Goals of the Soccer Program
- To reach out to children in under-served and socio-economically disadvantaged places in order to offer them an on-going program of positive sports activities through soccer.
- To increase participants self-esteem through participation in an organized and supportive program of team activities.
- To build positive social and life skills.
- To provide important opportunities for exercise and increase awareness of one’s own health through sports.
- To provide the players with positive, cooperative and enjoyable after school and spare time activities.
Targeted Youth
The GERA Soccer Program targets disadvantaged youth under 30 years old. These youth may be classified at-risk due to:
- Low household income
- Exposure to crime and drugs
- Language and cultural barriers
- Children of single parent homes
- Children with learning disabilities
- Children without any organized after school supervision (latchkey)
Benefits of GERA Soccer Program
-Development as a player. The opportunity to train and play with the best player’s in one’s age group.
-Quality instruction from nationally licensed coaches.
-Quality competition. Games against other state association ODP teams.
-Exposure to regional and national team coaches.
-The opportunity to represent one’s state or region in competition.
-Exposure to college coaches.