By Stephanie Sharp…
With the EuroCup having just wrapped up and the Olympics just around the corner, the international soccer community is having a very exciting summer. Andreas Dias wants to make sure that kids in Pensacola have their own soccer excitement too look forward to this season.
Dias, 17 and a student at Pensacola High School’s IB Program, has started this program with hopes that it will inspire kids to start playing the world’s most popular sport.
The first-ever Pensacola Kickstart Soccer Summer Soccer Program will take place July 24-26 at Lexington Terrace Park. The program is free and pre-registration is recommended. Participants must be in first through fifth grade and receive a free soccer ball for doing the program. Dias hopes that his program will expose children of low income families to a sport that is more about the game than the equipment.
“Anyone can pick up a soccer ball and start playing,†he said.
The program is different from other summer soccer camps because it is for absolute beginners to gain their first formal instruction on the sport. Players for local club teams will volunteer as instructors and Dias, a midfielder for the Gulf Coast Texans, hopes that seeing older kids who are passionate about the sport will add extra encouragement and excitement to their first soccer experience. Multiple local clubs will be cooperating to provide this fun, new experience for Pensacola kids.
“We’re trying to inspire a new generation of players and grow the soccer community in general.â€
PENSACOLA KICKSTART SUMMER SOCCER PROGRAM
Pensacola Sports Association
101 West Main Street
Pensacola, FL 32502
(850)-434-2800
(Deadline for Pre-registration is Friday, July 18, 2012)