TOCA CITY HISTORY

In the summer of 2012, I (Alec Lemmon) had been praying about how I could start to invest in the lives of kids in KCK using soccer, but I didn’t know where to start. I decided to just take a drive through KCK. I saw three boys playing soccer in an empty lot, so I stopped. I asked if I could join them, so we played for a little bit and I showed them a few things. When I went to leave one of the boys said, “Are you a coach?” I smiled and said, “Yeah, I am.” “We NEED a coach!” another said. And the other said, “We need a team too!! Can you coach us?” I laughed a little at how forward they all were. “I gotta go boys, but maybe I’ll see you around,” I said. Six months later I was driving through KCK again and three boys started chasing my car, yelling out, “Coach Alec, Coach Alec!” I stopped.  It was the same three boys, “We still need a coach!”

6 years later, I’m still very good friends with these three boys, Pramod, Dhan and Sonjok. After they chased me down that day, we began to get together to play soccer. Toca City was them and it grew through them. The boys just started inviting their friends and cousins until one day we had 40+ kids on any given day. The talent was not good to start, but we have gotten a little better every year. I don’t think it was by chance that the first three people I ever met in KCK were Pramod, Dhan and Sonjok, because without them nothing would have happened.  I wish I had time to tell you story after story of how these boys have deeply impacted me and how they have changed the lives of their friends in KCK and the whole KCK community!

I have found that it’s not that difficult or complicated to cross over the line, especially when you cross over with a ball. The world changes one person at a time, through personal relationships. And in reality, every single one of us can do that. 

These three boys have been critical in the development of all the programs and opportunities that we offer in Toca to underserved youth. We look forward to continuing to welcome more people into the Toca FC family from all parts of the city and the world.