Local youth primarily from Sunnyvale and Mountain View got the opportunity to learn soccer skills, make friends and meet role models at a two week summer camp based in Mountain View.
Run almost entirely by high school-age volunteer coaches, leaders and directors, the Kick, Lead, Dream camp offers a unique opportunity for at-risk youth in the community to bond with positive role models over a common love: the game of soccer.
Annie Iverson, 17, is a recent graduate of Homestead High School and has been involved with Kick, Lead, Dream for five years. She is now a director for the camp.
“Having so many positive influences [from] the coaches really helps the kids,” Iverson said. “Quite a few of our coaches were previously campers, so [the kids] have these positive influences who could have gone down the wrong path but chose to be leaders in the community, work hard in school and try to deviate from the path that life has somewhat set for them so far.”
The camp began in 2007 instructing fewer than 30 kids and has since grown to welcome more than 350 campers.
Ivan Chavez, 17, is a junior camp leader and former camper who has returned to help inspire children stay on a positive track in life.
“The mission is to keep at-risk youth off the streets,” Chavez said. “I want to help my community, I want to teach the youth to do better.”
Many of the volunteers notice a distinct change in the children from the beginning to end of camp.
“The biggest evolution that I see in the kids is that they come in timid, scared, and don’t really put their full selves into the game or their relationships, but by the end they’re willing to run their fastest in the soccer game, shoot as hard as they can; they’ve become good friends with all the kids they’re on a team with,” Iverson said. “It’s the combination of the bonds that kids make with each other and the coaches and the camaraderie built off of the competition that really gives kids a sense of confidence.”
The camp was the brainchild of the Nigam family, particularly their children, Akash and Sonia, who were then in ninth and fifth grades, respectively.
“Despite their young ages, they both realized their good fortune of having been dealt a great hand in the lottery of life,” parents Pavan and Ruma said. “As a result, they both had a strong desire to give back to the community and were looking for opportunities to combine this with their other passion; their love for soccer.”
Since then, the camp has welcomed thousands of kids.
“I like all the coaches and how they’re so fun,” said 10-year-old camper Maddie Cantu. “I used to not be able to juggle much–or any, actually–and now I can do it.”
Vanessa Briesno, 9, attends Bishop Elementary in Sunnyvale and heard about the camp from her school.
“My favorite thing about KLD is that you get a lot of exercise for your body and that kids can have a lot of fun playing with other kids,” she said. “I think the coaches are very fun because they’re always cheering for their team. They inspire the other kids to work more.”
Other than working on soccer skills and playing games, the children also get to listen to talks from prominent athletes and members of the community, including police officers from Mountain View and Sunnyvale.
“The police have been heavily involved, and that’s really important. They want the best for the community,” Iverson said. “It teaches the kids that [the officers] aren’t people to be feared and avoided.”
The camp is split into a junior camp for third and fourth graders and a senior camp for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
A $10 donation per camper is encouraged but not required. The rest of the funding comes from grants and donations. In the past, the camp has received $10,000 from Santa Clara County, but that ceased this year and funding came from donations from people close to the program.
This year, camp ran June 15-26, weekday afternoons at Cooper Park in Mountain View.
For more information, visit kldsoccer.com.
