Our mission at The Genome Foundation is to grow the local grassroots soccer culture by strategically targeting areas of need in player development, through the cooperation and partnership of player development professionals and the local community, in order to educate, cultivate, and expand opportunities for every individual to reach their full potential as a soccer athlete and a flourishing individual.

One of the primary means by which The Genome Foundation seeks to achieve our mission as a non-profit organization is by expanding opportunities for all individuals in our community to play soccer in the soccer off season months of the year. We achieve this goal through our indoor soccer “Futsal” league, which runs October through February, and May through July. Futsal, the only indoor soccer format officially recognized by USSF, the governing body of U.S. Soccer, is a unique and effective tool to cultivate individual player development. The benefits of Futsal are so numerous, that USSF has mandated that all U.S. Soccer Academy teams are required to play Futsal in the offseason as a component of their training curriculum. Played 5v5 on a gym surface with a smaller, bounce resistant ball, Futsal is a fast paced, technical game that encourages quick footwork and combination passing to beat opponents. By providing this inexpensive, effective player development tool in a family friendly, and player centered soccer environment six months out of the year, The Genome Foundation is expanding opportunities for soccer players to both play the game they love, and accelerate individual player development.

As we approach our third year in existence in Wake Forest N.C., we want to continue to find ways to make our already successful league more effective in reaching a broader range of families and players in our community. As a result, we are beginning our first community sponsorship initiative, through which we desire to see individuals and local businesses come along side the mission and vision of The Genome Foundation to expand player development opportunities for all through the game of Futsal. Participants in the community sponsorship initiative will be effectively targeting two significant areas of need: first, community sponsors will help cover overhead expenses incurred in the operation of the futsal league, and thus free up funding to The Genome Foundation to expand its need based scholarship fund for families and individuals in need of partial or full scholarships to participate in the league. Second, revenue generated by the Futsal league will be reinvested in the local community through community outreach events specifically targeting areas of need in player development.