ABOUT US
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THE ONLY FREE SOCCER PROGRAM IN THE STATE
Little Haiti FC is the only free, not-for-profit start-up youth soccer club in Florida. LHFC serves 175 children from a diverse population of underserved families from the central Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti and surrounding communities. In the past seven years 100% of the children in the program graduated high school and 80% went on to higher education.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Little Haiti FC is a not-for-profit start-up youth soccer club serving a diverse population of underserved families from the central Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti and surrounding communities. When fully operational the club will support competitive soccer teams for boys and girls in single-year age groups ranging from eight to 18. Teams will compete in fully sanctioned leagues and tournaments affiliated with the Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) and it governing body, U.S. Soccer.
IMPLEMENTATION SUMMARY
The competitive side of soccer will grow slowly at Little Haiti FC. The club will select one team (boys ages 15 to 16) for participation in the Dade Youth Soccer spring soccer league. In fall 2014 the club will select a second competitive team, allowing for local and state-level competition within two age groups in the 2014-2015 club season. Age group teams will be added to capacity over a planned five-year period.
OUR BACKGROUND
Soccer is the second most popular youth participant sport in America (behind basketball) with an estimated seven million boys and girls playing in 2013. Roughly 20 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls nationally between the ages of 11 and 14 have played competitive high school or club soccer. Those numbers drop dramatically among urban and low-income populations. Minority status, low household income, high neighborhood density, and single-parent households all correlate highly with low participation in youth soccer in America.
Competitive high school and club youth soccer in Miami-Dade County reflect these trends. Dense, low-income communities are limited in their ability to invest resources to attract players and families; and the fee-based structure of existing clubs is prohibitively expensive for many low-income populations.
 Despite limited after-school opportunities for organized soccer clubs soccer in Miami’s Haitian-American neighborhoods, demand remains exceptionally strong due to the sport’s popularity and following among the Haitian immigrant community here. Miami Edison Senior High School is routinely ranked among the top high school boys teams in Miami-Dade, yet non-school youth soccer opportunities are few.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Who we are
WE ARE LITTLE HAITI SUPREME FC-HOME OF THE GRENADYE
MISSION STATEMENT
Little Haiti Supreme FC founded in April 2014, it is a not-for-profit start-up youth soccer club serving a diverse population of underserved families from the central Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti and surrounding communities. Our mission is to provide opportunities for young people in urban communities to participate in competitive club soccer regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. We achieve this mission by designing and implementing high-quality youth soccer programs in conjunction with academic and social enrichment that develop participants into well-rounded members of our community. LHSFC also serves as a gateway for the multi-disciplinary delivery of academic, health care, and social service resources to players and their families. Our vision is a Miami in which traditionally underserved populations have access to high-quality soccer programs that push participants to grow athletically while also helping them develop into leaders and change agents who will create sustainable solutions to social problems in Miami and beyond.
We must say that we are more than just a soccer club, we are a social organization that keeps the kids off the street, does a lot of referrals regarding kids with immigration, educational and family problems and ensures that sports and physical exercises are a right rather than a privilege.
Unlike most Florida soccer programs that are pay-to-play, LHSFC is completely free for the kids and families. All board members are volunteers and receive no remuneration, with all funding going directly to professional coaching, equipment, uniforms, registrations, tournament fees, tutoring, the kids’ basic needs, transportation, and additional costs of the program.
Little Haiti Supreme FC supports competitive soccer teams for both girls and boys in single year age groups ranging from 5 to 19 years old. Teams are competing in fully sanctioned leagues and tournaments affiliated with the Florida Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) and its governing body, U.S. Club Soccer
What we are most proud of though, is their ability to deal with adversity and work hard together to achieve goals in life. While most of our kids live significantly below AMI, and many speak English as a second or third language, many people do not know that over 95% of our seniors graduate high school, and over 75 to 80 % have been accepted into college every year.
Our organization will make every effort to make sure that every child with the desire to participate gets the opportunity, without regard to their family finances, prior experience, athletic ability, or size. We are committed to instilling Honesty, Loyalty, Integrity, Teamwork, Discipline, Sportsmanship, Respect, Leadership, Trust, and Commitment in our young participants. We believe these values and virtues are important to their growth and becoming active members of our community and society.
We will instill in our youth the challenge of competition, the joy of victory, the reality of defeat, the importance of commitment and the spirit of community. These goals will be achieved through organizing our dedicated volunteers, caring parents, and business associates who wish to partner with our great youth sport program.
board of directors
DON LALEAU GOMEZ
PRESIDENT
SAMUEL PRUNIER
VICE PRESIDENT
