Wildcats Make History at IMG 🔥
Wildcats made some noise at our first ever IMG Tournament! We entered one of the largest college showcase tournaments in all of Florida as a team that nobody there ever heard of… and we BALLED OUT! We left the tournament 3-0 with three clean sheets. We couldn’t be more proud of this group
More important than winning, this tournament was a valuable teaching moment for the team. They were able to learn values in work, opportunity, respect, community, education, and form a stronger team bond!
Tournaments like IMG are an amazing experience and we are forever grateful to have earned the opportunity to play in their beautiful facilities. However, it also gave us time to discuss how tournaments like this are not easily accessible to everyone. There are so many talented and deserving players all over the world that will never have an experience like this due to the high costs, pre-requisites for affiliations, and the pay to play model in the USA. We held small reflection groups each night, so our players could understand the value of this opportunity and see the importance of giving back to the community as they get older (and when they can).
That being said, this opportunity was not just given to us. The boys held various fundraisers to help pay the costs of the tournament, hotel rooms, and rental van. (Not cheap) They scrubbed cars, made connections in the community, and even worked at a Culver’s Fundraiser. They definitely learned the value of this tournament and EARNED the experience. They did not take it for granted and it showed on the pitch!
Just watching this group come together and put on such an exciting display of futbol was well worth all of the work. We won game one 5-0, we won game two 7-0, and we won game three 2-0. Unbelievable first experience at IMG for the Wildcats!
Also a big thank you to everyone that helped us along the way! We could not have done this without the community and Wildcat support. Also a big shout out to Coach Manny Touron from the Immokalee Cobras. Even though you are at a different club, you support our mission in so many ways and have opened up new doors for our players. Thank you!
