Sports

Akbar Majeed wants the world’s game to have an urban presence.

PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON

Akbar Majeed of Charlotte is co-founder of Concrete2Green, which aims to build soccer play areas in urban communities. The goal isn’t locating lush green fields, but underused and abandoned areas where youngsters can develop their skills.

And he doesn’t mind if it’s on asphalt or concrete.

Majeed is a principal in Concrete2Green, a Charlotte-based company looking to develop futsal, or miniature soccer fields, in urban communities. The goal is to build interest – and ultimately talent – in neighborhoods that traditionally have gravitated to football, baseball and basketball.

“The concept is to change the model of soccer in America,” said Majeed, a 1990 West Charlotte High and 1994 N.C. A&T graduate. “In this country, it’s seen as a white, suburban sport, but in the rest of the world, it’s more accessible as a grassroots sport.”

Futsal, invented in Uruguay in 1930, is a compact and faster-paced version of soccer with five players per side. Games can be played indoors or outdoors, with or without retaining walls.

Majeed grew up with traditional soccer, playing for Charlotte’s Park Sharon club team as a youngster. But he changed gears in high school, primarily because the sport didn’t have much traction at West Charlotte, which is best known for powerhouse football and basketball programs.

“Once I got to high school, not too many of my friends were playing soccer, so I gravitated to basketball and football,” he said.
C2G’s focus is on bringing soccer to children who either haven’t been exposed to the game or are reconnecting. Majeed’s partner, Irv Smalls, a former Penn State football player and founder of FC Harlem Academy, a youth soccer club, is negotiating to build futsal sites in New York, where the Parks Commission has approved development in all five boroughs. Charlotte is the second target market, primarily because of its growing immigrant community and support for youth soccer programs.

Majeed said he has made presentations to Charlotte City Council, Charlotte Sports Commission, Police Athletic League and Street Soccer 945 for potential partnerships.

“We’ve really been putting out feelers” in Charlotte. Majeed said. “We’re just going through politics to find a location.”
Futsal sites can be converted from basketball or tennis courts, Majeed said, or crafted from greenspace. Size is of less concern than finding space close to the urban core.

“It’s more about the location than the actual surface right now,” Majeed said. “It’s more important for kids to be able to access the location than the surface.”

Concrete2Green is working through national channels as well with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, a nonprofit wing of the U.S. Soccer Federation that oversees America’s World Cup squad. Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer, America’s top professional circuit, has said he’ll provide marketing support.

“We’re looking to attract minorities and immigrants who are already exposed to soccer in addition to African Americans,” Majeed said. “We know it’s a process that has to be introduced to the African American community.”

Majeed hopes to secure a site and start play by the end of summer, then expand into other communities.

“Four or five would be great for a city like Charlotte,” he said.

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