Soccer Tennis Builds Towards Its Moment
“If you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no.” — Dolly Parton
It is memorable wisdom, but visibility alone does not build something sustainable. The opportunity still has to be supported by credible structure, disciplined execution and evidence that people are willing to participate.
For Soccer Tennis, that creates a simple challenge: Make it visible. Build it credibly. Let the market decide.
That raises an interesting question: What happens when the thing you want people to notice already exists, but nobody quite agrees on what it is? Call it Soccer Tennis, Foot Tennis or Football Tennis. Call it a training drill, a recreational game or a social-media challenge. Whatever the name, players around the world have been doing versions of it for generations.
Soccer legends have played it. Global brands have used it. Social media creators have turned it into competitive content. EA Sports also brought Foot Tennis into FIFA 22 through VOLTA ARCADE, a Party Game mode within VOLTA FOOTBALL.
The activity is familiar, but its identity remains fragmented. That contradiction sits at the heart of Al Burzynski’s research. Soccer Tennis may not have an awareness problem as much as a branding and identity problem.
That distinction points to a larger opportunity. The challenge is not to invent a game that players already know. It is to build the sport around it.
The Recognition Paradox
Over the years, Burzynski has spoken face to face with players, coaches, soccer executives and other subject-matter experts about the concept. A familiar response kept surfacing: Everybody knows Soccer Tennis. Everybody plays Soccer Tennis.
That observation led to a different question: Then why isn’t it a sport?
The answer may have less to do with whether people recognize the activity and more to do with what has historically been missing around it: a common identity, consistent rules, repeatable competition and an organizational framework capable of supporting growth.
The game was visible, but the identity was not. Rules create consistency. Competition tests them. Identity makes the game recognizable. Governance provides a framework for growth.
That missing structure is where Thomas Dooley’s earlier work becomes important.
From Familiar Game to Formal Structure
As founder of the American Soccer Tennis Organization, which operated from 2006 to 2013, Dooley sought to move Soccer Tennis beyond training sessions and recreational play toward organized competition.
The effort included international players, competitive events and a professional concept built around multiple teams. The larger proposition was straightforward: Could something players already understood be developed into a distinct, organized hybrid sport?
Years later, Burzynski returned to that question. The objective was not to claim ownership of the basic idea of kicking a ball over a net. Players had been doing that long before either Dooley or Burzynski became involved.
The challenge was to connect the scattered pieces: common rules, recognizable identity, repeatable competition and a governing structure capable of supporting development.
In 2023, Dooley’s written Soccer Tennis rules were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. That same year, the Soccer Tennis Federation was formed in Columbus, Ohio, providing an organizational foundation from which the game could continue developing toward an organized sport.
Those steps did not mean the sport had arrived. They meant the work of building it could become more deliberate. Structure alone, however, does not explain why the opportunity may be different today.
Why This Moment Feels Different
Timing matters because the sports and media landscape has changed dramatically since Dooley first pursued organized Soccer Tennis nearly two decades ago. Social media had not yet become a global distribution system for athletic content, streaming was still developing, and smartphones were not yet universal publishing tools.
Today, athletes, organizations and fans can distribute sports content worldwide almost instantly. Soccer Tennis may be well suited to that environment because skill, competition, recognizable soccer movements and short rallies can be understood quickly without requiring a lengthy explanation.
There is also evidence the activity is culturally recognizable. Some of the world’s best-known soccer players have played variations of the game.
In 2012, Nike brought Cristiano Ronaldo and tennis champion Rafael Nadal together in a commercial promoting the Mercurial Vapor VIII soccer cleats. The spot blended tennis and soccer, with Ronaldo using his feet to return tennis shots before a soccer ball entered the exchange.
The concept has also crossed into gaming. EA Sports introduced Foot Tennis as one of the Party Games in VOLTA ARCADE within FIFA 22’s VOLTA FOOTBALL mode. The 2-on-2 format challenged players to volley, lob and smash the ball across a net while competing for points. The first team to 10 points won.
YouTube videos featuring Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and members of the U.S. Women’s National Team also show variations of the activity in action. Yet none of that proves a market for an organized sport. Taken together, the examples demonstrate that the underlying game has long had a recognizable presence within soccer culture.
Recognition and visibility are only part of the equation. The next question is whether the game can support a viable economic ecosystem.
Building Around an Existing Sports Economy
Soccer Tennis would not have to build an entirely new sports economy around itself.
Participation may provide the first commercial engine through equipment, events, apparel and licensed products. As the audience grows, additional opportunities could emerge through sponsorships, collegiate competition, name, image and likeness (NIL), professional competition and media.
The market still has to be tested. Nothing guarantees that players, families, sponsors or investors will embrace Soccer Tennis simply because they already spend money elsewhere in sports.
But the infrastructure surrounding participation already exists. Families pay for sports experiences. Communities operate recreation programs. Schools and colleges support competition. Brands sponsor events. Athletes buy equipment and apparel, and fans follow players and teams.
Soccer Tennis does not have to invent those behaviors. It has to earn a place within them.
A growing player base can create demand for equipment, events, apparel and licensed products before a large media audience develops. Media rights and larger professional opportunities can follow as participation and audience demand grow.
Commercial potential is only one side of the opportunity. Soccer Tennis also benefits from the global reach of soccer and an existing culture of players who already understand many of the required skills.
A Built-In Global Community
Soccer offers another advantage: an existing player culture. Passing, receiving, heading, volleying and controlling a ball are already familiar skills, reducing the learning curve for players encountering Soccer Tennis.
That does not guarantee Soccer Tennis will succeed. It does mean the game begins with something many emerging sports would spend years trying to create: a global community that already understands much of the language.
Burzynski and the STF team are developing relationships across that broader ecosystem, including athletes, soccer organizations, members of the armed forces, veterans and their families, and people from other sports. The objective is not simply to generate attention. It is to determine whether the game can support something larger.
Seeing Something More
For Burzynski, the central issue is no longer whether people recognize the game. The question is whether the pieces needed to build a sport can finally be brought together.
He believes that is where the opportunity lies. Thomas Dooley saw something more years ago, and Burzynski believes that vision still deserves the opportunity to be tested.
Just as important, STF’s mission is to inform, inspire and engage. Inform people about the opportunity. Inspire them to see what Soccer Tennis could become. Engage them in helping shape what comes next.
The game already exists. The challenge is to build the structure, identity and opportunity around it so Soccer Tennis has the chance to become a sport.
Why Now?
Because the game is already being played. The culture already recognizes it. Thomas Dooley’s written Soccer Tennis rules have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, an organizational structure is being built around the game, and relationships are expanding around the idea.
Today’s technology can connect players, communities and audiences in ways that were far more difficult when the concept was first being pursued. The surrounding sports economy provides pathways for participation, equipment, sponsorship, events and, potentially, professional competition.
Dolly Parton’s wisdom was about making a vision visible. Soccer Tennis presents an unusual variation on that idea. The game is already visible. The question now is whether people are ready to see it differently. Everybody knows the game. Maybe now is the time to build the sport.