AZ Footy Soccer Team are community role models

Sedona AZ (June 5, 2015) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor. Gary Chamberlain of BagReadyJobs, Trash for Cash and Folksville USA, asked AZ Footy Soccer to explain why they participated (in the May 10, 2015, highway litter clean up event), so here is their response about 1) why they participated and 2) something about their team and players:

My name is Coach Ryan Cadigan and I assist Coach Juan Carlos Aguilar in teaching our AZ Footy Soccer Team to be excellent soccer players and role models in our community.

When we met Sunday, May 10, 2015, on Highway 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona, our AZ Footy Soccer Team, coached by Juan Carlos Aguilar, we returned to claim our treasures by picking up highway litter as part of the “America the Beautiful & BagReadyJobs” effort.

Alejandra Betancurt, Alicia Pallares, and Marissa Pedrosa pick up highway litter on May 10, 2015

We discussed our team encouraging other teams and youth groups to join us in this effort by helping one of the local ADOT Adopt-A-Highway in our area.

For me, I was born and raised in Sedona, AZ. After a while you begin to forget about how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful area. It wasn’t until after moving away and returning home did I realize how amazing the Verde Valley truly is. I began working with the local youth, helping them keep their passion for soccer alive! Coming from such a small town, playing at a competitive level requires a large financial commitment from the players to travel to games and tournaments, and when the opportunity to raise money while directly affecting the community came to my attention, I was all about it!

AZ Footy team picked up 28 bags of litter on May 10

Cleaning the highways is a great way to raise money for organizations and events while keeping our youth involved in the community!

Player (Paco Hernandez):  “Having just received my Dream Act work permit, there is no way to thank this country enough for all the opportunities I have been given. It’s a good feeling knowing that this highway is clean, thanks to our group, even if it’s just for a while. The money we raise while picking up litter on the roads has helped me tremendously in pursuing a career in soccer.”

As Paco’s coach, (Ryan Cadigan), I would like to mention that Paco has recently been selected as captain of the SC Del Sol North team based in Flagstaff, AZ. He is an extremely talented player, and has a very bright future ahead of him. His work ethic on and off the field will allow him to succeed in whatever path he chooses to follow. As a junior Paco started being recruited by multiple colleges around the west coast, and has attracted some attention from the first division professional club Cruz Azul’s youth academy in Mexico City, Mexico. After seeing Paco play in a game recently, SC Del Sol South, based out of Phoenix, has requested to take Paco to a Showcase tournament in the state of Washington this summer where he will get some much deserved exposure to more college coaches.

AZ Footy team at work

The three young ladies who were part of this effort today are Alejandra Betancurt, Alicia Pallares, and Marissa Pedrosa.

As a team, we picked up a total of 28-33 gallon bags of litter on two miles of Highway 89A (21 bags) and Highway 260 (7 bags) in an effort to make our community considerably more beautiful than we found it.

Coach Ryan Cadigan
AZ Footy Soccer
Assistant Coach to Coach Juan Carlos Aguilar

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