City of San Jose, Earthquakes sponsor pilot program aimed at getting students in sports
The City of San Jose and the San Jose Quakes are sponsoring a 10-week pilot program aimed at giving middle school and high school kids more opportunities in sports.
Alekzander Balandran, an 8th grader at LeyVa Middle School in San Jose, has been playing soccer since he was in kindergarten.
"I usually play anything attacker but recently I've been trying to play defense a little bit," Balandran said.
He says he pretty much plays soccer wherever he can from local leagues to pickup games.
So when he found out his school would be one of two locations hosting a 10-week futsol program sponsored by the city and San Jose Earthquakes, he couldn't believe it.
"I was like very excited to hear that even the mayor like everything I was very excited especially about also the players, yeah I was just excited to play soccer as well," Balandran said.
The program is called Saturday Night Lights and it's a pilot program where middle and high school students will be able to play futsol games every weekend.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says the program is meant to give local kids more opportunities in sports and also help to keep them out of trouble.
"Because it isn't just about soccer. It's about showing our kids they matter. It's about building confidence, community and connection. It's about keeping them engaged and out of harm's way," Mahan said.
Quakes Midfielder Edwyn Mendoza grew up in San Jose. He says when he was younger it was hard to even find an open field to play on.
"We had to like literally sneak under school fences so we could play using the fields and even then we'd get kicked out. So I mean having access like this event, a place where they can play and have fun and enjoy is like awesome, it's like life-changing for them," Mendoza said.
The city's hope is to keep the program going and eventually expand it to more locations after the 10-week pilot ends.
Alekzander told us that would be amazing.
He's already planning to come to every game every weekend.
"Yes I'm planning to come for the next 10 weeks and I'm so thankful to the mayor and the whole community out here that like chose our school," Balandran said.
