Los Astros Fútbol soccer school gives kids opportunity to gain skills
By YADIRA SANCHEZ OLSON
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Dirty-faced, sweaty and focused on the ball. No, this is not the description of a World Cup goalie.
Although 8-year-old Jorge Brandon Contreras of Round Lake wouldn’t mind being in the World Cup someday, for now, he’s concentrating on just how fun it is to be in soccer school.
“I get to run a lot and I like my position,” Contreras said.
Contreras is a forward in Los Astros Futbol.
The soccer school in Round Lake is run by coach Juan Casanova of Round Lake and Jorge Brandons’ dad, Jorge Contreras.
Jorge and Casanova teamed up four years ago with only two students – Jorge Brandon and Juan’s nephew, Sebastian Panchi, 8.
“It was just the two boys and then more and more parents started asking me about it,” Jorge said. “Pretty soon we had a lot of kids wanting to play.”
And seeing that the demand for soccer coaching was high, they created the school, one coaching the kids – Casanova – the other, managing the school – Jorge.
But not everything was as simple as that.
“We had kids and a coach but nowhere to practice,” Jorge said. “But I had no idea how to find a place where we could do that.”
It was then that Juan decided to consult with the family resource group in Round Lake, Mano a Mano.
The group put Juan in touch with the Round Lake Area Park District and, soon after, the two men and their growing soccer school were able to rent the outside field at the Round Lake Sports Center in the summer and the field inside the center in the winter.
“Los Astros is a good group,” said Marlon Rodas, marketing manager at the RLAPD. “The demand for a place to play soccer is always high and we wanted to help them out because it’s a good thing in the community.”
The reason why Los Astros rents both the inside and the outside field at the Sports Center is because Casanova doesn’t believe in taking a break during the winter months.
“I’m serious about the sport,” he said. “That’s why we play year-round.”
Casanova has been playing soccer since he was a teen. He even played in a minor-league team in Mexico called Morelia, for the town they represented.
“I love it; it’s my passion,” Casanova said.
And he’s sure that every child in his school shares that passion with him. So when it was time to think about the last detail – the naming of the school, Casanova and Jorge chose what Jorge calls the only logical choice.
“We’re called ‘Los Astros’ because they are all stars,” Jorge said.
Los Astros, alike many other sports organizations, has experienced rough financial times because of the economy, but the two men say they’re happy that parents as well as kids continue to be interested in wanting to learn the skills of the game.
Leticia Moreno of Round Lake has her daughter and two sons enrolled in Los Astros.
For the Moreno family, it is a bit of a financial sacrifice to have all three kids enrolled, but Moreno says it is important to her that her children have this opportunity.
“I want them to learn the rules of the game and to stay active,” Moreno said. “I want them to get a lot of exercise.”
And since the team meets for two hours twice a week and a plays a competitive game every Saturday, exercise is something every child in Los Astros will definitely get.
Los Astros Fútbol is open to children ages 4 to 14. For more information, contact Jorge Contreras at 847-740-0465.
