Soccer players, parents, and supporters packed Margate City Hall as commissioners considered potential changes to the city’s competitive youth soccer program.
On August 19, their passion for soccer was on full display as a group of residents, many of whom are associated with the Margate United Football Club travel soccer team, came out to protest potential changes.
The city has received an unsolicited public-private partnership proposal from the Fort Lauderdale Football Club, which offers a competitive travel soccer program. Margate offers recreational soccer for young people, and Margate United FC offers a more competitive travel program for children and teenagers ranging from Under Age 8 to Under Age 19 teams, according to Michael Polo, a program director.
“We have a competitive travel program, and we want to give young people an opportunity to play soccer at a higher level,” said Polo.
Margate FC players attended the meeting in uniform, along with their parents and community members. The city remains committed to providing recreational soccer that emphasizes participation and learning the game rather than high-level competition, according to City Manager Cale Curtis.
After a contentious discussion, the commission agreed to establish a public bidding process for soccer organizations seeking to partner with Margate. This will come before the commission at a later meeting. The meeting did not present the actual cost of participating in the travel program for a child or teenager. During a previous workshop, people raised concerns that it would be hard for some families to afford the cost of participating in competitive travel teams.
Concerns included creating opportunities for talented players to compete more competitively with a professional-level organization. The possibility of a scholarship program for competitive soccer was discussed as a way to improve affordability.
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