{"id":309,"date":"2018-10-29T10:37:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T14:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2018-2019\/?p=309"},"modified":"2018-12-13T10:50:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T15:50:54","slug":"more-than-just-a-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2018-2019\/more-than-just-a-game\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than Just a Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

School Resource Officers Begin a Soccer League<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Maria Areyan-Hernandez and Regina Allen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Two School Resource Officers (SROs), Officers Johnny Larios and Gary Argueta founded a soccer program for young immigrants. This helps them to find safe ways to deal with cultural transition problems, and reduced rate of involvement in violent acts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no official name for the program, but it was founded within the Suburban Friendship League (SFL), a soccer league that schedules services to over 520 teams and 25 different clubs. Soccer players compete with other teams around Woodbridge, Springfield, Lorton County, and other counties around Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soccer program was created mainly for young immigrants, specifically International Academy (IA) students. \u201cA lot of these kids come to this country, and they don\u2019t really have any support system and friends,\u201d said Larios. \u201cThey could possibly become targets for gangs,\u201d said Larios. Recent immigrants teenagers are more likely to join groups that are dedicated to vandalism due to the lack of support and motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larios and Argueta started noticing the lack of support in these teenagers\u2019 lives. Some do not live with their parents, but stay at a family relative\u2019s house, while others support themselves by living alone, working, and going to school at the same time. \u201cThey were living with an aunt or an uncle that, quite frankly, were not taking really good care of them,\u201d said Larios about a student. \u201cA lot of kids were getting bullied, or harassed by gang members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argueta and Larios have been big fans of soccer since they were young, and saw a similar interest in these kids. The club was founded on this interest. \u201cIt gives them a better view of police officers and they will be more willing to come to us if they need help, or if they see something,\u201d said Larios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larios and Argueta are the main coaches, and play in the tournaments with their teams. Since winter season is approaching, they will start \u2018Futsal\u2019, which is when soccer is played in an indoor hard court. Last year, the team competed with 36 other teams all around Northern Virginia, and managed to win their tournament, for which there is no official name. Larios said \u201cI would just say we qualified for the SFL playoffs and won the tournament. We represent the Alexandria Soccer Association in the Suburban Friendship League.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IA Social Worker Josefina Rodrigo also helps out with the team. \u201cI think it is just being able to see them out of the school setting,\u201d  Rodrigo said, \u201cThey are a lot more carefree doing something that they love, so they put a lot more energy and effort into it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A story that particularly impressed Larios is of a Guatemalan teenager living by himself in Chirilagua. He is between the age of 16 and 17, he supports himself by going to school, then going to work. Around the time he joined the team, he had been injured at his job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides this injury, he was struggling to manage school, work and rent, along with  other expenses. Larios, along with other teachers and coaches, reached out to a church that could support him while he was off work. This teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, has become like a brother to Larios. \u201cEver since then I\u2019ve had a soft spot for that kid,\u201d said Larios. \u201cI pick him up, and he plays in my other adult team\u2026 We go out to eat now and then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During 2016, a female team was developed, and other IA counselors are helping the  team. This program also works with the Suburban Friendship League (SFL) and it is provided equipment, like balls and t-shirts through the Alexandria Soccer Association (ASA). The team usually plays in the spring and has been playing for about four to five seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\u201cI would love to see it just expand in general, boys and girls, and then try to get more volunteers, and more coaches because the bigger the program is the more support we\u2019re gonna need for it,\u201d Rodrigo said about the organization\u2019s future. \u201cThe community they are building with each other is really nice to see and I would like to see it expand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tOn September 29, the boys soccer team lost 4-3 to a local soccer team at Limerick Recreational Field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tSenior Jose Bustillos, a native Honduran, has been playing as a captain for the soccer team since it was founded in 2016. \u201cI feel fortunate to have been selected as their team captain,\u201d he said. In 2017, Bustillos suffered from an injury that prevented him from playing the entire year. \u201cThis year [2018], I started playing with them again\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tAs the leader, Bustillos, has managed to guide his teammates to work with discipline and passion. \u201cThey work very hard everyday to be what they are and I feel very proud of my team,\u201d said Bustillos. \u201cFrom my point of view, I would like to thanks them because they are the ones who have impacted my life and changed me. Since I was young, I\u2019ve always had a bad reputation, and then I started hanging out with them and they changed my life, because [soccer] it\u2019s something that fascinates me to play and having them as part of the team\u2026 makes me feel very proud of having them as my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tBustillos wants to increase more awareness of this program for kids in need of help. \u201cSincerely for me, if they like to do [an activity] something, they should talk with TC administrators, because this [soccer program] can help a lot of people from getting out of street problems and family matters. It\u2019s something that can help them a lot,\u201d said Bustillos. \u201cWhen I was in 10th grade, I had a drug addiction because I suffered from my parents committed divorce. Then I started playing with them, and it made me get away [ from the drug addiction].\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tLarios and Argueta created a fundraiser named \u201cAt-Risk Youth Soccer Program\u201d on GoFundMe. This fundraiser helps Larios and Argueta pay for the team\u2019s equipment and other expenses. They reached out to a non-profit organization that works with the Police Department who helps them with the fees of the games and some cost of equipment, but they need as much help as they can get.
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