Neighborhood kids living in Las Palmas who participate in The Columbus 2020 Soccer program recently received uniforms and are competing against other teams from all over Antioquia.

The program, which began in 2015, has improved with the help of Columbus School student volunteers and the The Columbus School Foundation. High School Students with soccer knowledge have volunteered their time and have made donations to get new equipment.

“The team has gone through lots of training, and improvements in bunch of ways which is nice to see,” Ricardo Jaramillo,  The Columbus School soccer player and personero, said.

The main goal in creating the team was to provide local kids the opportunity to participate in something positive they could enjoy and keep them off the street.

“Training impacts the kids and their families because they are going to spend their free time doing something they like, instead of being in the streets doing something they shouldn’t be doing,” Maria Londono, 10th grade volunteer, said.

To improve the team, the school foundation had an idea to make the students interested in the project by giving them social hours if they helped the team.

“The School started giving social service hours to students that helped on the project, making it better,” said Maria Londono

This kids are having an awesome time and lots of fun since they never had an experience like this one before.

“I come from Las Palmas, and it has been an stunning experience since I never before had an opportunity like this one,” said Miguel Angel.

Some of Las Palmas kids have less opportunities because most of the community is strata one or two. This means they don’t have extra money for sports supply.

“My family decided to take me here and participate in the soccer team for me to do something productive,” Las Palmas kid Wilington Echeverri said.

The team is better in many aspects such as physically and psychologically. At the beginning when the kids arrived many of them had family issues which made their mood harsh.

“Kids are more responsible and respectful, they know that this will help them have a better future,” Maria Londono

Families from Las Palmas community are thankful with the program since it helps their kids make responsible decisions.

“Since I started in this team I feel like my soccer skills have improved and my mom is very proud of me,” said Wilington Echeverri