about LA FINCA
La Finca Futbol is dedicated to developing real futbol in the United States.
We want to see the beautiful game played here because we love futbol and it pains us that the US has not contributed its own variant to the world's most popular game.
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We know that's harsh.
The more than 800 men playing in Major League Soccer are all incredible athletes. But our professional league is ranked 10th in the world (some say even lower), and our men's national team 13th.
We think this is because so few of our players play the beautiful game. (The US Women's National Team history may seem to suggest this is just a men's problem, but we don't think so. More on that elsewhere!)
The US has always rewarded physicality over artistry and our game has suffered because of it. Even though this is becoming a widely held belief, the fix isn't easy. We think it starts with how we train our kids.
Strength, speed and force can win youth soccer matches; they are not the foundational qualities of real futbol.
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And so, our simple solution is to democratize technical soccer competency. Contrary to the popular and self-defeating belief that some kids are just naturally more talented than others, that some players just have more skills, or that soccer is just "not part of our culture," we've taught high level ball mastery to even so-called non-athletes. Will they all go on to become pros? That's not the point. Creating a sea of young talent is the only way to push everyone higher, and some to the pinnacle of excellence.
Our approach to training is based on the simple idea that first, we build players, then we teach them the game.
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Mainstream American soccer programs do not teach skill development. It's not entirely our fault. Successful futbol countries don't start with basic skills either so there is no model for this, but that's because kids in healthy futbol cultures learn skills before joining clubs. In most of Europe and South America for example, juggling to 100 is a pre-requisite to joining a team. Just imagine that!
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At La Finca, we're familiar with the popular explanations of America's poor standing in international soccer, there are too many competing sports, it's just not part of our culture, we don't pay the player's enough, it's not commercial-friendly, no pro-rel, and the list goes on. None explain why our professionals just aren't very good.
By raising up a generation of high-skilled, futbol artists, we will deliver the talent needed for the US to finally develop a style of play all its own and one capable of competing on the world's stage.
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We welcome everyone to check us out, ask us questions -- we love to talk futbol -- and most importantly, we hope you'll come play.
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