The Sport

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.”
-Mike Singletary

Children need the freedom to play. After sitting in a classroom all day, they need to run around and engage with their peers. Lespwa Academy offers children an opportunity outside of the classroom. Sports are an integral part of a child's development. It is where they learn competition, teamwork, and discipline. They learn about winning and losing, and how to handle different situations that are thrown their way. The children of Haiti already know and love the sport of soccer; Lespwa Academy is here to allow them to excel in it. 

Below is the information regarding the different programs offered. 

Competitive Soccer program:

The competitive soccer program begins at age 7 and is coached by highly qualified local coaches. The total size of the program is limited to no more than 5-7 students in each grade.

We have teams formed at the primary and secondary school levels.

This program meets after school hours and runs for approximately 1.5 hours.

The ultimate goal of the program is to place those students who are interested in boarding schools and colleges in America on soccer scholarships.

The program requires 2-3 coaches on a daily basis and focuses on technical development of the individual player.

Foreign Teams:

In order to raise awareness of the school and program, we are working towards bringing US based college and high school teams to the academy during the summer months on service trips. These teams will have the opportunity to run their preseason at the academy, play games against our team, and other local teams, and engage in community service projects at the academy and in local villages – a component of the overall cost of their trip will be a donation to the academy. This program provides critical funds for the soccer program while also raising awareness of our players and program in the US.

Foreign Tournaments:

Once we have established a team at the oldest age groups, we will look to bring the team to US tournaments (ideally held in Florida) where players can be scouted by US coaches.
 

Scouting, Promotion, Placement: 

Our goal is to partner with various boarding school and college coaches in order to raise awareness of our most talented players. All of our competitive matches are video taped and players have highlight reels in order to help them in the recruitment process. We will continue to monitor and support our players long after they are placed in a school or college.

Costs:

Salaries for 2-3 coaches, and also a training course for these coaches. Costs also include travel to games vs other Haitian teams, and eventually travel to foreign tournaments on a bi-annual basis.
 

If you would like to donate any soccer items such as jerseys, cleats, balls etc. please contact us. All donations are welcome and greatly appreciated! 

Children in Haiti love the sport of soccer. They will play with any ball or rock they can find.