Some of the best youth soccer players from across the Kansas City area were on display on Sunday night at the Wizards Swope Park Training Facility for a friendly soccer tournament under the lights, organized by the Kansas City Wizards and the team’s Juniors youth development academy.
But it wasn’t the ordinary type of tournament that pitted the Wizards U13 and U15 Juniors teams against local opposition as they’ve participated in many times before. Instead, the Juniors welcomed more than 35 local Latino players to join them as teammates in the round robin competition, encouraging the newcomers to play side-by-side with the current crop of up-and-comers in the Wizards youth system.
“From the standpoint of just getting together, I think it is wonderful,” Kansas City Wizards assistant coach Octavio Zambrano said. “These are kids that through normal circumstances would never meet on the playing field. They play in different leagues, in two different ways of organizing youth soccer. From that standpoint, it is great.”
Zambrano was one of the leading figures in bringing Sunday’s event to fruition, having met with representatives of the six Latino leagues in Kansas City to discuss opportunities for involvement and to invite their players out for activities over the last three months.
One of those ambassadors was Oscar Escamilla, a local youth soccer coach who was on hand to see the success of Sunday’s tournament.
“This is awesome,” Escamilla said as he coached one of the blended U13 teams alongside Juniors Coach Paul Rideout. “I want to thank everyone with the Kansas City Wizards and the Hispanic leagues for inviting all the Hispanic kids and putting on this tournament for them. I’m so proud of these kids. The children start playing at a young age, and now they have this opportunity, it is really good for them.”
The three U13 teams each played two 30-minute games, while the three U15 teams each played two 40-minute games. The event, which kicked off at 6 p.m. and lasted until 10 p.m., attracted a large crowd of spectators to watch the soccer showcase.
“Kansas City as a whole has many Latino youth for which soccer is a passion. This is exemplified by the talent we see on the field,” Jose Zarate, President of the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association, said. “This event is only but a beginning of the many opportunities to come for these Latino players in being able to showcase their skills and sharing the field with the players from the KC Juniors program. Most importantly, it brings the local Latino soccer groups together to see for themselves what hard work, dedication and their passion for fútbol may lead to, while at the same time just having fun.”
Zambrano said the Wizards hope to have a similar event in the future for high school and under-23 players from the local Latino leagues.
“This is an event that we put together, deciding that it is time that we look at the talent that is out there,” Zambrano said. “There is a player pool that we have not tapped into, and now we are trying to do that…Hopefully this event is the first of many to come.”
The initiative will likely be boosted by the arrival of Mexican icon Omar Bravo, signed by Kansas City as a Designated Player for the 2011 season. Zambrano called Bravo a catalyst for greater participation amongst the Latino community and Escamilla is looking forward to Bravo’s positive presence in Kansas City.
“It is exciting,” Escamilla said on Sunday. “Omar Bravo is one of the best forwards for Mexico, so I think it is going to be great for the Wizards. It is also very important for the kids to have a role model on the Wizards that looks like them. I think it is very good for the Latino children.”
And at the end of the day, Zambrano and Escamilla both have high hopes that there could be a local star in the making amongst those youths playing at Swope on Sunday.
“These kids are very excited to come and play with the Wizards Juniors,” Escamilla said. ”I hope that some of them can really make it and play like Omar Bravo or Jimmy Conrad and play on the Wizards.”
