Washington, DC - With children back to school and the fall soccer season underway, we recognize that September also marks National Hunger Awareness Month. In Washington, D.C., there are 72,000 individuals experiencing food insecurity – and a fourth of these are children. In partnership with the DC Food Project, we are asking if you would consider donating to support the DC Food Project this month in honor of National Hunger Awareness.
Funding allows the DC Food Project to continue providing support to 70+ schools in the District and Northern Virginia. Your donation will help the DC Food Project stock school pantries and allow them to onboard additional schools, so students can access a broader range of necessities that include food and personal products on an as-needed basis.
Over the past few years, our club has proudly partnered with the DC Food Project by hosting donation drives to support school communities, volunteering to deliver donated food to schools, and donating soccer equipment to children throughout the city. The DC Food Project is an incredible organization that makes a big impact in our community through its work every day in the fight against hunger. If you are unable to donate but are interested in volunteering, you can read more here or contact dcfoodproject@gmail.com.
About the DC Food Project
The DC Food Project was launched in 2018 by a group of DC area moms to help school children and their families get additional food during the school day and over the weekends when school meals are not available to them. The DC Food Project founders created a 501(c)(3) to fill what they refer to as "the gap" -- what happens when lunch is over? This gap has an impact on tens of thousands of students, with 1 in 5 children struggling with hunger in DC alone.
Since their inception six years ago, the DC Food Project has provided over 3.5 million meals to students, families and seniors through their various programs. The organization supports over 3,000 pre-identified students and has partnered with over 70 schools throughout all 8 wards in Washington, D.C. It runs the largest school Pantry Program in the city, designed as a place where students can discreetly get food and items they need, including age appropriate toiletries and other household items on an as-needed basis.
WASHINGTON- Recently, DC Soccer Club coaches have obtained new coaching licenses. Scott Currie earned USSF B licenses and Ronny Amaguana earned his USSF C license. Coach Mandi Caseres is in the process of completing the USSF A license, coach Nick Papadis is in the process of completing the USSF B license, and coach Erwin Diaz will be attending the USSF B license.
“It’s great to see our coaches gaining new licenses,” said Technical Director Khaled Hamami. “It will only help our players in their continued development and will help us strengthen as a club.”
The USSF B course that Langstone and Currie completed at the National Training Center in Kansas City is designed to introduce concepts that are targeted to coaching players aged 16 to college level. The course is designed to help coaches to observe and identify tactical and technical breakdowns in game situations, as well as learn to develop and implement appropriate training sessions to meet the demands of the game.
Murphy completed the USSF C course, which included two five-day meetings with a six- to eight-week development period in between wherein candidates return to their home environment for assignments and mentoring. The course covers tasks such as coaching training sessions, coaching games, leading players, leading the team, managing a performance environment and more.
Minton received his UEFA B License, where he took the course in England back in 2017 through the Professional Footballers Association. Over the last two years, he has been completing his course work, as well as continuing his field time which is a twelve month process. In November a PFA Coach assessed him on the field, as well as an interview. This past Christmas he met with a Head of Coaching for the PFA to finalize the license.
For more information on our travel coaches, go to our coaching staff page at https://www.dcsoccerclub.org/travel-coaching-staff.