Cosmos Copa NYC Star Signed By New England Revolution

The New England Revolution's first pick in the 2012 MLS supplemental draft, NYC Jamaica's Dawyne "Balla Rick" Smith takes a shot during the 2011 Cosmos Copa NYC tournament. (image source: christopher dobens)

Just days after Chivas USA picked up a former New York Cosmos PDL player, the New England Revolution scooped up Dawyne “Balla Rick” Smith in the supplemental draft. Smith was one of the stars of the Cosmos Copa NYC, an amateur tournament organized by the Cosmos and seen by many as an additional way to attract and identify talent for the team.

Copa NYC was founded by Spencer Dormitzer and Chris Noble in 2009 as a showcase of the city’s global soccer talent. The New York Cosmos acquired it the following year, renaming it the Cosmos Copa NYC and hiring Dormitzer and Noble full-time. It’s a unique amateur adult soccer tournament in that the teams are fielded by New York City’s various ethnic communities from the ground up. They organize tryouts, identify talent, and form their own squads to compete in the amateur tournament. In 2011, 30 teams represented their homeland, with Poland defeating Senegal to hoist the trophy.

There were a number of scouts in attendance, as the tournament attracted some of the top amateur players in the city. In addition to serving as a vehicle to connect with New York’s various ethnic communities, the Cosmos Copa NYC was also a channel for the aspiring club to attract and assess expatriate and immigrant talent. The Cosmos Academy is designed to attract, assess, and develop youth players from the New York City area, but there was no means of tapping the huge talent pool of amateur players in the city, many of whom were playing at the collegiate level and/or in various leagues on the local and regional level. This dual purpose is what made the Cosmos Copa NYC so brilliant.

Pele (l) presenting Rick Smith (r) the Golden Boot award at the inaugural Cosmos Copa NYC tournament. (image source: new york cosmos)

Dawyne “Balla Rick” Smith won the Golden Boot at the inaugural tournament. He also played for the Cosmos U23 PDL squad. The 23 year-old Jamaican native went to college at Bethel University in Tennessee where he helped his team reach the NAIA Division I playoffs four years in a row. In Major League Soccer’s 2012 supplemental draft, Smith was the third overall pick, nabbed by the New England Revolution in the first round.

We are delighted for Smith and the Revolution, just as we are for Iraheta and Chivas USA. But one has to wonder about the lack of engagement by the new owners of the New York Cosmos. Clearly an MLS franchise is still years away, but seeing the success these players have achieved should reinforce the need to maintain the Cosmos Copa NYC tournament and U23 PDL team. It doesn’t look like the Cosmos’ new owners, Sela Sport, will field a PDL team this season. And though registration is open for the 2012 Cosmos Copa NYC, Dormitzer and Noble are no longer with the organization, and the remaining staff surely lack the resources for such an undertaking.

[Editor's Note: This story also appears in my new Total Cosmos column on the This Is Cosmos Country site.]