Florida Elite SA - Tampa Bay United (22-05-2021)

On my way to the beach, I make a slight detour to see a game in the Southeast Division of the USL 2, roughly the Fifth Division in the United States. Many of these teams are part of “Soccer Academies”, which are quite pricy pay-to-play soccer clubs that cater predominantly to upper middle class white kids. Florida’s Elite Soccer Association seems no exception, given that they play in the football stadium of Mandarin High School, in a posh southern part of Jacksonville. They play Tampa Bay United, which is about 200 miles southwest, and no fans made the trip.

 

I arrive almost 10 minutes too late because of a road accident and GPS failure. I don’t need to pay and walk straight walk into the first goal, which is for the home team. There are far more people than I had expected. I guesstimate 300-400 people, mostly children, who play in the youth programs of the Florida Elite Soccer Academy, and their white and upper middle class parents — many dressed in the ugly fluoride shirts of the “Soccer Association”.

 

 

They play on a very dry Astroturf football field, which is quite confusing with all the different lines (white lines for football, red lines for soccer). The players are older than I expected. The pace of the game is pretty low, the passing and control is poor.

 

Florida Elite is clearly the better team in the first half, but the quality of play is really poor and barely any chances or shots on goal are created. Half time score is 1-0 and I start to wonder how anyone scored in this game.

 

The first 15 minutes of the second half the visitors are better is first 15 minutes, but then, out of nowhere, the hosts get two good chances within three minutes. The game remains slow and poor. As Tampa Bay United keeps pushing, Florida Elite has some good counters.

 

Although the quality gets even worse, particularly in terms of control and passing, there are a few more (half) chances, but nothing goes in. 1-0 seems the maximum that these two teams could create.

 

This was a classic low division US game. Played at a football field of a local high school/college, no real soccer club with tradition, and mainly kids of the youth programs in the stands.