Virgen’s View: It’s all about soccer at Victoria
Aaron Peralta, Victoria Elementary’s principal, says dodgeball has become very popular at the small school. But it was all about soccer on Friday morning during an assembly that featured Mac Thompson of the Soccer6 league.
Thompson, the director of Soccer6 and the athletic director at Mariners Christian, delivered something special to the kids at the Costa Mesa school. He set aside funds from his league and donated 24 soccer balls to the school that is the smallest transitional-kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school in the Newport Mesa Unified School District.
There are 360 kids at the school, Peralta said, and they also enjoy soccer. They compete in the bronze division at the annual Daily Pilot Cup youth soccer tournament because they are such a small school.
Cesar Velasquez, 12, a sixth-grader, will mostly likely play in the Pilot Cup. He showed off his skills with Thompson in an impromptu juggle session. They continuously headed the ball to each other and Cesar became an instant star with his classmates.
Cesar says he’s been playing soccer since he was in kindergarten. He said he was happy Thompson and Soccer6 donated the soccer balls.
“It’s cool because we don’t usually have soccer balls and sometimes they go over the wall,” he said.
Thompson said he was thrilled to donate the soccer balls. The Soccer6 league for adults began in 2010. There are divisions for men, co-ed, and 40-and-over-old players. They play 6 v. 6 on a gorgeous field at Mariners Christian. There were 30 teams in the most recent season and about 10-12 players on each team.
“Some of the adult recreation leagues sometimes are fueled with aggression and over-competitiveness,” Thompson said. “Our league separates itself in that we are competitive but there is a really incredible positive culture that exists at our fields. Players come and play for the joy of the game for exercise, for fun, they play with honor and respect. We have just a really positive experience every Sunday. A real community has come from the league. Some players have been with the league since it started in 2010.”
So it made sense for the league to donate soccer balls to the kids. A kid from each of the 20 classes received a ball. There were four balls for the rack during P.E. class. Thompson said he plans for Soccer6 to also give soccer balls to Rea Elementary, once a powerhouse in the Daily Pilot Cup, which is in its 18th year and begins May 30.
Last year’s tournament featured 210 teams and there might be a bit more this year, including Victoria and Cesar.
There was actually more to Victoria’s Friday morning assembly than soccer. Peralta recognized those who competed in the recent Spirit Run, including fifth-grader John Uchytil, who won the boys’ 9-10 division.
He ran the mile in 5 minutes, and 59 seconds and won free pizza for a year from Blaze Pizza, he said.
Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley was also a part of the school assembly. She talked about a different football, as she reminded the school that the Los Angeles Chargers are setting up shop in Costa Mesa and there are plans for them to train at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, also known as the Farm fields.
Foley also encouraged the kids to go to college and start on the path by being a part of educational programs at the school and within the district.
Thompson said soccer was the biggest reason he was able to go to college. For Thompson, soccer is truly the beautiful game.
“I played in high school and was recognized by a college coach and I went to college,” Thompson told the kids during the assembly. “I traveled around the world, England, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. I made some of my best friends.”
At Victoria, Thompson made some more friends.
Twitter: @SteveVirgen
