The future of college soccer – reality or utopia?

Soccer life in Russia boiled over in 1895, when the first pitch was built on the territory of the Gopper factory in Moscow. At first, only players from the British team gathered at the stadium, but the spectacular running of English workers quickly attracted Muscovites as well. Most of all, the new-fashioned fun then conquered students – one saw, told another, the latter brought a third. So grew the soccer environment, and at the same time developed student soccer, which many years later for some reason began to falter.

What’s the problem?

For the last at least 10 years, soccer fans have been experiencing a lack of a launching pad. Now the soccer path of students begins in the yards, not in the walls of the university. In Moscow, there are more than 70 state universities, of which only a couple of dozen have opened soccer sections. Only those who are members of sports clubs know about their existence. The infrastructure for this sport is not everywhere.

Mass tournaments in league format are held only in a few universities – among them, for example, Moscow State University, Higher School of Economics and Bauman Moscow State Technical University. MIREA, RANKhIHS and REU organize tournaments in cup format. Other universities are also growing in soccer, but slowly. Teams in the soccer leagues of Higher School of Economics and Moscow State Technical University are almost half composed of graduates, not current students. Yes, there are quite a few soccer leagues that actively advocate the development of student soccer – and that’s great. But the problem remains.

Students playing soccer in the dark

And yet students sincerely believe that to make a unified system of regional competitions of a good level throughout Russia – is realistic. A structure where students would not have to pay for the rental of fields or play in the dark. So that it would be prestigious for the universities themselves to win. The idea that student soccer has a great future is promoted by Student Football, a student association that plans to give every student in Moscow (and other cities in the future) the opportunity to take to the field. 90% of the Student Football team are current or former students, so they have first-hand knowledge of the problem.

An inside look: what do the students themselves say?

1. Problems with implementation

Back in 2012, the Ministry of Education and the Russian Football Union (RFU) attempted to revive student soccer and sent relevant recommendations to universities. But there were more problems with implementation than those willing to support soccer teams. The organization of home matches, outings, equipment costs, coaches’ salaries were not all pulled. But many guys were counting on the development of their skills within the university. So it happened with the captain of the MSU team.

Egor Gulevsky

captain of the MSU soccer team, student

At one time I chose study over a professional career and hoped that my soccer life would continue at the intercollegiate level. High expectations were destined to be shattered by the harsh reality. Many things surprised me unpleasantly. First and foremost was the lack of a home field. In my first year, our national team, still being in the second strongest division, hosted opponents at the so-called “MSU Stadium”, the condition of which was horrifying. The field was absolutely unsuitable for competitions, the risk of getting seriously injured on it was very high. It was impossible to demonstrate spectacular soccer, the games were more like a torment of two teams.

2. renewal of infrastructure

Lack of modern sports facilities is another pain for many students. In 2012, according to the results of a sociological survey, 75.6% of Muscovites voted for the lack of playgrounds where it would be comfortable to practice sports. And 21.2% noted the lack of soccer fields. But over the past eight years the problem has not moved much. Last year the Moscow Region was among the four regions with the lowest number of sports facilities. It is clear that the renewal of infrastructure is not a simple matter. But it is an important step in the formation of a soccer environment.

Egor: Many universities do not have their own field, and this is a common situation. But I sincerely do not understand why MSU with its funding can not allocate funds to rent a normal field for home games? It doesn’t require astronomical sums, the same Luzhniki with a lot of fields is very close. Five years after my studies at the university, the situation hasn’t changed much: we were offered either to play at the stadium “Avangard” on the Enthusiastov highway (where the pitch and lighting are also close to unsuitable), or to contribute the whole team to rent a normal pitch. After a couple of games at Avangard we chose the second option. Is it normal for a university like MSU? I don’t think so.

3. lack of motivation system

It is important to support youth initiatives – especially in the United States and European countries, where students are encouraged for their passion for sports and even given a soccer scholarship. And how are things in our country? Our guys only dream of such things and hope that one day we will have a system of student sports like abroad, where games are attended by thousands of spectators and broadcast on federal TV channels.

Egor: I’m sure that with the support of the state and the involvement of sponsors, university sports could reach a completely different level. Maybe under the auspices of the RFU, why not? Now being a member of the university soccer team is not considered something prestigious. I heard that the Higher School of Economics had increased scholarships for athletes, but we have no additional support and incentives. For example, when games are set early, you can only count on missing a few pairs. In such conditions, it is sometimes difficult to gather the strongest squad for games.

What can we do?

Despite the fact that students often have to play in difficult conditions, they show interest and show serious results. For example, the MSU soccer team made it to the top 3 on the big field for the first time in many years. But all of this is based only on the enthusiasm of current players and the professionalism of the coaching staff. The good news is that local communities are emerging to help bring the team game to the masses.

Major sportswear brands are also taking the side of the youth. Student Football, for example, holds free soccer tournaments with the support of Nike. The company promotes a healthy lifestyle and realizes the coolest ideas. Need a venue? No problem. And the finalists are also awarded with equipment. In general, it is great that there are alternative major tournaments between universities like Moscow Universities Gamekillers or League of Universities 2019 from Nike. These are memorable events for students – no matter how pathetic it sounds.

Egor: I am very happy about the new Student Football tournament and support the idea of the organizers. After the first tournament (meaning Moscow Universities GameKillers – editor’s note), I spent a couple of days corresponding in Instagram with Fedya Smolov, who presented the awards, and we were even allowed to play a mini-match on the Otkritie Arena pitch (after Avangard it seemed like a dream). During the Univer League 2019 awards ceremony, Georgi Dzhikiya burned torches with us, after which we traveled to Zenit’s base in the Northern Capital. There we played a game with the winning boys from St. Petersburg.

But the most important thing is that Student football partnership with Nike adheres to the concept of “soccer for everyone”. Therefore, anyone aged 16 to 26 years old can take part in the tournament: students, bachelors, masters, postgraduates and residents. The weather is also not a hindrance – despite the rain, the first games, including the women’s division, were held at the end of September. The numbers are already impressive: 82 teams, 48 universities, 1200 entries, 9 matches, 76 goals scored. More to come – there are two more months of soccer ahead, which means 39 game days and 390 matches. You can follow the schedule of games, meet like-minded people and make new social connections here.