Tampa Bay Sun, organizations donate soccer balls and time to children in need

TAMPA, Fla. - To help spread the love of soccer and keep kids playing in communities, some Tampa Bay organizations teamed up to donate soccer balls and their time to children in need this week.

Sometimes passion for a sport starts by just kicking a ball around.

"What got me into soccer was my dad. Growing up, that’s what he did. How we work in the fields and everything, that was their time to lay off the stress, just have fun with the friends and family," said Urieo Cerro, a former competitive soccer player in school.

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Cerro now enjoys games with his younger siblings, who got a unique opportunity this week, learning soccer tips and drills from professional athletes. Players from the Tampa Bay Sun Football Club, who are fresh off their inaugural game last weekend, came to spend time with budding soccer players in the community. 

"Tampa Bay has deserved a women’s pro team. I am very fortunate and blessed to be able to be part of one. Glad we were able to give it to them," said Ashley Orkus, a goalkeeper with Tampa Bay Sun FC.

The Sun, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and Tampa Catholic’s soccer team worked together with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission to donate 300 soccer balls to children in need, including some migrant families. 

"I think sports are good for kids in many different ways. Obviously, it teaches them the value of work ethic, focus on something, working through adversity," said Shawn Eckley, the assistant soccer coach for Tampa Catholic’s boys’ soccer team. 

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His student athletes participated in giving back to their community. 

Through the sports commission’s Replay Tampa Bay initiative, the Tampa Catholic team and Sun players set up goals, ladders and drills to teach dozens of them at Catholic Charities’ San Jose Mission in Dover. The event’s setting reminded some of how they fell into the sport.

"I played in church league growing up. I was actually the worst most out of shape forward you will have ever seen. I hated running. But I loved soccer, and I was like eight. We had no subs in a game, and they threw me in goal. It stuck, and I’ve been there ever since," said Orkus, of how she started in her position as goalkeeper.

Children from toddlers to teens practiced their skills, sharing in the love of the sport and their favorite places to play.

"Cinco, it’s like a little soccer place that we go play at, and I hang out with friends and stuff. Soccer just brings everybody together," said Andrew Jenkins, a 17-year-old high school student who attended the event.

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Organizers hope the children remember soccer is for everyone. Cerro wishes to keep competitive sport in his family too.

"I really hope they do. My brother he currently plays for Plant City Lancers and my little one as well. He’s going to start. This is his first year as well," said Cerro.

Replay Tampa Bay began in 2011 as an annual sporting goods drive. They collect new and gently used sporting goods to donate to local communities in an effort to help keep kids in the game of sports.

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