U.S. Soccer is a non-profit 501(c)(3) company affiliated with the United States Olympic Committee. Since the start of the new decade the organization has set its sites on establishing a strong base for the future of the sport in the United States. As part of that process, the Federation developed and presented a five-year business plan that was approved by the Board of Directors in October 2000, and began to lay the groundwork for the player and facility initiatives coming to fruition today. Since the start of 2001, the plan has been modified and updated based on the dynamics within both the sport industry and within the U.S. Soccer family.

In the years since the implementation of this business plan, U.S. Soccer has:

	Identified challenges
	created and refined its cost model
	re-organized and reduced staff
	increased efficiency and the level of service provided to their members
	achieved positive financial results and
	built an operating reserve

	Player Development
	Facility Development (see below)
	Coaching Development
	Referee Development
	Event Development
	Staff Development
	Quality environment for our National Teams

Facility Development Initiatives U.S. Soccer has worked very hard to help develop soccer specific facilities in the United States. Modern, dedicated soccer facilities are crucial to bringing world-class soccer events to U.S. soil and for developing the sport at all levels from professional to adult to youth. Without Columbus Crew Stadium and The Home Depot Center, the U.S. would not have been able to serve as the emergency host of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003, when SARS forced the cancellation of the previously scheduled event in China. Since 2000, U.S. Soccer has assisted in the development of two landmark stadium complexes that will continue to add to the sports long-term growth in the U.S. What started as a vision in 1999 became a reality in 2003 when U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center opened its doors in California. The NTC at the HDC is the future of the sport in the United States, a first-class facility that shows the integration of all the U.S. National Team programs, from the U-14 developmental camps straight through to the full men's and women's teams playing in front of big crowds in the main stadium. U.S. Soccer’s financial commitment to develop its own National Training Center was just $6 million of the $140 million project. The second complex – a stadium with an adjacent 20-field youth and adult soccer facility and to which U.S. Soccer committed $5 million – is in Frisco, Texas. Importantly, USSF financial commitments to these two facilities, though major budget items for the organization, are relatively small in comparison to the commitments of other organizations and are generating an increased investment in the sport of soccer in the United States. The USSF’s financial role in these two complexes is to help secure the broader capabilities at these facilities that will support the growth and development of youth and adult soccer leagues. True to U.S. Soccer’s mission of developing the sport's long-term future in this country, these facilities not only help the professional game continue to grow, but also encourage support and build the programs necessary to develop the sport at all levels of soccer in the U.S. Another added benefit of these investments is in the direct and favorable economic impact to the Federation in terms of discounted rental fees for use of facilities, and complimentary or discounted use of practice fields for the Federation's teams and its organization members. The Home Depot Center, Columbus Crew Stadium, Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, and, the stadiums being opened in 2006 and 2007 in Chicago, Denver and in Rochester, N.Y., give soccer room to grow in the U.S.