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PITTSBURG —
A group of local parents and soccer enthusiasts will meet Friday to talk about how to increase soccer’s footprint in Pittsburg, a development they say could bring money to the city’s economy.
In 2010 the group got together to form the Southeast Kansas Soccer Academy, which was the beginning of a competitive soccer league for middle school aged kids interested in pursuing the sport. The group currently offers competitive playing and training opportunities, and this year it started a co-ed team for kids under the age of 10, both groups.
Danita Hill, Director of Membership and Operations for the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association will host a meeting at Memorial Auditorium at noon on Friday and discuss how to grow the sport in Pittsburg.
“Due to a lack of competitive leagues, we have to go to Joplin or Webb City to compete,” SEKSA president Kyle Bockover said. “Our thought is that if we’re taking 50 to 60 kids to Poplin every Saturday, the parents will eat lunch or dinner there. We could keep that money here in Pittsburg.
“If you do the math on 60 kids with one or two parents per kid, every Saturday from early February to early October,” Bockover continued, “and if you also think of the possibility for a tournament and players and parents that are going to need hotels, room and board and food for a weekend, that’s significant.”
Bockover said soccer as a youth sport is growing in southeast Kansas.
“Soccer in our academy is growing very rapidly, and soccer as sport is the fastest growing youth sport in the nation,” Bockover said. “It has a lot to do with the development of some of the professional teams, and U.S. participation in the World Cup and TV access to games. There’s a lot more than there used to be.”
The SEKSA provides education and conditioning from expert and nationally certified and licensed coaches. It is a sanctioned organization of the Kansas Youth Soccer Association, the United States Youth Soccer Association, and competes in the Midwest Select Soccer League.
Bockover said Hill has taken an interest in southeast Kansas and is currently working on a grant through the U.S. Youth Soccer Foundation that would fund soccer-based after school programs aimed at combating childhood obesity. After receiving the support the Southeast Kansas Soccer Academy, Pittsburg was named as one of the three Kansas sites included in her grant request. For more information, visit the SEKSA website at www.seksocceracademy.com.
A group of local parents and soccer enthusiasts will meet Friday to talk about how to increase soccer’s footprint in Pittsburg, a development they say could bring money to the city’s economy.
In 2010 the group got together to form the Southeast Kansas Soccer Academy, which was the beginning of a competitive soccer league for middle school aged kids interested in pursuing the sport. The group currently offers competitive playing and training opportunities, and this year it started a co-ed team for kids under the age of 10, both groups.
Danita Hill, Director of Membership and Operations for the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association will host a meeting at Memorial Auditorium at noon on Friday and discuss how to grow the sport in Pittsburg.
“Due to a lack of competitive leagues, we have to go to Joplin or Webb City to compete,” SEKSA president Kyle Bockover said. “Our thought is that if we’re taking 50 to 60 kids to Poplin every Saturday, the parents will eat lunch or dinner there. We could keep that money here in Pittsburg.
“If you do the math on 60 kids with one or two parents per kid, every Saturday from early February to early October,” Bockover continued, “and if you also think of the possibility for a tournament and players and parents that are going to need hotels, room and board and food for a weekend, that’s significant.”
Bockover said soccer as a youth sport is growing in southeast Kansas.
“Soccer in our academy is growing very rapidly, and soccer as sport is the fastest growing youth sport in the nation,” Bockover said. “It has a lot to do with the development of some of the professional teams, and U.S. participation in the World Cup and TV access to games. There’s a lot more than there used to be.”
The SEKSA provides education and conditioning from expert and nationally certified and licensed coaches. It is a sanctioned organization of the Kansas Youth Soccer Association, the United States Youth Soccer Association, and competes in the Midwest Select Soccer League.
Bockover said Hill has taken an interest in southeast Kansas and is currently working on a grant through the U.S. Youth Soccer Foundation that would fund soccer-based after school programs aimed at combating childhood obesity. After receiving the support the Southeast Kansas Soccer Academy, Pittsburg was named as one of the three Kansas sites included in her grant request. For more information, visit the SEKSA website at www.seksocceracademy.com.
