WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>Hello everyone, My name is Madison Cruz. Welcome to another

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<v Speaker 1>SDH network one V one. I am enjoyed with Real

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<v Speaker 1>Lansing's FC's president Rufus Isaacs. Rufus. How are you doing today?

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<v Speaker 2>I'm doing great. It's great to talk to you.

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. One thing that I want to ask to especially

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<v Speaker 1>for everyone listening, is how did Real Lansing FC start?

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<v Speaker 1>For you guys.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so this really started two or three years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>It was the brainchild of our founder, Paul Chatfield, and

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<v Speaker 2>Paul's a teacher in the Lanson School district. He's a

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<v Speaker 2>passionate soccer fan and he wanted to see if he

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<v Speaker 2>could give back to the community by starting this youth

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<v Speaker 2>soccer team, youth soccer club, and he's been talking to

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of the kids in his school. They're very

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<v Speaker 2>passionate about soccer, and so he thought, well, maybe we

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<v Speaker 2>can put a club together and started off with a

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<v Speaker 2>few teams. The first year, I think that was twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty three. That went really well, and last year we

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<v Speaker 2>put six teams into our local regional league and now

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<v Speaker 2>we're planning for twenty twenty five. Once the snow gets

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<v Speaker 2>out of here and we'll we'll have even more teams

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<v Speaker 2>for this summer.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh gosh, yeah. I mean it's cold up here, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in Georgia, but I can't only imagine what it's like

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<v Speaker 1>over there right now.

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<v Speaker 2>Honestly, we're playing everything indoors right now, and you should.

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<v Speaker 1>You gotta stay warm, You got to keep everything going, absolutely.

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<v Speaker 1>But I want to ask to like, how did you

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<v Speaker 1>build the club to where it is today? Because it

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<v Speaker 1>is still a very very young club with what you

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<v Speaker 1>guys have been able to do, But I mean, how

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<v Speaker 1>have you been able to build it into what it

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<v Speaker 1>is now?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? So you're right, we just started in the last

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<v Speaker 2>year or two. I think there's been a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>great passionate soccer fans that have come together around this idea.

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<v Speaker 2>We you know, we we loved the idea of having

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<v Speaker 2>a Lancing school district focused club. You know, this city

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<v Speaker 2>has a lot of kids that really would love to

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<v Speaker 2>play soccer, but they just kind of afford the costs

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<v Speaker 2>of entry to that. And so part of the vision

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<v Speaker 2>for this is is to break down that pay to

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<v Speaker 2>play model, try and do fundraising, bring the community together

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<v Speaker 2>around this idea and then provide the opportunity for these kids.

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<v Speaker 2>Many of whom love the game but don't have a

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<v Speaker 2>structured way to haven't had a structured way to play

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<v Speaker 2>it to be you know, to be training, practicing, learning

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<v Speaker 2>the skills, and then playing to represent this club in

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<v Speaker 2>the local leagues.

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<v Speaker 1>What were some of the challenges in building this because

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<v Speaker 1>obviously it is very much community led in everything. What

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<v Speaker 1>were some of the biggest challenges that you guys faced.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, yeah, I think part of it is just selling

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<v Speaker 2>that vision to other people. Polls done an amazing job

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<v Speaker 2>of bringing people together that, as I mentioned, had the

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<v Speaker 2>same kind of idea or supported that idea. So that

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<v Speaker 2>was the beginning was getting more than Paul, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>he put a huge amount of time in, but he

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<v Speaker 2>brought a group together. We now have a board that's formed.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, we're a nonprofit. Took some of the weight

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<v Speaker 2>off his shoulders and brought new skills together and then

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<v Speaker 2>started recruiting coaches as well. So last year we had

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<v Speaker 2>a group of coaches that ran the teams and we're

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<v Speaker 2>building that. So that was that was just a challenge

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<v Speaker 2>to bring the right people together, but I think we're

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<v Speaker 2>there now. Of course, starting any operation like this, you

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<v Speaker 2>need to have fundraising, so that's been a big focus

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<v Speaker 2>as well, and the community has definitely stepped up and

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<v Speaker 2>helped us with that. We've got some great sponsors GoFundMe

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<v Speaker 2>that's helped bring some funding in and then and then people,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, people have been even with donations. Some of

