School Resource Officers Begin a Soccer League
Maria Areyan-Hernandez and Regina Allen
Two School Resource Officers (SROs), Officers Johnny Larios and Gary Argueta founded a soccer program for young immigrants. This helps them to find safe ways to deal with cultural transition problems, and reduced rate of involvement in violent acts.
There is no official name for the program, but it was founded within the Suburban Friendship League (SFL), a soccer league that schedules services to over 520 teams and 25 different clubs. Soccer players compete with other teams around Woodbridge, Springfield, Lorton County, and other counties around Virginia.
The soccer program was created mainly for young immigrants, specifically International Academy (IA) students. “A lot of these kids come to this country, and they don’t really have any support system and friends,” said Larios. “They could possibly become targets for gangs,” said Larios. Recent immigrants teenagers are more likely to join groups that are dedicated to vandalism due to the lack of support and motivation.
Larios and Argueta started noticing the lack of support in these teenagers’ lives. Some do not live with their parents, but stay at a family relative’s house, while others support themselves by living alone, working, and going to school at the same time. “They were living with an aunt or an uncle that, quite frankly, were not taking really good care of them,” said Larios about a student. “A lot of kids were getting bullied, or harassed by gang members.”
Argueta and Larios have been big fans of soccer since they were young, and saw a similar interest in these kids. The club was founded on this interest. “It gives them a better view of police officers and they will be more willing to come to us if they need help, or if they see something,” said Larios.
Larios and Argueta are the main coaches, and play in the tournaments with their teams. Since winter season is approaching, they will start ‘Futsal’, which is when soccer is played in an indoor hard court. Last year, the team competed with 36 other teams all around Northern Virginia, and managed to win their tournament, for which there is no official name. Larios said “I would just say we qualified for the SFL playoffs and won the tournament. We represent the Alexandria Soccer Association in the Suburban Friendship League.”
IA Social Worker Josefina Rodrigo also helps out with the team. “I think it is just being able to see them out of the school setting,” Rodrigo said, “They are a lot more carefree doing something that they love, so they put a lot more energy and effort into it.”
A story that particularly impressed Larios is of a Guatemalan teenager living by himself in Chirilagua. He is between the age of 16 and 17, he supports himself by going to school, then going to work. Around the time he joined the team, he had been injured at his job.
Besides this injury, he was struggling to manage school, work and rent, along with other expenses. Larios, along with other teachers and coaches, reached out to a church that could support him while he was off work. This teenager, who preferred to remain anonymous, has become like a brother to Larios. “Ever since then I’ve had a soft spot for that kid,” said Larios. “I pick him up, and he plays in my other adult team… We go out to eat now and then.”
During 2016, a female team was developed, and other IA counselors are helping the team. This program also works with the Suburban Friendship League (SFL) and it is provided equipment, like balls and t-shirts through the Alexandria Soccer Association (ASA). The team usually plays in the spring and has been playing for about four to five seasons.
“I would love to see it just expand in general, boys and girls, and then try to get more volunteers, and more coaches because the bigger the program is the more support we’re gonna need for it,” Rodrigo said about the organization’s future. “The community they are building with each other is really nice to see and I would like to see it expand.”
On September 29, the boys soccer team lost 4-3 to a local soccer team at Limerick Recreational Field.
Senior Jose Bustillos, a native Honduran, has been playing as a captain for the soccer team since it was founded in 2016. “I feel fortunate to have been selected as their team captain,” he said. In 2017, Bustillos suffered from an injury that prevented him from playing the entire year. “This year [2018], I started playing with them again”.
As the leader, Bustillos, has managed to guide his teammates to work with discipline and passion. “They work very hard everyday to be what they are and I feel very proud of my team,” said Bustillos. “From my point of view, I would like to thanks them because they are the ones who have impacted my life and changed me. Since I was young, I’ve always had a bad reputation, and then I started hanging out with them and they changed my life, because [soccer] it’s something that fascinates me to play and having them as part of the team… makes me feel very proud of having them as my friends.”
Bustillos wants to increase more awareness of this program for kids in need of help. “Sincerely for me, if they like to do [an activity] something, they should talk with TC administrators, because this [soccer program] can help a lot of people from getting out of street problems and family matters. It’s something that can help them a lot,” said Bustillos. “When I was in 10th grade, I had a drug addiction because I suffered from my parents committed divorce. Then I started playing with them, and it made me get away [ from the drug addiction].”
Larios and Argueta created a fundraiser named “At-Risk Youth Soccer Program” on GoFundMe. This fundraiser helps Larios and Argueta pay for the team’s equipment and other expenses. They reached out to a non-profit organization that works with the Police Department who helps them with the fees of the games and some cost of equipment, but they need as much help as they can get.
