Men’s soccer holds clinic for young players
On the way to New Britain, Conn., the Saint Joseph’s University men’s soccer team stopped in Bridgeport, Conn. to hold a soccer clinic on Friday, Sept. 23.
Junior defender Tom Santilli grew up in Trumbull, Conn., about five miles from Bridgeport. Santilli’s father currently works in Bridgeport, near Roosevelt School, which has recently put in a new turf soccer field. According to Santilli, his father reached out to the school to see if they, or the local soccer club, would be interested in having a clinic on the field.
“Roosevelt School put him in touch with the Bridgeport [Premier] FC and they said, ‘Of course we would love for the Hawks to come down and do a clinic,’” Santilli said.
When Santilli talked to his coaches about potentially holding a clinic at the school, they were eager to help.
“All of our coaches are very open to giving back to the community,” Santilli said. “When I mentioned it to them, they were on board right away.”
Santilli’s teammates were similarly excited about the opportunity.
The Hawks held a clinic for 40 boys who play on the Bridgeport Premier U-12 and U-14 teams. The players and coaches split up evenly to work with the boys. According to Santilli, they started off with drills while getting to know the boys before they started playing full games.
“We were playing in the games with them and just interacting with them and having fun,” Santilli said. “Really, it wasn’t anything too by the book. It was pretty casual. Everybody was having a good time.”
Junior midfielder Matt Crawford enjoyed the clinic, too, and especially appreciated seeing the effect the team had on the boys.
“It was cool to see the kids react to us when we got off the bus,” Crawford said. “They lined up and were cheering for us. It was cool to see what a clinic for an hour and a half on a Friday night can do for kids. It kind of puts things in perspective.”
None of the players or coaches knew the boys before arriving in Bridgeport, but Santilli said it was easy for everyone to feel comfortable and enjoy the night.
One of the biggest takeaways of the night, according to Santilli, was how open and willing his teammates and coaches were to help others. He had high praise for everyone, particularly about how they interacted with the boys during the clinic.
“I would definitely put emphasis on how open our coaches were to give back to the community, and how easy it is for our team to do stuff like that because of the types of personalities we have on the team,” Santilli said. “That’s the main thing I took away from this.”