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<v Speaker 2>these some of these early games last summer we didn't have,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, we didn't have soccer equipment, didn't have pleats

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<v Speaker 2>and and shint guards for many of the players. So

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<v Speaker 2>so that's been great too for people to help out

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<v Speaker 2>in lots of different ways to make this work.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that feeds into my next question, what were

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<v Speaker 1>some of the things that you guys did to get

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<v Speaker 1>the community involved, because it seems like they all were

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<v Speaker 1>just willing to go ahead and pitch in. And what's

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<v Speaker 1>it also like having a community like that that is

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<v Speaker 1>up there uplifting you guys and supporting you guys at

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<v Speaker 1>every angle.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's it's amazing, it's and it's essential for us

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<v Speaker 2>to succeed. So those partnerships have been fantastic. We we

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<v Speaker 2>have a really great soccer community here in Lansing. There's

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<v Speaker 2>there's just a lot of love for the game. There's

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<v Speaker 2>the local Lancing Common FC, team that we'll talk about later.

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<v Speaker 2>And there's a whole group of supporters that have come

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<v Speaker 2>together around that club who all you know, stepped up

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<v Speaker 2>and helped us. So I think, yeah, I think being

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<v Speaker 2>part of a community where that club's more on the

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<v Speaker 2>adult side, so they're you know, semi pro players in

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<v Speaker 2>their twenties, they have a different mission, but they really

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<v Speaker 2>support what we've done, and I can see the value

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<v Speaker 2>of having this youth team, and of course a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of the local schools they're really supportive as well. And

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<v Speaker 2>then some of the other teams within that league that

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<v Speaker 2>I mentioned that we play in, they've supported us too,

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<v Speaker 2>and some even did their own fundraising and then donated

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<v Speaker 2>that money to the club. So like one thing last summer,

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<v Speaker 2>I went out to a game by this local Haslet

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<v Speaker 2>the town's called Haslet Football Club, and their kids had

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<v Speaker 2>done a fundraiser and brought brought a big, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>big check together and we did the presentation at the

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<v Speaker 2>game where our two teams played each other. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>it's been fantastic getting that support.

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<v Speaker 1>That's so cool. I just I can only imagine what

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<v Speaker 1>it's like just to see something like that for you,

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<v Speaker 1>like building it up and then seeing those communities in

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<v Speaker 1>those clubs and those teams come together to help you

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<v Speaker 1>guys and uplift each other. Because I think that's the

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<v Speaker 1>beauty of this game, is that that can happen, and

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<v Speaker 1>that's just so cool to hear. I just that's awesome.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, and then some of our players, just to

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<v Speaker 2>add to that, some of our players have you know,

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<v Speaker 2>they're relatively new Americans who come to this country with

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<v Speaker 2>an absolute passion for the game, and they may still

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<v Speaker 2>be learning, you know, learning about this country and learning

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<v Speaker 2>about language and other things, but they're playing together on

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<v Speaker 2>a team with people from around the world. I think

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<v Speaker 2>we've got something like fifteen different languages in our team,

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<v Speaker 2>but these kids speak and so the language of soccer

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<v Speaker 2>brings them all together and they can play and enjoy

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<v Speaker 2>the game and still kind of feel that they're part

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<v Speaker 2>of a community in that team as well as they

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<v Speaker 2>you know, as they integrate into life in the US.

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<v Speaker 2>So there's a lot of there's a lot of those

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<v Speaker 2>connections that are happening because we're bringing people together around

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<v Speaker 2>this idea.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that goes into this next thing. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>what does it mean to you guys to get the

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<v Speaker 1>early Bird grant that you guys just received. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>what did it feel like when you got that news?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, it was fantastic. We put one of the applications

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<v Speaker 2>in and we didn't know, you know, we didn't know

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<v Speaker 2>what would happen, didn't know if they'd select us, and

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<v Speaker 2>we got that email. And I even want to promote

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<v Speaker 2>the idea here because this is the this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Early Bird Coffee and it's from this Strange Matter coffee

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<v Speaker 2>firm that's here, a coffee company that's here in Lansing,

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<v Speaker 2>and they've partnered with Lanson Common FC for a number

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<v Speaker 2>of years. They've sold coffee at the stadium and they

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<v Speaker 2>have they have a long standing connection, been great supporters

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<v Speaker 2>of that club. And the way it works now is

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<v Speaker 2>that if you buy a copy of that Early Bird

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<v Speaker 2>Coffee Strange Matter, which you can get online too, so

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<v Speaker 2>even if you're in Georgia somewhere else you could you

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<v Speaker 2>could order it. A part of that proceeds goes to

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<v Speaker 2>this Early Bird fund. And then when they get to

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<v Speaker 2>five hundred and seventeen dollars, which seems like a weird number,

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<v Speaker 2>but that's our local area code, so five one seven.

