FC Conexión!
Casa Conexión
March 20-26
3 Volunteers from Detroit
- FC Conexion tied their first officially FIFA game Peravia vs. Ocoa & we were able to be there with the Federación Dominicana de Fútbol.
- We have extended our work in San José to include economic development.
- We connected with the Fundación Dominicana de Desarrollo and they introduced us to the developers of Punta Arena.
- FDD supported us performing a SWOT assessment with multiple levels of stakeholders in the capital of Santo Domingo and then we shared our findings and continued the SWOT with the leaders from the village of San José.
READ MORE about the New Development Opportunity
F.C. Conexión:
San José + Detroit
November 2-7, 2017
9 Volunteers from Detroit
+ 13 Volunteers from the Village of San José
- 2 licensed coaches
- 1 seasoned soccer player & nonprofit leader
- 4 student athletes
- 2 additional volunteers
- 13 Dominican/Haitian volunteers
- 100-150 kids registered
- 3 camp sessions
100s of In-Kind Gear Donations + 100s of Volunteer hours in preparation
Continued Conexion Goals for 2018:
- $600: Build Soccer Nets for fields
- FC Conexion Camp #3
- Additional training for Coaches will be provided by the Federación
- Provide at least 1 snack or meal for all participants
Collection of gently used athletic gear will be ongoing.
Most needed:
- Tennis Shoes (all sizes)
- Cleats (sizes 1-9)
- Athletic Shorts (all sizes)
- Jerseys (any sport)
- NEW Athletic Socks (all sizes / colors / sports)
- New or gently used soccer socks
Coach Andrés & the "Kids"
F.C. Conexión:
San José + Detroit
December 2015
- 4 Volunteers
- Detroit to Santo Domingo & then 2 hrs to the village of San José
- 11 Suitcases w/ over 700 items of soccer gear:shoes, uniforms, balls, nets, etc.
- Over 80 players + 10 Dominican volunteer coaches
- 2 day soccer camp
- Provided meals for coaches for 3 days
- Provided water for all participants for 2 day camp
- Left extra donations that they will sell so they sustain the program throughout the year & provide water to their players at every practice
After spending just a few days helping Basketball As A Mission in July 2015, Bridget was immediately connected with the PE teachers at the Fe & Alegria K-12 School. She asked what she could do to continue to help their community and Fernando Peguero said that he would love to start a Futbol program — just weeks later, F.C. Conexión and our nonprofit organization Puente de Conexión were born.
Collection of gently used athletic gear will be ongoing.
Most needed:
- Tennis Shoes (all sizes)
- Cleats (sizes 1-9)
- Athletic Shorts (all sizes)
- Jerseys (any sport)
- NEW Athletic Socks (all sizes / colors / sports)
- New or gently used soccer socks (black preferred)
1st Conditioning Practice
September 22, 2015 – Parent Meeting
September 29, 2015 – First Conditioning Practice
October to Present – Practices every Tuesday & Thursday
- We have 3 Volunteer coaches from San José / Fe y Alegria
- We currently have 25-30 boys who attend practices every week
December 2nd & 3rd – Our First FC Conexion Co-ed Tournament at Fe y Alegria fields in San José, Dominican Republic.
FC Conexion First Drills — (edit to embed this video)
Quote from Head Coach, Fernando Peguero, when asked “How did it go?”
“Nos fue bien. Fueron más niños de lo que teníamos en la lista y decidimos dejarlo porque es algo injusto sacarlo si ellos tienen el deseo de participar e aprender.” It went well. More kids came than we had on the [sign-up] list and we decided to let it go because it’s just not right to make them leave if they have the desire to participate and learn.
Once we had the Board of Directors in place for Puente de Connection, Bridget contacted her boys’ soccer club for donations. In just over 24 hrs, the Farmington Soccer Club helped us to collect over 50 pairs of shoes (soccer cleats and tennis shoes) and boxes of miscellaneous gear. Donations have been steady, including gear from Motor City Soccer / Soccer Plus and Challenger Sports.
August Collection from Farmington Soccer Club
Practicing: With or Without Shoes
History: Village of San José
- 1959 – Cruce de Arroyo Hondo was born
- in the municipality of Matanzas
- name translates to Deep Creek Crossing
- first home built
- protect the aqueduct / water source
- 1986 – section has a population surge
- 1991 – name is changed to San José
- based on inhabitants origin of San José de Ocoa
- 2015 – Population: 2,228
- Economy: agricultural
- Location:: 10.5 miles from the city of Baní, Peravia (2 hrs from the capital of Santo, Domingo)
- Water: constant shortage in this desert community
- March 2015 – the well dried up in the community of Villa Fundación
- October 2015 – no local water source for seven months
- currently delivered into individual drums or water tanks
- water is expensive & controlled by the local municipalities
School: Fe and Alegria
- 1955 – Fe and Alegria was founded in Caracas, Venezuela
- 1994 – Fe and Alegria opens its first school in San José
- Began with four 1st grade classroom
- 127 students
- 2015 – 1,500 students with pre-K-12 programs
- 735 students are from San José
- 40 teachers
- 26 elementary classrooms
- 16 secondary classrooms
- school provides 1 meal to all students
