It is hard to believe that only three and a half years ago, the J. L. Long 6th Grade soccer program started off with only 9 players!  The program was started with help from some volunteer dads, the White Rock YMCA, J.L. Long PTA and community support.  This season,  31 players representing every single one of our elementary schools in the J.L. Long feeder pattern, are all registered to play. This left volunteer coaches, Victor Aves and Jarod Frannea having a wonderful dilemma to solve...how do we get that many players on a team?  It was simply solved by having two teams this season.  A Blue team and a Red team.  Both teams will continue to practice at Randall Park and share the park space on different days.  The team consists of both boys and girls, mostly from J.L. Long and neighboring schools. Although only 20 players are pictured here, the emphasis of the program is education and the coaches allow students to miss practice for tutoring and other verified after school activities.  The same rules apply on this team as with the school, "no pass, no play".  Both teams will have their first game this Saturday.  With continued support from parents and the schools the program continues to thrive and maybe next season there will be three teams!