Hello again.

I got into Atlanta today and it was immediately a who's who of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Cindy Parlow Cone, J.T. Batson, et al, just out in the wild, chatting up group after group after group. Big smiles, warm handshakes, soft touches. They're the real celebrities here.

But the truth is, if your soccer organization registers players and pays fees to U.S. Soccer, you can attend. Every state association - youth and adult - is here, even Hawaii.

And imagine being here, schmoozing with the leaders of the game in our country, and asking the questions you want answers to from the people in charge. That is the power of this weekend.

MLS, NWSL, USL, NISA, USASA - they're all here to varying degrees. No Don Garber or Jessica Berman or Paul McDonough or John Prutch, but they've all sent reps.

And the amateur league folks are here in abundance - they're the salt of U.S. Soccer.

The first night came to an end at Tabernacle in Downtown Atlanta, a local concert venue rented for the evening by U.S. Soccer to welcome/ply attendees with free food and drink.

Pours were deep and spirits were high ahead of lots of meetings tomorrow, then it's off to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to play footy.

I'll report back after.

Until then,

The Outsider