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<v Speaker 2>Once you get to that number, they donate that money

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<v Speaker 2>to one of these organizations that they've selected. So we're

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<v Speaker 2>looking forward to people buying lots of coffee getting to

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<v Speaker 2>that five one seven number and then we'll get the

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<v Speaker 2>check from them. So it's a great partnership. It's it's

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<v Speaker 2>a whole bunch of different people that love soccer working

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<v Speaker 2>together here in the community. And ye know, proud to

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<v Speaker 2>be that one of the first to get that to

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<v Speaker 2>get that funding this year.

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<v Speaker 1>How will that grant help you guys continue to grow

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<v Speaker 1>everything that you guys are doing up at Real Lansing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I think that we're not sure exactly when

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<v Speaker 2>the check will come in, so that might affect exactly

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<v Speaker 2>what we do for it. But yeah, we have we

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<v Speaker 2>have an order out for new kids for this for

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<v Speaker 2>this season for the players, so that will probably help

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<v Speaker 2>us cover some of those costs. And we want the

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<v Speaker 2>players all to be in in our colors this summer

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<v Speaker 2>as we as we get out on the pitch, so

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<v Speaker 2>I think we'll probably go for that as we prepare

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<v Speaker 2>for the Capital Area Soccer League matches probably starting up

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<v Speaker 2>in April or May.

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<v Speaker 1>What does it mean to have the support of the

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<v Speaker 1>semi professional club Lansing Common FC helping you guys continue

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<v Speaker 1>to grow the youth game as well up in Lansing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's so important. I think a lot of our

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<v Speaker 2>players look up to that team. It's it's their local team,

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<v Speaker 2>and they in their first year, some of them had

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<v Speaker 2>a practice jersey that had the Lancing Common logo on there,

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<v Speaker 2>so they're starting to make that connection and that this

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<v Speaker 2>is a you know, the team that the bigger kids

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<v Speaker 2>might move up into if they're if they're really good

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<v Speaker 2>after they after they leave high school. So it's creating

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<v Speaker 2>that connection between between the clubs. But then also we're

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<v Speaker 2>hoping we can get some of our players to those

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<v Speaker 2>games this summer. They'll be on summer break, but our

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<v Speaker 2>club has talked about trying to get them there. They

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<v Speaker 2>could potentially be you know, uh on the on the

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<v Speaker 2>touch line, helping with things, and yeah, I think it's

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<v Speaker 2>a great way to connect the youth with the older

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<v Speaker 2>players and and also just just show their families that

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<v Speaker 2>there's there's a you know, there's a there's a soccer positive,

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<v Speaker 2>family friendly activity that they can do during the summertime

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<v Speaker 2>that their kids will probably love to go to. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I think that the connection is great and we've got

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of similarities in our in our missions.

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<v Speaker 1>So Landing for for just me as well up s

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<v Speaker 1>L m P s L.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, we had a team but that folded and out

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<v Speaker 2>of the ashes of that team that was called Ignite.

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<v Speaker 2>Out of the ashes of that team came Lancing Common

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<v Speaker 2>FC and we're part of that team's part of the

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<v Speaker 2>Midwest Premier League. So midst Premier League has been expanding

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<v Speaker 2>a lot written in recent years. And even though we're

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<v Speaker 2>in the center of the of the state here in Lansing,

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<v Speaker 2>that team plays in the Western division of Michigan, and

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<v Speaker 2>Michigan's got a lot of clubs and east and western

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<v Speaker 2>side of the state, and so that club plays teams

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<v Speaker 2>from like Grand Rapids, Holland, some down into northern Indiana.

