The Alma Libre U-14 soccer team prepares to travel across the globe for the 2017 Gothia Cup

CHEK

The journey began two years ago, the Alma Libre U-14 soccer team began planning to travel across the globe to compete in the 2017 Gothia Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.

“The plan for forever has been to allow opportunities for the boys to play in other environments that they otherwise wouldn’t have, so we planned it two years ago, and then we started consulting with parents to see if they had any willingness in participating, and there was interest, so we started fundraising and getting sponsors and support from clubs, in this case, Gorge was very helpful with us, and we were able to put it together,” Sergio Uran, Alma Libre U-14 Head Coach said. 

“It would be our first chance to play in an actual international tournament, against other teams, and it’s just a chance of a lifetime,” Midfielder Mattheus Achadinha said. 

And so the fundraising began, two years of hard work, which some players admit, seemed endless.

“It was a pretty long process, but, I think the more fundraising we did, the more connected to the community we got, the more exciting it got,” Midfielder Jake Roverts said. 

“We did bottle drives, we refereed a lot of us, and we did paper routes, anything to get money, it took a long time but I feel it’s going to be worth it,” Midfielder Javier Duran said. 

“We asked the parents to pay half of their ticket, and the boys would pay half of the ticket. So they did their own fundraising on top of the team’s fundraising, and the boys were able to do half of the fundraising on their own,” Uran said. 

And now, the flights are booked and the dream is finally a reality.

Jeff KingJeff King

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