Palmetto Futbol Club hopes to score donations for Regionals
The Palmetto Futbol Club Under-15 Boys Gold youth soccer team has had unparalleled success on the field.
The team won the South Carolina Soccer Cup in December and moved its entire team to Charlotte United to play in a spring league in North Carolina. The team won that, too, but since it already won the South Carolina Cup, it was not eligible to play for the North Carolina title.
It’s believed this is the first team to win its division in both states, which coach Haniff Frank said is a testament to how far the boys have come as a team.
“The good thing about this team is they believe in each other and they work with each other,” said Frank, who is also the coach at Buford High.
“In the beginning it wasn’t like that because you have different levels of players on the team. There was a lack of trust, but as the season went on they started believing in each other and realizing everyone has a role. It all fell into place.”
The team – comprised of Jamie Bonilla, Axel Espinoza, John Estock, Eddy De La Cruz, Ethan Funderburk, Ronald Galicia, Thomas Meacham, Osli Ochoa, Landon Reyes, Kevin Roca, Luis Alanis, Marvin Zetina, George Gil, Martin Torralbo, Omar Gonzalez, Gregoy Yeager, Philip Willert, Hugo Caceres, Alexis Lopez and John Gwinn – learned that by winning the S.C. Cup it qualified for the Presidential Medal Regional Soccer Cup finals in College Station, Texas, on June 14-19.
“Winning the state cup was the goal,” Frank said. “We didn’t know about the regionals until after they won it. I spoke to a couple of coaches who told me the team I have can win it. That’s our focus now.”
But there were some issues in qualifying for the tournament.
Due to the change from league between states, there was some red tape to go through and the process to change the team back into the Palmetto Futbol Club was agonizing, according to Frank and Carrie Estock, a mother of one of the players and team organizer.
“There were some concerns we’d have to change some players, change our uniforms and change our coach,” she said. “These were all things we didn’t want to do, and we really wanted to stay with our coach. We have a lot of loyalty to him. He’s led us through both seasons, so we wanted to keep him.”
Frank said it was discouraging to the boys, who wanted to play, but never knew until recently if they’d be able to.
“It was very difficult on the boys,” he said. “One day you’re going, the next day you’re not. It was hard on them, but they have bounced back.”
Now there is one final hurdle to clear. The team has set up a Gofundme.com account to help cover the expenses of the tournament, including renting four 12-passenger vans, four nights in a hotel of the tournament’s choosing and gas to get to Texas.
Due to the uncertainty with whether or not they’d be able to play, the fundraising effort is off to a late start, but Estock and the team hopes it will still be enough to help get them to the tournament.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these amazing boys and their families,” she said. “The cost of the trip is going to be expensive and some of the families need some assistance.
“The money does not go to the families who can afford the trip. My family is flying and others are taking their own cars, but the families who need help will travel together in the vans and they’re who will get the money.”
If the team is able to go, it has a chance to do very well and possibly win it, which would qualify the boys for the national tournament in Oklahoma in July.
“The key for them to win this tournament is to continue doing what they’ve been doing,” Frank said.
“They can do it. There are a couple of tactical things I need to tighten up in the next two weeks. They have to move from the back and build from the goalkeeper through the midfield, but I think they can do there and do very well.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Palmetto Futbol Club hopes to score donations for Regionals."