Brando Babini, a 21-year-old New Yorker, grew up dreaming of playing professional soccer, just like any other fan of the sport. At 16, though, when his best friends and teammates were signing for teams both abroad and domestic, he realized, “it wasn’t going to happen for me.”
“I thought to myself, ‘What was missing? What was something that could have helped my journey? How could I have gone further?’ and I knew immediately the answer was a big brother, a mentor, someone who had lived this journey and lived my mistakes,” Babini told amNewYork.
His answer: Youth 4 Youth FC, a mentorship program between young coaches and footballers to help local New York players reach heights in the game he could not. In the last three years, it has grown to over 1,000 players with 50 coaches who have gone through the American youth soccer system themselves, with weekly sessions all over the five boroughs.
Youth 4 Youth FC is ‘most Gen Z football academy there is’
America has always been a nation of soccer potential — the sport has been discussed in the “what could be” rather than the “what is.” But amongst other problems, the pay-to-play model at the grassroots level has left many talented players falling through the cracks.
New York has over 150 registered academies to develop players: Historical clubs like Metropolitan Oval Academy, Manhattan Soccer Club and Manhattan Kickers FC compete with academies from established professional teams New York City FC (NYCFC) and Red Bull New York (RBNY) for the best and brightest players the Big Apple has to offer.
But Youth 4 Youth doesn’t aim to compete with, but to supplement this club system.
Although the academies are meant to develop players, coaches there take a holistic, team-oriented approach — playing scrimmages, rondos, passing patterns — that might not allow young players to get touches on the ball they need.
“Every single one of our sessions is so specific to a technical principle that you would have never done at your club,” Babini said. “You build these foundations for these kids, and by the time they go back to their clubs, they have rhythm, they’re mature, they’ve got it down.”
Youth 4 Youth caps sessions at 16 players with three to four coaches watching over to create a semi-private environment that not only boosts visibility, but raises the standards of each player as well — someone is always watching and ready to help correct anything.
Most of the program’s players applied from its Instagram page, where Youth 4 Youth’s viral training videos have resonated with its target audience. The page also highlights the one-on-one showcases Babini and his team put on to try and find players who never had access to play in front of academy, college and professional coaches.
Babini found Teniola Egbenye through this process last summer. Egbenye applied over 10 times to the program until he was finally picked for one. He fell in the final, but was picked to attend their college showcase and has been with them since.
“Seeing a story like that, where it’s a player who never plays in front of college coaches, or at least, like at the time,” Babini said. “These are players that would have never been in a program like the one we have, if it weren’t for social media.”
‘A big brother’
Babini gathered the contacts he has played with or against over the years — the 21-year-old played for Met Oval and Manhattan Soccer Club — to coach New York’s next generation of soccer players. They have all played at high level for NCAA colleges and clubs.
Technical director Jackson ten Oever played for the RBNY academy and is the current captain of Columbia University. Director of coaching Keanu Stingone played for NYCFC and Met Oval and spent his semesters at Manhattanville University. Coach Sophia Kyritsis plays for the University of Richmond and World Class FC in the Elite Club National League after developing her talents at all-boys teams.
“When the people in our staff have gone through the same exact process and same exact experiences, you have a reference point,” Babini said.
With the experience in hand, the coaches are well-equipped to deal with everything their players need on and, in particular, off the pitch. Very few MLS academy players make it professional, and sometimes, it’s all a player has ever known. The struggles of former academy products have been well-documented in England, and in the U.S., it’s much the same. That’s what Babini is aiming to help with his mentorship program, and why he named Youth 4 Youth as such.
Yet, there is so much more to the sport than just playing on a field with a ball and 21 other players and players who don’t make it want to stay around the game.
“Sometimes a player doesn’t get recruited for school, and that’s it, it’s over for them,” Babini said. “But then they say, ‘can I come help you guys out?’ 100%”
On the pitch, Babini wants to make Youth 4 Youth free for everyone. Currently, players pay for sessions, team and individual, but they have created a scholarship system where if a one cannot pay, but they’re good enough, they will still be invited to train.
“It’s so impactful as it compounds the more players you do that with,” Babini said. “We have a duty to the system.”
However, there is no single definition of success for Youth 4 Youth. It could easily be the number of players they have gotten to NCAA programs, how many they have sent abroad to trials in Europe or how many of the players that have gone through their sessions make it professional. But Babini emphasized that the Beautiful Game is meant for everyone in some way or another.
“I know that the people that they met along this journey, the time that they spent with us, with our staff, seeing role models, seeing people who don’t pursue their dreams, no matter what, football has been a good inspiration for them,” Babini said. “That’s a positive for me.”
