S.C.F.A. – South Central Football Academy
Started as an Idea that now is a goal in my life. I want to create an environment where all players are welcome. My passion began in the early 90’s. I started playing with childhood friends. We were full of ideas and wanted to have fun. We play in parking lots, streets, parks, everywhere we could and not get kick-out. Watching the 1994 World Cup made me realized I want to be there one day. Unfortunately, our family income was not enough to join any sports league or clubs. My parents work tirelessly all day and made enough to live day in and day out. I knew at that age what we could afford, and we could not. I used to make my way to Cahuenga Park in the Hollywood Area and seen the players practice in a soccer club. I was on the outside looking in. Since I was not part of the club or registered I wasn’t able to participate. So, I used to watch them played. I watched how the professionals played on TV and I wanted to be part of that environment. When I played I felt that feeling; audience cheering, felt how good it made me feel when I will score a goal. It was and still is an amazing feeling. As I grew, I used to practice on my own sometimes will have some fun scrimmages within the block. Sometimes we used to make up a team within our block and play against another street block. We used to have so much fun. As I got older, I separated from my passion, grew up and had a family.
Fast forward couple of years an as my sons got involved in this sport, I regain the passion back and got involved. After seen them on the field and seen the coaches in the sideline, I began to see there is a lot of politics. I seen youth players that were highly competitive and couldn’t afford to be in a team were still being left behind. Players that had the resources to pay were in a team regardless of their competency. I seen players on local parks in the South Central Los Angeles area that did not have the guidance or resources to play this game. An thought why can we just get this kids involve, pursue their dream, guide them in the right direction and exposed their talent, make sure they can get recruited or receive a scholarship from one of these colleges here in the states so they can pursue their dream or education. That’s how I began to put in work in 2019.