Ajijic's Superteam

AKA Union Ajijic.

They have now finished an undefeated season and are heading into the playoffs.

Before that happens, they will be playing a friendly against a team from Guad on Saturday (more details to follow).

I have obtained some preliminary info on getting uniforms for these kids.

It looks like we can get the shirt, shorts and socks for 225 pesos per person.

CB has agreed to pay for the logos on the uniforms, and they will be the Inside Lakeside squad.

Now all I need are some donations. We have to buy 20 uniforms, and I have agreed to be the banker on this little project.

I will also post schedules (as will Phil) of their games and I hope that many of you will come out to support them.

Coming to the games does not cost anything, and I am hoping that the members of this forum will step up and ensure that they are properly attired when they represent us.

PM me and I will arrange to collect donations, or bring them to the games and give them to Phil or myself.

Go team.

I've already pledged a donation to C.B.

What about soccer shoes and shin guards for the kids. They can be shared as they grow.

SunFan

SunFan wrote:I've already pledged a donation to C.B.

What about soccer shoes and shin guards for the kids. They can be shared as they grow.

Thank you for your pledge. It is greatly appreciated.

Most of them have shin guards and the shoe situation is OK but not great.

I only recently became involved with the team and I am still learning what their needs are.

When I find out more, I will let everyone know.

SunFan wrote:I've already pledged a donation to C.B.

What about soccer shoes and shin guards for the kids. They can be shared as they grow.

SunFan

Sunfan, please contact Zenwoodle to make arrangements for your donation. He will be the banker on this project.

Mucho gracias!!!!!!

A little bit of background on the team. Giovanni, the coach (and heart and soul) behind the team, started a soccer school in January of this year. There are about 70 kids in three age groups; minis (5 -8), ponies (9-12), juvenil (13-16). The younger teams only practice one a week. The juveniles practice five days a week, 2 to 3 hours every day. Games are on Saturdays. The younger teams have uniforms, the juveniles do not. Giovanni originally charged 20 pesos per week for the school, but a lot of the families could not afford it, so he made it free. Once a week, they get to use Gymnos gym for a token amount. Giovanni has arranged free physicals for them. We also have English classes on Friday.
Just about all the kids show up all the time (an on time!) for practice and work solidly for two plus hours. I get out of breath just watching them. There is also another coach, Moises - but known as BeBe - who is Giovanni's right hand man. We also have a Scot, Ed, who is a qualified coach who lends advice during the winter months.
When I got involved, I had two goals. The first was concerned with the kids; provide for kids that cannot afford the equipment needed, get uniforms for them, take care of expenses in the course of a season, etc. The second goal was to do with the community; I wondered if it would be possible to involve the ex-pat community in the program and through support, develop a closer tie with the Mexican community.
We have a FaceBook group called Union Ajijic - it has photos, game times, news, etc. All the kids are members as well as a lot of ex-pats. I am also developing a website (hopefully UnionAjijic.com) which will be a bilingual site where we will publish background, mission, goals, news, highlights, and a PayPal account for donations. I am hoping to the register the site and get a couple of pages up in the next two weeks.
We are an inclusive program. Giovanni is obviously in charge and I do not interfere with his direction, but as far as support goes, I figure we are all in it together. We welcome any help, involvement, ideas, suggestions, etc. and if it benefits the kids, let's run with it. I don't always check web-boards so if anyone wants to get in touch with me directly my email address is prylett@msn.com.
Once again, thank you all for your support.
Phil

I pledge to outfit one kid.

Z

I would like to make a contribution to the purchase of team outfits. I think this is wonderful idea! Count me in for one player.

Thank You everyone.

We are almost there, but need a few more to put us over the top.

i'm in fer one

Gracias Pedro:

There is a game scheduled for Sat at 1:00, or if you want I can pick up the money.

PM me

We'd love to help support this worthy cause however we won't be there until June 4th for our first visit.
But, we can make a donation at that time.
And we can bring shoes if that helps.
How many can I get through customs without them confiscated them all?

mwool wrote:We'd love to help support this worthy cause however we won't be there until June 4th for our first visit.
But, we can make a donation at that time.
And we can bring shoes if that helps.
How many can I get through customs without them confiscated them all?

We will still be accepting donations on June 4th.

As for the shoes, I can not answer that, but maybe someone else can.

Thank you for your support, look forward to meeting you.

zenwoodle wrote:

mwool wrote:We'd love to help support this worthy cause however we won't be there until June 4th for our first visit.
But, we can make a donation at that time.
And we can bring shoes if that helps.
How many can I get through customs without them confiscated them all?

We will still be accepting donations on June 4th.

As for the shoes, I can not answer that, but maybe someone else can.

Thank you for your support, look forward to meeting you.

If someone could tell me what sizes and how many I could safely bring in, I'll do it.

mwool wrote:
If someone could tell me what sizes and how many I could safely bring in, I'll do it.

Let me work on this and get back to you.

It may take a few days.

We are hoping to pick up the uniforms on Friday and present them to the boys before the match on Saturday

Stay tuned for more details

We have the uniforms! Well, not in our hands, but the company was printing 'Inside Lakeside' on them today. They will be picked up tomorrow afternoon - I should get them tomorrow evening at practice. The uniforms that this company sells are the strips (English word meaning the entire uniform as it relates to colour and design) of the top national teams. The country with the smallest insignia and therefore the most space on the front was Holland. The Dutch strip is orange shirts and black shorts. Unlike the Dutch national team, these shirts will have INSIDE LAKESIDE printed on the front. We sprung for the two line so we can keep the lettering big enough to read from the stadium 'seats'. They will be presented at 12:30pm to the kids, before the 1pm game. It would be great if anyone who has donated could be there to present the uniforms in person. And there will be photos! Or just come along and watch the game following on at 1pm. We were originally going to play a team from Guadalajara, but we couldn't make it happen, so we will be playing another local team.

I'm headed up north next week, through L.A. New York and Torornto.

Is it cheaper for me to pick up shoes/shin guards retail in the US than buying them here?

SunFan

With the number of shoes of all types, including foootball shoes, manufactured in and around Leon, I would think prices would be better inside Mexico for shoes manufactured there?

TrueBrit wrote:We have the uniforms! Well, not in our hands, but the company was printing 'Inside Lakeside' on them today. They will be picked up tomorrow afternoon - I should get them tomorrow evening at practice. The uniforms that this company sells are the strips (English word meaning the entire uniform as it relates to colour and design) of the top national teams. The country with the smallest insignia and therefore the most space on the front was Holland. The Dutch strip is orange shirts and black shorts. Unlike the Dutch national team, these shirts will have INSIDE LAKESIDE printed on the front. We sprung for the two line so we can keep the lettering big enough to read from the stadium 'seats'. They will be presented at 12:30pm to the kids, before the 1pm game. It would be great if anyone who has donated could be there to present the uniforms in person. And there will be photos! Or just come along and watch the game following on at 1pm. We were originally going to play a team from Guadalajara, but we couldn't make it happen, so we will be playing another local team.

This is awesome. What a great response. I'll be there and I will bring my camera.