body delegates power to state associations, conflicting rules stalled the formation of regional leagues. To provide the most competitive environment possible for elite players, Marcos planned no restrictions on recruitment, rosters expandable to a 26-player pool (an effort to ease scheduling conflicts), no limit on foreign players, and a “club pass” enabling players to compete on teams at various age levels.

DIRECT AFFILIATION. Some state associations, such as North Carolina, had no problem allowing players to compete in the Super Y-League; others, such as Northern California and Florida (where USL is headquartered), did. Marcos’ solution was to affiliate directly with U.S. Soccer.

The inaugural season, in 1999, began with 16 organizations and climaxed with national finals in Stone Mountain, Ga. Over the next few months Marcos and league manager Matt Weibe urged top national organizations, such as North Carolina’s Capital Area Soccer League (CASL), the Clearwater (Fla.) Chargers and Sacramento’s San Juan SC, to join.

The commitment of national powerhouse FC Delco was a major turning point. The Pennsylvania club entered a U-16 team, which finished second in the Northeast Region last year. The experience was positive, and it plans to add other age groups this season.

“Our best recruiters are the teams that play,” Marcos says. “They understand the value of good competition. The CASL team cruised through their regular season in North Carolina but finished in the middle of the pack in our league. They know that facing good competition is the only way to improve.”

SKEPTICS ABOUND. The 2001 season will have U-14, U-16 and U-18 boys teams, and a U-18 girls group. Eight to 12 teams will play in each of nine regions: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Metro, Southeast, South Atlantic, Midwest, West, Northwest and Southwest. National finals are set for early September.

Getting the Super Y-League to this point has been a struggle, Marcos admits. “It should have been a no-brainer. But too many people worry about things. They’re scared that this will take away from ODP, or that if their players play in our league, they won’t be considered for ODP. Some teams worry that if they join the Super Y-League, they’ll find out they’re not as good as they think they are. And some of them just have a natural hesitance to try something new.”

Marcos knows he is part of the reason the soccer establishment resists the Super Y-League.

“I’m somewhat to blame because I’m the proverbial bull in a china shop,” he says. “I shoot first and answer – not ask – questions later. But I have to. The United States is so far behind the rest of the world in the way we develop our top players. We don’t have the luxury of spending time figuring out the politically correct way to form youth leagues. So I just went ahead and did it, and now people are finally recognizing what we’ve got and coming on board.”

PATIENT AND BOLD. He emphasizes that he is not trying to reorganize the entire American youth soccer scene. “We don’t want to take over USYSA or create leagues for 500,000 kids,” he says. “This is for the top 1 percent of all competitive players. If we get to 12 divisions, with 8-12 teams in each region, we might affect 5,000-10,000 players, tops.”

Marcos is convinced the Super Y-League is crucial to the development of America’s elite players. “This could be the most important thing USL is responsible for, period,” he declares. “I’m staking a lot on its survival and success.”

Part of that stake is money.

“This is a loss-leader for USL,” he explains. “We don’t sell Super Y-League franchises. We’re doing this because it’s good PR for USL, from the A-League on down, and because it helps soccer all the way down the pyramid.”

After more than 30 years in youth soccer, Marcos knows not to expect miracles. He plans to overcome resistance to the Super Y-League in two seemingly paradoxical ways: by being patient and being bold.

“We’re like water rubbing against a rock,” he notes. “Eventually, the rock will wear away. I’ve learned from my experiences in USL that soccer is a relay marathon. We are running that marathon with the Super Y-League, one region at a time.

“But we also can’t sit back and expect change to happen. We have to be out there making it occur. Sometimes you’ve got to change the rules, sometimes you’ve got to go out and convince people to come over to your side, sometimes you’ve got to show them that your new idea is a good one.”

At least one top pro club agrees. D.C. United will this season become the first MLS team to participate in the Super Y-League. The three-time MLS Cup champion will field a U-14 team in the Mid-Atlantic Division.

Marcos will be watching with interest – particularly when the team clashes with FC Delco, the club that last year helped give the Super Y-League the credibility it needed. That day, his dream of a true national developmental league for the nation’s best youth players will be one step closer to reality.

by Soccer America Youth Soccer Letter executive editor Dan Woog