Soc’ it to ’em!
Launching a free youth soccer academy on Long Island was an easy pitch to Bolla Market CEO Harry Singh.
The Garden City-based businessman is happily funding the initiative with American Soccer Club to give local talent a chance to shine without families coughing up big bucks to be noticed in pay-to-play systems.
“We’re removing all socioeconomic barriers — to get kids that we think are being missed right now that may not even be affiliated with youth clubs,” Fighting Tomcats general manager Jim Kilmeade told The Post.
“We think there’s quite a few out there.”
The team’s mission is to find “the next” Joe Scally, a nod to the Lake Grove superstar playing in Germany for Borussia Mönchengladbach, who was just named to the Bundesliga team of the week.
Joining the academy’s staff will be huge names in the game, like Bob Montgomery, who ran the New York Red Bulls youth academy for over a decade, and also former U.S. national team captain Perry Van Der Beck.
“The only way to identify, develop, and launch players to the highest levels of soccer in the U.S. and internationally is via a fully funded youth academy,” said Kilmeade, who is eager to make LI a recruiting hot spot in the coming years.
Singh, whose company is a jersey sponsor for the Tomcats, too, gladly invested in local youth soccer purely because “he loves Long Island,” the GM added.
A launch date for the academy is still in the works, and returns home to LI on May 16 to face Newport at Lavalle Stadium in Stony Brook.
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