PANAMA CITY BEACH — High school football may be over, but the Florida Roots Football Club is ready to entertain crowds all summer long.
Founded in 2018 by longtime local coach Jonah Hammond, who currently heads the Arnold High School program, Florida Roots provides opportunities for young soccer players looking to progress to higher levels of the sport.
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Overall, Roots is made up of youth clubs with players ranging from 5 years old to high school students, and semi-professional teams for men and women that compete in the Gulf Coast Premier League, which includes teams from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
“We want to help players start playing at a young age and grow and develop, and give players who want to go on to college a place to come back and play, which hasn't been done in this area,” Hammond said.
The boys team will play their home games at Publix Sports Park, while the girls team will host their games at Fort Walton High School.
“We have three players on the roster from Arnold who are getting collegiate experience and training sessions with top-level players, which helps everybody,” Hammond said. “We have players on this team who have played at Division I, Mercer, University of North Florida, Division II, III and NAIA, so they can come back and play at a high level.”
The GCPL is a regional league where depending on how far a team advances they will have the opportunity to compete in the U.S. Open Cup, which pits amateur and professional teams against each other.
The Roots boys team, currently with a 3-1 record, will host Alabama FC on Saturday, June 1. The girls team, with a 0-1 record, is scheduled for a rematch against Gulf Coast United on the same day.
Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News-Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or on Twitter @AdebanjiBamide1..
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