Open The Doors And Celebrate Our Successes – Time To Reopen ‘Our’ Hall Of Fame

Dec. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- The National Soccer Hall of Fame contains a number of famous names and memorabilia (over 80,000 to be exact), but since February 2010, has had no home to call its own.

While inductions continue -the USSF announced this year the inductions of Tony Meola, Claudio Reyna, Tony DiCicco, and Desmond Armstrong – a physical location where fans can share in their successes and stories ceases to exist.

However, a dedicated group of soccer supporters from St Louis are focused on changing that. Through the Rally St Louis project, these members of the St Louis Soccer Alliance are fighting hard to have the Hall Of Fame built in their city and help put Missouri’s second largest city back on the soccer map.

The Rally Saint Louis project is a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing and crowdfunding platform that generates ideas and uses funding from the region’s residents and then uses those ideas to help market greater Saint Louis.

And what better project than this. St Louis has a distinguished history on the national soccer scene ever since the earliest record of organized soccer in 1881. In 1891, the St. Louis Soccer League was organized, and before long, amateur soccer was flourishing in the city.  

The U.S. World Cup team of 1950 had a St Louis flavor and it was the St Louis Stars who used to mix it with the Cosmos and co during the NASL glory days.

It was these past successes that have continued to spur the St.Louis Soccer Alliance to enriching the St.Louis soccer community and beyond. Their primary goal is to bring St.Louis back to the limelight of soccer in the United States. Their members represent different areas and different organizations spread throughout the St.Louis area in hopes of bringing in all resources possible to help make these dreams possible.

NB: For more about the Alliance and St Louis’ proud soccer history be sure to check out www.stlsocceralliance.com  

The original driving force for rebuilding the National Soccer Hall of Fame in St Louis came from Alliance member Timothy Reeder and has seen over 1000 votes to date cast in support of the project.

“Ever since the US Soccer Hall of Fame closed its doors in 2010 the icons and relics of US Soccer's past have been without a proper place of honor.

“American soccer has a past that should be celebrated even as we look toward an even greater future. I am very excited about the possibility of relocating and re-opening the Hall of Fame through Rally St Louis” Mr Reeder said.

This passion was also replicated by fellow member Steve Rusnak, who acknowledged that “There are few cities in the US that have as rich of a soccer history as St.Louis.

“The US Soccer Hall of Fame needs a home and I believe St. Louis should be that permanent home."

"The Hall of Fame idea has the backing of the St. Louis Soccer Alliance, The St. Louligans, The St. Louis United FC Soccer Show, the Floodplain Footy, and other soccer personalities and fans” Rusnack said.

While the St Louis soccer community was fully supportive of the idea it wasn’t until a few days ago that they joined forces with the new soccer specific social network Futbol Focus, in a bid to increase awareness of this campaign and help rally it’s the broader us soccer community and its networks to come out and support this exciting national soccer project.

General Partner of Futbol Focus, Ryan Ginard was quick to point out the power of a niche social network to drive significant grassroots change for the sport.

“This is an exciting step forward for our platform and will no doubt showcase the power and ability of it to connect grassroots fans and ultimately help soccer realize its potential in the U.S.

“Our network was created for the sole purpose of enabling fans to connect with each other and to foster tangible outcomes for U.S. soccer such as a new physical location for the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

“It is important that the Hall of Fame be reopened and the achievements of our national icons be universally celebrated. That’s why we are throwing our support behind the St Louis Soccer Alliance and we hope that on the back of nationwide support, we can see the project become a reality” Mr Ginard said.

Futbol Focus (www.futbolfocus.com) is a next generation platform that enables fans to share original content, ideas and best practices, interact in a global soccer marketplace and be rewarded for those interactions with soccer gear and equipment.

Supporting and generating grassroots action for exciting initiatives such as the one gaining momentum in St Louis is just a sample of what a real soccer community can achieve and one that Reeder was quick to agree upon.

“This kind of grassroots movement is at the heart American soccer. We have seen what is possible when dedicated fans such as the Sons of Ben rally behind a cause. Now is a chance for all soccer fans to join in and demand a fitting shrine to the heroes and heroines who have played the game we all love” Reeder said.

The top five highest voted ideas on Rally St Louis will be chosen at the beginning of each month to move on to the funding phase. The end of this voting period is December 31 and the campaign is currently holding on to that final position. With the help of soccer fans across the country it is hoped that in the final week of voting, the campaign can move up a spot and safely secure a top five finish.

Soccer fans nationwide who want to see the doors to the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened once again in the fine city of St Louis are encouraged to vote at http://www.rallystl.org/Ideas/Detail/191 – votes can also be cast daily, so get your friends, family and team mates voting early and voting often to help make this dream a reality!