The less than two-year-old soccer club uses the beautiful game to bring the community together while supporting underserved athletes in Lancaster County.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Lancaster County Soccer Clubs help children achieve their soccer dreams while bringing together the diverse cultures of our community. Alloy Soccer Club is a free professional development program that provides aspiring players with the opportunity to play and realize their soccer dreams.
“What we're looking at is the beautiful game, what makes the beautiful game,” said Josiah Groff, executive director of Big Picture Soccer, the nonprofit organization that founded the Alloy Soccer Club. Ta. “People who don't speak the same language can still come together.” [and] We can form a brotherhood around this game and encourage each other to not only get better at soccer, but to become better young people. ”
This is an effort to unite the community through beautiful games.
“We want to have a positive impact on our community [and] “What I love about soccer is connecting with kids through something that they already have a passion for,” Groff said. [and] what they love. ”
Many of the players come from immigrant and refugee families. There are over 15 countries on the roster who share a common bond: a love of football.
“This is a common language for all these people,” said John Regan Moore, the club's head coach. “People from different cultural backgrounds come together here, find a home here, have the same desires, the same goals, and do things like romance with acquaintances that build community. It’s very rewarding to see.”
Mohamed Abdul Rahman is one such player. He was born and raised in Iraq, immigrated to Jordan, and came to the United States as a refugee with his family in 2010.
He says Aloy Soccer Club helped him and his foreign teammates adjust to their new home country.
“When I first came here, it was very difficult to connect with them. So it's very easy to connect through football,” Abdul Rahman said. “In short, we don't even need to speak a few words of a complete language. We can understand each other.”
The connection the club strives for is reflected in the Alloy name. Its influence is already taking shape less than two years after it was founded.
“When you see it all mesh together, you get a good idea of what this club came from, the name Alloys Soccer Club. Alloy, combining the properties of multiple medals, makes it even stronger than the original medal. ,” Groff said.
The players they develop are successful on and off the field.
“We really strive for both. So while we strive for excellence on the field, we also strive to develop young players who are good off the field,” Groff said. “That's a win for us. We want to play good football and have a great brand of football, but we also want to see young men grow into better parts of the community.”
Alloy Soccer Club competes in the Delaware River Conference of the Eastern Premier Soccer League. They secured the lead with a 3-2 win over Kensington on Saturday and will enter the conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
For more information about Alloy Soccer Club and how to join, please visit our website here.
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