New Mineola Youth Soccer Kicks Off with Star Power

The Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club's "Soccer in the Community" program's premier season has Star Power with Carlos Mendes of the New York Red Bulls Soccer team on board.

This 10-week session of indoor soccer practice was organized by current Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club President Marco Da Fonte and Scott Knight of AndGoSports.

The group had hundreds of young soccer enthusiasts from Mineola and neighboring towns signed up for the 10 weeks of indoor soccer instruction thanks to the distribution of flyers at local schools.

Parents also had a sense of dedication as they were signing up to deliver their children each night to the North Side School on Hillside Ave. during the cold winter months ahead for a chance to be more active and not just play video games and watch TV during their free time.

Each session lasts an hour long and tuition was $100 for the entire series, which will end March 12. Boys and girls attend on separate nights and the children are grouped according to age from 4 to 12-years old.

Class size is limited so that each child can receive individual attention from the coaches, who are all members of the Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club (MPSC), a semi professional soccer team that has won many championships over the years.

Current New York Red Bulls player Carlos Mendes started out as a member of the MPSC before attending college and then turning professional in 2003. At a recent session Mendes brought along Red Bulls posters and his own team photo card to give out to the children. Mendes also spent time signing soccer balls and shirts and interacting with children and parents alike.

Mineola "Soccer Mom" Cherie Adrat says she enjoys seeing her 7-year old son Riley participate in the sport because he is learning team work and cooperation. She also has an older daughter who plays soccer and has been a coach herself.

Physical education teacher Dennis Rawlings' 4-and-a-half-year old daughter Alyssa has also played soccer prior to this program in the Mineola Youth Program set up by the Mineola Athletic Association. Rawlings' credo is to keep the kids moving in organized sports, and  feels that soccer is the best overall sport for kinesthetic awareness and development and developing gross motor skills. "Technology is great," he said, "but it eats up a lot of the children's time. While programs like "Soccer in the Community" is setting the foundation for being a well rounded physical being. "

Marco Da Fonte can be contacted at mdafonte@andgosports.com for information about future programs.