An email message came in the other day that I know was spam but it still was tempting to answer: A man wrote to inquire about my rates for private soccer lessons for his kids.
Obviously, it’s a hoax. I work in marketing. My exercise of choice is a long walk. (Anyone else doing the Northside Hospital Peachtree Road Race next month? To paraphrase the man in the viral news video, you run a 10k through the streets of Atlanta; I’ll walk.)
But it made me think back to my short-lived soccer career at the old Albertville Recreation Center.
I think my mom saw a story in The Reporter in 1991 about an effort to get up some youth soccer teams in town and asked if I’d be interested. Probably to her surprise as much as mine, I said yes.
The experience was — primitive.
For one, the Rec Center, as great as it was, could not hold a candle to the Sand Mountain Park we know today. Since there had been no soccer teams, there was no soccer field. So, we practiced and played in the outfield of a baseball field. (I believe it was the field where the Albertville High School baseball team would play games before Sheldon Elmore Park opened in 1998; don’t hold me to this.)
Another problem was in sheer numbers, to wit: We didn’t have enough people interested to make out two full sides. Once we got through our practices, which served as the introduction to soccer for I’d imagine just about all of us, we were only about to play 7-on-7 games instead of the standard 11-on-11.
We also didn’t get true uniforms. Instead, our team —and I don’t even remember the name, or the name of the other squad that comprised our league — got T-shirts with numbers screened on the back. I remember my gray No. 5 shirt and that the other team got orange jerseys with black numbers.
Speaking of uniforms, did you know the goalkeeper in soccer is supposed to wear a different color than his teammates so the officials can tell easily that he’s allowed to use his hands? Clearly no one considered the need for that when ordering equipment so I remember wearing someone’s dad’s New York Giants jacket out of his pickup truck.
And a jacket was a good choice because our games were late especially for school nights. After all, we took a back seat to the “real” football.
Not to speak too highly of what was going on out there — after all, it only vaguely resembled soccer —but the effort to bring the beautiful game to Albertville was ahead of its time.
1991 was just before the influx of immigration from Latin and South America brought in people who’d grown up with soccer. The World Cup in 1994 exposed the U.S. to soccer in a way most people had never seen, as the nation played host to the world’s best players for the first time.
The sport got further exposure in 1996 as Atlanta hosted the Olympics with matches in Birmingham and the U.S. Women’s National Team winning gold. And, who can forget the iconic moment of Brandi Chastain winning the 1999 Women’s World Cup in a shootout at the Rose Bowl?
Youth soccer grew in Albertville and around the area as a result. Local high schools adopted the sport. Just this past school year, the Guntersville girls played for a state championship while Boaz, Crossville and Douglas were among the schools to make the playoffs.
Now the world has its eyes back on the U.S. as we co-host the 2026 World Cup. Team USA had a dominant showing Friday night, winning 4-1 against Paraguay.
I was in Atlanta last weekend as the city geared up for the festivities before hosting matches. The atmosphere was electric with people in kits from countries all over the world.
This is going to be a fun month of sports — especially if the U.S. can build on that early win.
But can it compete with the fun of watching a bunch of kids who forget occasionally that you can’t touch the ball with your hands? Doubtful.
Maybe I’ll answer that guy back after all.
David Clemons is an Albertville native who published newspapers in Alabama and Georgia and now works in healthcare marketing in Atlanta. His email address is [email protected].
The 2026 World Cup offers soccer fans the chance to soak up American culture, including at a Waffle House pop-up merchandise stand outside Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Photo by DAVID CLEMONS l For The Leader
