Mountain View Voice Internship

Anna Laman
Jul 15, 2016
4 min read

Fostering a winning team

Asea of yellow t-shirts is visible from afar. Walk- ing closer, one can hear the blasting energy of 350 kids chattering away to their high school-aged coaches about their day. One child is ask- ing for his coach’s validation of the new trick he learned. However, this camp has aims well beyond the physical gains of most youth soccer camps to create an environment where life-long friendships formed and role models are found, giving disadvantaged children in the Bay Area an opportu- nity to believe in themselves and strive towards a brighter future.

The 10th Annual Kick, Lead and Dream (KLD) summer soccer camp under the aegis of the Sunnyvale Police Activities League, was held in Cooper Park, Mountain View on June

13 to June 24. The nonprofit summer camp is created and managed by volunteers from the local community. What started with only 30 chil- dren and a few coaches has now expanded to serve about 350 low-income and at-risk students in second through seventh grades from public schools in Mountain View and Sunnyvale, and has about 90 coaches.

At the cost of $10 per child, thecamp aims at fostering a safe and friendly environment for kids to be actively inspired, physi- cally and mentally, by their high school volunteer coaches from elementary and middle schools in the Bay Area. Coaches become role models to the kids, encour- aging them to brainstorm future goals and learn the importance of leadership and commitment.

Each of the 24 soccer camp teams represents a country with strong soccer tradition. Apart from the soccer tournaments that run on a daily basis, inspi- rational guest speakers come to the camp. “Past guest speakers have included players from the San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, San Jose Earthquakes, FC Gold Pride and Mountain View’s mayor,” said Joe Seither, the lead parent volunteer.

Albertin Montoya was the first guest speaker this year. Born in Cuba, he immigrated to the United States when he was a small boy. Montoya was raised in Mountain View, attended Los Altos High School and went to college at Santa Clara University. He went on to play for the San Jose Earthquakes (then called the Clash), and is now the direc- tor of coaching for Mountain View-Los Altos Soccer Club.

Kip Colvey, another guest speaker this year, was born in Hawaii and raised in New Zealand. He recruited to play for Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes.It’s not surprising that approx- imately 50 percent of the high school volunteer coaches were campers themselves when they were in middle school. “The soc- cer camp becomes a metaphor for life,” said Edgar Tapia, a KLD leader.

Tapia, who received a KLD college scholarship, is now a managerial economics major at the University of California at Davis, and credits to the soccer camp for fostering his determination to attend college. He was a camper for four years, a young boy without a father figure at home, he said. “I found my father figure in the older coaches at the camp.

”In high school, Tapia became a volunteer coach and has come back for the past three years. “I want to help that kid who might be struggling at home, that was me back in the day. I see myself in them,” he said.

Tapia recalled his love for one coach who talked about his college education. “I remember hearing about his love for school anditmademewanttogoto college one day, and here I am motivating kids in the same way... I love it.”

Enthusiastic soccer play- er Sakshan Karki, has been a camper for two years and expressed his love for the camp. His favorite part is the coaches, he said. “They’re funny, sup- portive and motivating.”

Another camper, 10-year-old Moise Garcia, said the camp is motivating. “It cheers me up because it’s boring at home. My godfather and cousin do it too.”A big part of the camp day is focused on fostering a healthy and collaborative environment between neighboring communities in the Bay Area like Sunny- vale and Mountain View.

Campers are provided with free food and drinks, camp t-shirts and the chance to win prizes. Free round-trip bus transportation is also included, from pick-up points in Moun- tain View and Sunnyvale.

Seither said one of his fondest memories at the camp was seeing how happy and appreciative one young child was about the fresh food. “When I asked him what his favorite part was, he said, ‘The food, you have food here,’ It astounded me how something so small could be such a positive force in their lives.

”A newly formed Kick, Lead and Dream College Scholarship has just come into play, intended to recognize KLD campers who stay on the academic path and graduate from high school. “The camp has always reinforced the values of aiming high in life, working hard toward your goals, making good life choices and staying out of trouble,” Seither said. “When an at-risk camp- er accomplishes these things and tackles a higher education goal, we want to publicly recognize their hard work and achievement.”

The recipients of the first two KLD College Scholarships this year were Ivan Chavez and Edgar Tapia, both campers who grew into coaches, serving as adult interns and mentors to this year’s youth leaders.

Seither said he is always hop- ing for more adult volunteers to help the summer camp move in the right direction. He has recently initiated an advisory board to add stability to the camp. “A challenge has been the turnover of new adult volunteers eachyearwithalossofinstitu- tional knowledge,” he said.

More information about the camp is online at kldsoccer.com.

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I am currently working as a journalism intern at The Mountain View Voice newspaper, alongside Andrea Gemmet, Mark Noack, Kevin Forestieri and Michelle Lee.

The Mountain View Voice newspaper is a weekly newspaper serving the San Francisco Peninsula city of Mountain View, California. Owned by Palo Alto-based Embarcadero Media, the Mountain View Voice began publishing in 1993. Embarcadero also owns and operates numerous other websites and publishes the the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac (serving Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside and Atherton) and the Pleasanton Weekly. The Palo Alto Weekly became the first newspaper in the United States to publish on the World Wide Web in January, 1994.