CUMBERLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – Soccer has always been the world’s game. Now, Maine has a reason to be recognized globally.

It’s all thanks to the innovation and development by Variable Gravity Products, a company based in Cumberland that also manufactures in Kennebunk. Their Zero G (gravity) soccer trainer has been apart of the online market for a little over year and is one of the best selling products when it comes to soccer training.

The item is targeted for youth soccer players (approximately 8 million registered in the US). It allows children to adjust the settings for a ball attached to bar being offset by weights. Chief Innoventer Steven Leen refers to it as “training wheels for your feet.” The more a child can get comfortable with the trainer the more they can increase the rate of gravity until there’s no resistance at all.

One of the strongest features of the product, according to the creators, is it’s compact nature. It allows the user to juggle the ball in a small space enabling usage indoors for either convenience or as an alternative to bad weather.

Along with what Leen says instills confidence as they coined “canfidence” (I can + confidence), his partners, who run Seacoast United soccer club in New Hampshire, say it significantly helps a player’s first touch. That allows the individuals to control the ball from various angles with various parts of their body.

It’s been shipped to 47 states and 10 countries and is amongst the top buys on Amazon, Soccer.com (the largest soccer retailer in the world), and Dick’s E-Commerce.

The success of the product is spawning other models for different sports like basketball and volleyball.

Leen and his partners are also potentially in line for an appearance on the reality show “Shark Tank.” They’ve been contacted by the show’s casting director and will be shooting an audition in late August or early September.

For more information about the product or company, you can go to their website: www.0gsoccer.com