Thursday, June 19, 2008

Optimist Park June 12, 2008 Last Day of Optimist Club Sponsored Youth Soccer Camp

At Right, Front and Center, Dr. Plinio Tuta, Marianna Optimist Club’s Chairman of The Optimist Youth Sports Committee, and Soccer Camp Facilitator, poses with participants in the last day’s events at the Optimist Park Soccer Field.
Total youth participating in this year’s Soccer Camp totaled eighty-four kids from the age of six to seventeen. According to Dr. Tuta’s statement, "This year’s participation exceeded last year’s participation by approximately twenty kids." Tuta exclaimed, "I’m pleased with this number of kids, however, I always want to see more kids involved in summer sporting type activities."
Dr. Tuta informed the participants and their parents at the beginning of the two week soccer camp that he has been involved in the game of soccer for more than forty years, with most of that time as a professional player on international championship teams. However, nothing in his sporting career gives him more satisfaction than to see the kids that participate in the sport learn to play and enjoy the game he has enjoyed all his adult life.
When asked what he expects to get out of his efforts, he said, "I would really like to see one of these kids turn out to be an international champion in the game of soccer." Also, he said, "I would like to instill in the community the knowledge of the game so that they will enjoy the sport of soccer as much as they do football, or baseball." He went on to say that soccer, once it catches on in a community, becomes a very big event, and is capable of becoming as big as baseball, or football.

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