Growing up in Southern California in the early-1990s, John Thorrington was as avid of a soccer fan as one could be. He played competitively -- eventually signing with Manchester United at 17 -- but the American sporting landscape, with its lack of television options or a domestic league, made it virtually impossible to create widespread passion for the game.
"I was thinking back to when we hosted the World Cup [in 1994] and how different that was," said Thorrington. "I had never seen a high-level match live in my life. I was 14 at the time it came here and you saw the interest that it generated.