In eight months, Nike’s street-soccer platform went from nonexistent to more than 100 tournaments across six continents. Toma el Juego, which translates in English to take the game, is a free-to-join, community-led street soccer platform designed to provide young athletes with an opportunity to showcase their talent.
This weekend’s final tournament in Bryant Park hosted a number of sports icons as spectators, while Travis Scott handed out Nike contracts to the winning squads.
For three nights, June 25 to June 27, the Midtown park became Nike’s “Estadio” for the Toma National Finals. Nike built a street stadium, featuring a Night Market with merchandise, and a stage that ran from DJ sets through the finals into closing performances.
The champions emerged from a pack of more than 150 teenagers who advanced through the North American qualifiers. Toronto’s Northside FC took the 4v4 crown, while Surf Nation’s Street Phantom took the 1v1. The games delivered with thrilling nutmegs and last-minute goals, but the crowd’s attention also lingered on the athletes who showed up to watch.
Ronaldinho, the Brazilian soccer maestro, made a surprise appearance, with fans and players alike vying to greet him. Leah Williamson, captain of England’s women’s soccer team, Giants Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Burns, and Indian cricket captain Shubman Gill all turned up to cheer on the young competitors. The event showcased soccer’s zeitgeist in the US, which coincides with the country hosting its second-ever FIFA World Cup this summer.
“I know Messi going to Miami was huge. When I was in Carolina, they played a game, and so many people came out to see him,” Brian Burns said. “Being able to grow the sport is very important, and I hope we can do that for our sport too. Seeing soccer take that next step is important.”
Shubman Gill, the fastest player to reach 2,500 runs in cricket, shared, “What’s unique about the World Cup is the diversity, all the countries and all the players,” Gill said. “It transcends being more than a sport; it unites people.”
Season One of the game launched last year in Los Angeles and resulted in over 100 tournaments in cities such as Barcelona, Mexico City, Santiago, and Seoul.
Since then, 4,000 athletes from ages 14 to 18 have competed in North America. The qualifying hubs for the National Finals included Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto, Texas, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. In attendance for the tournament games were also U.S. Soccer and NWSL scouts on-site throughout Season One, including at Bryant Park and Nike’s Toma, which is a real recruitment pipeline for future athletes, not just a showcase event.
“Toma El Juego for Nike really has been about handing over the keys to the future of the game to the next generation,” Vice President of Nike Soccer North America Nuno Silva said in a statement. “We believe our role is to simply break down the barriers to access.”
Toma’s National Finals closes out Season One, but Nike says the platform has no plans of slowing down after the FIFA World Cup, with more tournaments to come. For now, Northside FC and Street Phantoms earned not just Nike contracts, but bragging rights.
