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Soccer club’s goal is to foster love of game
Kids can dribble and drop kick but only if they sign up. Tryouts for the Red Rock Raptors Soccer Club are coming in early June. The fall season is set to begin in August and end in December.
Tryouts are scheduled at the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex, 7901 W. Washington Ave., and The Crossings Park, 1111 Crestdale Lane.
Tryouts for the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex are slated from 5 to 8 p.m. June 9 and 8 to 11 a.m. June 12.
The Crossings Park is scheduled to host tryouts from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 14, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 16 and 8 to 11 a.m. June 19.
The Raptors club has six girls’ teams, determined by age. They play in the Silver State League.
There is one boys’ team, which plays in the Nevada South League. Jill and Kevin Hagood, who own and operate the club, said they will expand the boys’ offerings if interest warrants.
The cost is $200 per player per season. The uniform cost is $175. Past seasons have had 100 to 175 participants.
Jimmy Gabany coaches two of the Raptors teams. A former player in Germany, he is a licensed coach with credentials from USA Track & Field and the Road Runners Club of America. His daughter Mackenzie, 7, is on one of his teams.
Gabany said he likes this league because its overriding intent is that the game should be as much about fun as it is about skills.
“None of us are a fan of the high-priced, high-pressure, overrated clubs and believe in playing (and) coaching soccer for the love of the game, and I love the game,” he said.
Lindsay Weisbord, 12, has been playing soccer since she was 4 and plans to continue playing in college. This will be her third year with the Raptors.
When she was a goalie, the Raptors brought in an experienced goalie to work with her and others in that position.
“He taught me a lot, like how to dive and watch the ball, not the person … how to cut off an angle and come out,” she said.
She’s playing defense this year.
Lindsay’s mother said the coaches make soccer fun and competitive and know how to talk to the kids while being tough at the same time. She said the practices and games provide a positive family atmosphere. That also translates to how her daughter views the game.
“I have never seen a kid work so hard in school and get her homework done so she cannot miss a practice,” Terri Weisbord said. “It has helped teach her discipline, respect, camaraderie, and most of all, great exercise, while having fun.”
The Hagoods said that they barely break even on the club. The price of the uniform is not upcharged. The entry money pays for the annual charge for the use of the soccer fields, about $3,000. The coaches are unpaid.
“We don’t make any money on this, but we wanted to give other kids opportunities like our kids had,” Jill Hagood said.
Even the website, www.r3soccer.com, costs next to nothing, as she trades her business consultant services to have it maintained. Kevin Hagood is the Palo Verde High School soccer coach and leads the Raptors. The Hagoods said they began the club because two of their three children, Anna and Madeleine, both 12, played soccer. Their other daughter Lauren, 15, is involved in dance.
“It’s all about the kids,” Jill Hagood said.
For more information, call 526-7317.
Contact Summerlin and Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.
The original article is here.
