Soccer stretches legs for diversity

JAMES CITY - A few years ago, Sherlanda Buskey and Kendall Pressey couldn’t tell you the difference between a direct kick and a bicycle kick.

Today they are masters of both techniques, thanks to the growth of the Virginia Legacy Soccer Club’s Partnership Program.

In 2003, Al Albert, the father of soccer camps in Williamsburg, set up a program to make soccer more inclusive through clinics, camps and rec league play. It was part of a national movement called the Urban Soccer Collaborative, promoting social change through soccer.

“The initial idea of the community partnership was to create programming to increase the diversity of the soccer club,” Albert said in an interview. “The obvious issue was the lack of participation in the African-American community, but we have also been able to engage other aspects of the underserved communities as well.”

Albert is pleased with the results. “The most obvious measurable outcomes of the program are the raised percentage of participation in soccer from underserved groups, particularly African-American kids,” he said. “We have raised the percentage from about 5 to about 20 percent, and several kids have moved into the travel program and high school soccer.”

Thanks to a grant early on from the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation, the Virginia Legacy Soccer Club hosted clinics and camps in the Grove community, where soccer was an unlikely sport. Initial response was good as about 25 kids were regular attendees at camps and games.

Bobby O’Brien, director of coaching for Virginia Legacy, coached the team in Grove, along with Johnny Kamara.

“When we started with James River [Elementary], many kids had never played or seen soccer on television,” O’Brien recalled. “The skill level was very low, and we lost many games. At the start of the second season, we saw improvement as the kids progressed.”

The goal was to establish a team environment, “to help them foster a love for the game and to play the game of soccer one day in our travel program, and possibly even further.”

Buskey and Pressey were among the inaugural class from Grove and have developed into quality soccer players. Buskey plays travel ball for the Legacy’s U-15 team and is a member of Jamestown High’s girls soccer team. Pressey travels on the boys U-15 team and starts as a freshman for the Lafayette soccer team.

Buskey was the ultimate rookie. “I didn’t know anything about soccer,” she said. “All I knew is that it involved a ball and that I wanted to try it out.”

She showed enough promise that Albert recruited her for the travel team. “My first couple of practices were nerve-racking,” she recalled. “My skills back then weren’t very good at all. But they have improved tremendously.”

Soccer helped in other ways. “It has taught me to get along better with my peers and how to be disciplined and control my frustration,” she said. “It has [also] helped me develop as a person by teaching me how to find different ways to solve problems. When I play the game, I play wholeheartedly. It has helped me evolve as a player as well as a young adult.”

Pressey said, “It has helped me develop better communication skills and has definitely made me a better soccer player.”

He also learned the importance of hard work. “I remember my first practice, that many of the other players were better than me. I then started going to camps and practiced a lot on my own to make myself better. I eventually caught up to the other players.”

O’Brien marvels in what Buskey and Pressey have accomplished.

“It changes their lives because, for some of these kids, instead of going home and hanging out with friends or getting into trouble, they have practice after school and can look forward to games on the weekends and being a part of a team and creating relationships.”

Albert’s program has come a long way in five years. At first the program fielded one team at James River Elementary to take advantage of school bus transportation. Today the program has expanded to six elementary schools and plans are in the works to add two programs next year.

Early on, only 25 of the 450 kids participating in the Legacy’s spring recreation league were from the program. That number has grown to 120 out of 600 players.

O’Brien admitted there’s more to do. “It’s an ongoing process. There’s no such thing as surpassing it. We’re trying to get as many kids as possible playing soccer who want to and get them having fun and in good support groups.”

Albert agreed. “This program is about bringing parts of our community together through soccer,” he said. “In that sense, it does transcend just being a sporting activity. “There are obviously many other results that we have not been able to measure, but kids are running around who did not previously get off the couch. And there are good things that come from that in terms of healthy lifestyles and physical fitness.”

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