10%

Behind the stripes

Skip Fossett

By Atlanta United FC

August 29^th, 2018

As Atlanta United has grown from a dream to a reality to the phenomenon it’s become today, outsiders often say they could never have seen this coming. But to many locals, it wasn’t a surprise. The ones that truly knew the city’s soccer landscape knew that there had been a soccer culture with roots intertwined with decades of Atlanta’s history.

One of those seeds planted years ago blossomed on the East side of Atlanta at the Decatur YMCA. That’s where Skip Fossett sits today, telling a story that serves as a single thread in the tapestry of Atlanta soccer history.

“The logo says the team is ‘since 1968,’” Skip says, “I was here in 1968, and my dad was the coach.”

The team Skip’s referring to is the rec soccer team at the Decatur YMCA. Back then they were called the Panthers, and in 1968, they were the first YMCA youth soccer program in the country. And at the time it opened him up to a whole new world.

“I came home from school one day and told my parents about this ‘new sport’ called soccer,” he laughs. “Obviously it was huge everywhere else, but at that time, in America, it hadn’t caught on quite yet.

"To me it was brand new. To DeKalb County it was brand new.”

Skip was in third grade and the only rule was everyone had to play. Even as competitive teams have risen around them, that’s still the rule here. They lost a lot at the start –– he still grimaces over a particularly ugly 9-0 –– but they got one win, and Skip got a goal, and he was hooked for life.

“We celebrated like it was the championship.”

And it caught on. In just three years, 8,000 kids were playing soccer at the YMCA, and today the Y is the leading provider of youth soccer programs across eighteen branches in Atlanta. Fast forward to the present, and Skip and his wife Jill have brought the beautiful game into the lives of their two daughters. And every year, more families that grew up playing at Atlanta YMCAs have children of their own, all raised on soccer.

“It’s just fun, and our daughters love it,” Jill says. “I didn’t grow up playing soccer, but I just got into this community and now I love it. When you’re a parent, you have to get involved, and if you want something to work, you need to get your hands dirty and do it."

"I found my way to contribute to something I thought was a good thing for our girls and our community.”

The transplant city that Atlanta is has contributed greatly to the growth of the team’s fanbase, but it’s also due to families like the Fossetts, third-generation DeKalb County residents that represent the local soccer community – a soccer family that the YMCA helped cultivate. And with a foundation like that, it’s no wonder the city has embraced this club like it has.

“Community has to stay behind Atlanta United, the team,” Skip says. “And that’s one of the things that the Y has done since it started. This community has always been there. You have all those people in that stadium every week. This is our town and our team."

"It’s a lot like the most basic lessons from those youth teams: it gives you a connection to something that’s outside yourself, something that’s bigger than you.”

Atlanta United owes its success to that community, and it was important to the organization to give back and help grow it in return. They’ve built a strong relationship with the YMCA, including this summer’s Ride the Stripes initiative, where every time someone rides one of the team’s red, black and gold Atlanta United Relay Bikes, a donation is made to the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. That means scholarships for kids who love the game at a place where no child is turned away.

As for Skip, the soccer bug is as strong as it’s ever been.

“I had to quit for a while. I hurt my knee and couldn’t risk being injured when I went into the Navy,” he says. “But years down the road, I joined a co-ed league, and it’s like I’m back. I’ll just do it until my body can’t do it anymore. The guys I play with are from all over—the US as well as the Caribbean, Europe, Latin and South America. We go out there, put out two little goals and we play pickup.”

The beautiful game – bringing people together in Atlanta, still after 50 years. And now more than ever, with Atlanta United serving as the catalyst to amplify the game to the Capital of the South.

“I go to an Atlanta United game and still think back to when I played back in 3rd grade,” Skip says with a laugh. “We were just about 40 or 50 years ahead of our time.”

Button Label

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this