NCCo, Kirkwood bring soccer to Latino youth

Ricardo Cupa used to be president of the Brookside Soccer League, which more than any other club catered to the Hispanic community in the greater Newark and New Castle areas.

But when financial problems forced the league to fold two years ago, many of those players - including Cupa's 10-year-old son Axel - were without a home.

Meanwhile, a whole other segment of the Hispanic population in the City of Wilmington was clamoring for structured soccer. Andres Hurtado, who worked at the Latin American Community Center at the time, was prompted to start an indoor league there, but demand quickly outpaced the center's capacity.

Kirkwood Soccer Club President Joe Mills wanted to help.

"We had been trying for the past three or four years to try to reach out to the Latino community," Mills said. "We would get phone calls from kids translating for their parents trying to find out how to play soccer here. And then we started going into schools and community centers and found a significant numbers who wanted to play soccer but didn't have a home."

Mills tapped Hurtado to head a new project at Kirkwood - the Urban League - and last September, the league made arrangements with New Castle County and the City of Wilmington to begin playing outdoor matches at Canby Park.

Then the indoor season came, and with demand higher than ever, Mills didn't want to squander the momentum. The only problem: Kirkwood's River Road facility, which is booked with games from 4 p.m. through midnight and throughout the weekends, couldn't accommodate an entire new league.

And that's where New Castle County came in, offering the Garfield Park Police Athletic League to host a weekend full of games.

"We've always had a good relationship with Kirkwood and they already ran youth instructional leagues, so we thought why not partner with them," said New Castle County League Coordinator Andy Bero. "We offer the facility and help with the administration of the program."

The result: More than 400 players spread across 37 teams in four different age groups.

"We knew there was the demand," Hurtado said. "And there is so much raw talent among the young athletes. They live and breathe soccer."

And that's why Hurtado says the Urban League is about more than simply giving kids a venue to play. It's about instruction and player development.

"One of our biggest goals is to have as many kids as we can to develop through this program and go beyond and play at a higher level," he said. " A lot of our kids, maybe 10 percent, next year we're going to try to bump up to our club program, to give them an opportunity to play at an elite level."

In fact, two kids Hurtado first discovered at the Latin American Community Center are now playing for him at Delaware Technical & Community College, where he coaches.

And that's what Axel Cupa likes to hear.

"I'd like to play professional soccer one day," he says. "And the coaches, they explain things to me and are helping me to get very good."

"This is a great, great opportunity," says his father (and coach) Ricardo. "We plan on sticking around for a very long time."