From Academy Director, Joey Garah

Dear Pelada Academy families and community members,

We have come a long way from the three teams and 45 players that first played under the name of Pelada Football Academy in fall of 2012. Thanks to your support over the years, our numbers have grown to over 400 players in 2019, and we now have the opportunity to serve boys and girls from age four through the end of high school. We have seen several of those first 45 players graduate from our Coach Development Academy and become staff coaches. Thanks to your ongoing support, we have been able to help dozens of families who are experiencing financial hardship take part in our programs at a reduced cost. We have seen tremendous learning and growth from our players and coaches, and countless reasons to continue to support the philosophy that gave us our start back in 2012: that all young players deserve to be given the opportunity to participate, a nurturing environment in which to play, and positive adult role models to guide them.

Pelada Academy is a small non-profit, operating on small margins. Those margins are perpetually reinvested in the children through our programs (in the form of financial aid, equipment, curriculum and program development, and enrichment opportunities), as well as in the coaches who make our programs possible (in the form of ongoing education and wage standards representative of the vital role that they play in the development of both soccer and life skills). Keeping this experience affordable and accessible to all families is a challenge that we embrace with the support of local sponsors who are committed to investment in the community and by generous families who go above and beyond what is asked of them to promote our mission.

Every contribution, small or large, ultimately translates to an opportunity for a young person. We know that not everyone is in a position to donate, but here are a few ways that anyone can support the Pelada mission: