Longtime dispute with contractor also settled
By Anton Riecher
Pablo Carmona, founder of the Devine Soccer Club, led a group of nearly 40 supporters attending the Devine school board regular session Monday urging the addition of soccer to the district’s athletic curriculum.
“When I moved here 20 years ago I was shocked to see that soccer was not in your school district,” Carmona said. “I come from the poorest school district in San Antonio and it is there. It is all over San Antonio.”
Carmona said he enrolled his son in soccer locally at age five. However, that program ended in the sixth grade “so we quickly moved him to San Antonio where he has been playing club soccer ever since.”
Meanwhile, students and players from across Medina County participate in the Devine Soccer Club locally.
“We started this soccer club for the sole purpose of ensuring that soccer players had an opportunity to play from five years old up to high school,” Carmona said. The club gives them the opportunity to choose pursuing the sport at a college or professional level.
“What is obvious is that soccer is a way for these students to earn a scholarship,” he said. “So by not having it in the school district you are really taking this opportunity away from these students.”
The infrastructure to support participating in University Interscholastic League soccer is already in place in Devine, Carmona said.
“You have the lighting and the field,” he said. “It would not take much except for those [official] steps through the UIL to be able to get approved.”
District superintendent Todd Grandjean said that adding soccer to the curriculum…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!