Soccer Shots Southwest CT brings fun and life lessons to the children of fairfield
In a school gymnasium in Mexico surrounded by ecstatic classmates with painted faces, while watching the 2006 World Cup on a projector, a young David Alejos truly saw the power of soccer and its ability to bring people together. “No matter any barriers that you may have - language, culture, faith, continent, time-zone—all those barriers were broken with soccer” he says of the moment. 15 years later, David is trying to do exactly that with Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut.
Soccer Shots is a business franchise in 37 states and Canada with over 200 locations that holds programs for children ages 2-8 that prides itself not only in teaching soccer and keeping kids active, but also in teaching life lessons involving child development. One will quickly learn Soccer Shots is not a big heartless corporation, but a wholesome business with roots in the community that has a goal of positively impacting the lives of our youth.
A two-sided business, Soccer Shots acts as both an enrichment program at schools and daycares (convenient for busy parents who can’t drive their kids to a session), as well as a program that partners with organizations such as Parks and Recreation Departments and other facilities that have space to host soccer sessions for children, where parents can attend and watch their child receive an incredible experience. In both cases, tons of fun and learning is the ultimate goal.
Revolving around four, eight-week long seasons (Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut is planning to have their inaugural season this fall), Soccer Shots will hold sessions for three age groups - Mini (Ages 2-3), Classic (Ages 3-5), Premier (Ages 5-8) - Each program has a different curriculum and is theme driven as the children learn through games and everyone gets a chance to score a goal. On top of all this, Soccer Shots also incorporates character development in all of their sessions.
To achieve this goal, Soccer Shots has three core ideals, known as their Three C’s: Coaching, Curriculum, and Communication.
Covering the first C, “We pride ourselves in professionally trained coaches” David explains, as they are background checked and trained professionally on how to coach and interact with children. These aren’t just parents, but top-of-the-line trained and dedicated coaches.
Coaches David and Kelley Alejos with their student. Photo Cred: Mandy and Lyla Webb
“As children are learning soccer, we are also teaching them about respect and confidence, determination—and how these apply on the field.”
For Curriculum, each Soccer Shots franchise follows the same curriculum that has been developed by early childhood experts, and aligns with Connecticut's early education standards. “Whatever they are learning in school and in the classroom is being reinforced on the field”, ensures David.
Covering the third C, David mentions that a common stereotype about programs like Soccer Shots is that they’re disorganized. “Probably everybody has a story of when they were children, it was raining, they showed up to the field, they learned it wasn’t happening, they went back - “ he ensures Soccer Shots isn’t like this at all. “We pride ourselves on communication that is excellent with parents, with all details that they should know”, he explains, and on top of great communication, they even send out session summaries for parents who couldn’t be in attendance, so they can know what their child learned that day in the program.
Inspired by his Dad who was a business owner, owning his own business has always been a dream for David, and Soccer Shots mixes his two expertises - soccer and business - all while doing it for a good cause.
Along with his wife Kelley, David decided Fairfield and Southwest Connecticut is the perfect spot to start up their own Soccer Shots and pass on their wholesome mission to the kids here.
“We really fell in love with Fairfield,” David says. Moving from Pennsylvania, he explains “Connecticut was a big change for us”.
David played soccer and graduated from Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA, helping the team get to the 2017 Division III National Championship, and then worked for Soccer Shots in Harrisburg, PA, one of the founding franchises. He and Kelley (who also graduated from Messiah College) wanted somewhere that could be suburban, yet resembled a bit of Pennsylvania’s green, rural feel. After hunting around the New York Metropolitan area, Fairfield became home for the Alejos’s. “Downtown is gorgeous, it's super walkable, super friendly, super small-business, the people are awesome, so it just felt like the right place,” says David. Although based out of Fairfield, Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut’s territory stretches across the I-95 corridor from Greenwich to Bridgeport.
In recent times, it seems like depression and anxiety are trying to grab hold of today’s youth, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly didn’t help as at a peak, nearly 40% of households in the United States reported symptoms of depression or anxiety according to the CDC. Coming out of the pandemic, David explains not only were kids inside all the time, “but some may have seen their parents lose their jobs, or lose a grandparent - and for kids, we might not see the impact of these things until later”.
Photo Cred: Mandy and Lyla Webb
Photo Cred: Mandy and Lyla Webb
“We believe that with our programs we have the opportunity to give children the best 30 to 45 minutes of their week, and that is the business we’re in and that we want to do”, David makes clear, as he and Kelley at Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut truly strive to make sure kids have fun and learn like they’re supposed to.
“Soccer has taught me and given me so much that I believe it is very valuable for any child to grow up playing” explains David, “it’s going to teach them a lot about character development, about life, and it's going to equip them with tools that they can use to break down barriers and bring people together in the future wherever they go”
The Town of Fairfield and Southwest Connecticut has heart, desire, and a passion for sports - youth sports in particular. Soccer Shots can not only get your children in the game, but teach them some of the most valuable life lessons soccer has to offer, in a fun and safe environment.
In August, Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut is offering FREE sessions before they kick off their inaugural fall season. For more information, please visit: https://www.soccershots.com/swct/,Call 203-615-8225, or email swct@soccershots.com
Also go follow Soccer Shots Southwest Connecticut on Instagram @soccershots_swct and Facebook by liking @SoccerShotsSouthwestConnecticut
