I think by now you know Atlanta and the vibes that it brings, but what makes this city so special? Given that it’s in the south where the NFL, MLB, and college football has dominated that region for many of years, not to mention that Atlanta also has the NHL and NBA there as well, so how did Atlanta United become the new “hype” of the city?
For the ones that do not know a lot about the soccer culture in Atlanta, I grew up in the south and spent many weekends traveling to the city to compete in all of the youth soccer club tournaments. The Nike Cup was the cup of all cups for us because teams traveled from all around the world to compete in this prestigious tournament, with Atlanta having one of the busiest airports in the world because many flights have to stop in there before leaving or entering the country, it completely made sense why teams would come to this city.
When I played my last tournament there, I learned that there was a high school that had so many international players which most definitely increased the level of the competition. Even being embarrassed by some of these guys in my final U18 match, I ended up with 3 different college scholarship offers by the time I walked off of the pitch. As you may know, there has been an never ending discussion about how the United States can develop to be a top competitor at the big stage, well, Atlanta has already figured it out, and they already had it figured out long before you can imagine. The overall culture – most specifically the African American community take full pride in their city, whether it being the soul cooking or their music, this 500,000 city is rich in culture and it’s most definitely something that cannot be replicated.
While LAFC on the west coast created this urban connection with art and fashion; Atlanta connected a community that typically wouldn’t be interested into the sport of soccer, and that is what I find very fascinating, especially with it being in the south. While growing up, I always said that Atlanta is the next soccer city, and here we are today. Have you ever had the chance to play at the Station Soccer pitch? I highly recommend it, there’s nothing else like it.
So, you may be wondering, youth soccer and an MLS team can’t be the only thing that makes this a soccer city. The pickup culture there is to a whole different level. Metropolitan areas like Kennesaw, Brookhaven, Marietta, and Cobb are only just a few locations that attract a high amount of players on a nightly basis. If you are looking for a game then we recommend attending a game in one of these areas.
Finding soccer should not be difficult, if you live in the Atlanta Metropolitan area or if you will be visiting the city then download ENDALGO today to find a game near you, this half a million populated city never sleeps and finding soccer will be a piece of cake.
