Soccer for Youth is a self-funded initiative led by a lasting interest in how players and teams improve. We welcome coaches, researchers, analysts, and prospective academy partners who want to help turn good questions into useful evidence.
Contact Lee Farretta — ljf2163@gmail.com
Our mission
We are moving from fundraising for soccer programs to privately funded soccer research and development. Our purpose is to understand how developing teams become consistently competitive at a higher level, and to build and test practical models that help them get there.
Lee Farretta brings roughly 50 years of involvement in American soccer to this work. Progress in participation and investment raises an enduring question: what produces sustained improvement relative to the strongest competition? Our research program starts with adaptable performance under changing pace and pressure.
The people behind the initiative
Lee Farretta and Matthew Farretta share a long-standing interest in soccer and its development. The website is developed by LMM Labs, based in Alamo, California.
Ways to collaborate
- Coaches and clubs: help frame practical questions and, eventually, evaluate candidate training approaches.
- Researchers and analysts: contribute methods, evidence review, measurement ideas, or critical feedback.
- Data and video collaborators: discuss appropriately available material and consistent analysis.
- Academy partners: explore a possible academy informed by the research. No academy is currently operating under this initiative.
Email ljf2163@gmail.com with your background, interest, and the question or contribution you would like to discuss.
Funding and history
We have sufficient private funding for the initial research phase and are not soliciting public donations or offering tax-deductible contributions. Funding information remains available for visitors using older links.
Our earlier work included support for a soccer program in Ghana. That history remains part of the initiative; the current focus is research and practical development. See News & History for earlier posts and the mission-change announcement.