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Akron Inner City Soccer Club
RICHARD WEINER
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 27, 2012
Founded by Nigerian native Oladele “Dele” Olabisi five years ago, the Akron Inner City Soccer Club provides a way for the young people to learn to play the most popular sport in the world.
From a very modest beginning, starting with 33 nascent soccer players, the club now has 150 inner city children, ages 5 to 14, playing in local and regional leagues and tournaments. Of those, the club has 65 girls and 85 boys playing.
The teams were named after elemental forces of nature: Avalanche, Hurricanes, Thunder, Volcanoes, Storms, Fire, Lightning, Tsunami, and dominant animals like Cobras, Pythons and Eagles.
With lessons and competitive play, the club has these kids playing all year round, said Olabisi.
Olabisi and his coaching staff run beginner camps for children who are 5 to 7 years of age, and then run eight teams out to play in the Greater Akron Amateur Soccer Association (GAASA) League and tournaments. The organization is also affiliated with the Ohio Youth Soccer Association North, the Urban Soccer Collaborative and US Youth Soccer.
The teams’ home field is in Copley.
The teams do very well. Many of them have coaches who were reared on the sport in other countries—three from Nigeria, and coaches from Ghana, Mexico, India and Zimbabwe. There are also several U.S-born coaches.
Last year, the organization’s teams went 50-10-4 in spring league play. “Spring play is very successful for us,” said Olabisi. “We have foreign-born players and coaches,” he went on, noting that these players grew up on the sport.
Several of the spring league teams won their respective age categories, and some of the younger players may have served notice on the area that all of their training will amount to something special in the future—both the boys and girls 9-year-old teams won their respective divisions.
“We hold five different summer camps in five different areas of Akron.” said Olabisi. “Kids who don’t have transportation should be able to walk to one of them.”
Since the club only has teams up to 14 years of age, basically high school freshmen, the players go on to play at the high school level. Within the city of Akron school system, Firestone, North and Garfield have soccer programs, while Buchtel and East do not, said Olabisi.
He also loses fall league players to American football, so the organization’s fall teams are not quite as strong as its summer teams. Last year’s fall league teams went 30-27-5.
The club also plays indoors in the winter, starting with six weeks of foot skills training.
But the team records are not as important as the exposure that inner-city youth get to the sport. “Inner city soccer seems unusual,” said Olabisi, adding that, for the most part, inner city youth primarily participate in basketball and football. “They weren’t comfortable with soccer,” when he formed the group, said Olabisi, saying that he, “wanted them to realize the benefits of soccer.”
For one, he said, players of this sport can’t beat the cost, he said. “Soccer is very inexpensive compared to other sports,” he said.
The entire community has helped the organization out since its humble origins five years ago. Olabisi says that much of the success of the organization can be pegged to its sponsors, especially Akron-area foundations, without whom, said Olabisi, the organization would not exist.
As an example of the very generous support for this program, Olabisi said that next year’s 5-week summer camp is already sponsored by the Akron Community Foundation.
Other organizations who have helped out with financial support include Akron Golf Charities, Ohio Youth Soccer Association North (OYSAN) and the Rubbermaid Foundation. Service support has also been provided by Play On Soccer and Pizza Hut. Numerous other organizations have helped out through the years, including the Knight Foundation, the Odom Foundation, the Charles E. & Mabel M. Ritchie Foundation, Lloyd L. & Louise K. Smith Memorial Foundation, and Laura R. & Lucian Q. Moffitt Foundation. First Merit and PPG Give Foundation also provided financial support while the club was starting out. Many, many other organizations and individuals have contributed to making this club a success.
For more information on the Akron Inner City Soccer Club, please go to www.inner-citysoccer.org.