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<v Speaker 2>And so yeah, that's that's that's a summertime activity for

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of us that love soccer in this area.

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<v Speaker 1>Just two more questions for you. I mean, what are

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<v Speaker 1>some of the things that you guys do at the

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<v Speaker 1>youth level with real Lansing to help get those kids involved.

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<v Speaker 1>What are some of the events you guys do, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, what are some things you guys are doing

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<v Speaker 1>to help grow the game and teach them then get

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<v Speaker 1>them ready when they want to go play professionally when

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<v Speaker 1>they go on to go to the semi pro team

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<v Speaker 1>as well.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, So one thing that this team has, that this

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<v Speaker 2>club has that I think may not be immediately apparent,

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<v Speaker 2>is we really focus on the academic side with these

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<v Speaker 2>students as well. As I said, our founder and a

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<v Speaker 2>group of the people involved in the club, our teachers,

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<v Speaker 2>their educators, and so there's a tutoring part of this

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<v Speaker 2>as well, where the kids would be in school and

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<v Speaker 2>then go to tutoring and then come out to play

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<v Speaker 2>soccer on the pitches out there at the school. So

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<v Speaker 2>it's been a great motivator to some of those children

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<v Speaker 2>that they need to do the tutoring, get that done

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<v Speaker 2>before they get to go out and kick the ball around.

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<v Speaker 2>So will love it. Who's part of our board. He's

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<v Speaker 2>really focusing on the tutoring side, and that's obviously something

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<v Speaker 2>where if if they want to succeed and go on

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<v Speaker 2>in their careers playing soccer, they're also going to have

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<v Speaker 2>to have that academic site to be able to get

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<v Speaker 2>into a college or you get a fellowship to be

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<v Speaker 2>able to do that. So or a scholarship to be

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<v Speaker 2>able to do that. So yeah, that's that's part of

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<v Speaker 2>what we're doing. And then we're just working now on

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<v Speaker 2>a sort of soccer curriculum that the coaches will work

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<v Speaker 2>on together so that those kids have a fairly consistent

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<v Speaker 2>development of their of their soccer skills as they you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we started at the U ten and then you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as they progress through, they'll be adding more and more

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<v Speaker 2>skills as they as they advance in the teams.

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<v Speaker 1>My last question for you, Rufus, is there a specific

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<v Speaker 1>moment that comes to your mind when you think of

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<v Speaker 1>real Lansing and a moment that just for you makes

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<v Speaker 1>it all worth it where you know that you guys

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<v Speaker 1>are doing the right thing. I know it's still a

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<v Speaker 1>little early, but is there is there a moment for

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<v Speaker 1>you that sticks out like that.

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<v Speaker 2>There's a lot, but I think one that comes to

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<v Speaker 2>mind is is I was helping to coach a team

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<v Speaker 2>last summer U twelve team and they started off, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>very disorganized. We had, you know, teaching people how to

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<v Speaker 2>do throw ins and you know, got to have the

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<v Speaker 2>got to have those two feet on the ground because

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<v Speaker 2>they hadn't done organized soccer before and you know, hadn't

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<v Speaker 2>hadn't had a referee, hadn't had things you know, timed

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<v Speaker 2>and all those things. So so to see that team

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<v Speaker 2>develop under Aaron Chatfield who was the coach, was was amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>And then to see them get to the point where

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<v Speaker 2>things that they were taught in the midweek training actually

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<v Speaker 2>showed up on the field on Saturday and worked and

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<v Speaker 2>they scored. It was just just amazing to see that

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<v Speaker 2>excitement that they have when when they see it all

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<v Speaker 2>come together, and yeah, they just had a lot of fun.

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<v Speaker 2>And I've got to visit areas around the city that

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<v Speaker 2>maybe they hadn't visited before, So just seeing the teams

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<v Speaker 2>gel and bond together was just great.

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely Well, Rufus, I just want to say thank you

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<v Speaker 1>so much again for your time. It was amazing getting

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<v Speaker 1>to learn more about Real Lansing FC and what you

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<v Speaker 1>guys are doing over there, because I think it's so important,

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<v Speaker 1>especially with growing the game here in the US with everything,

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<v Speaker 1>it's so important what you guys are doing, and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>looking forward to seeing what you guys do in the future.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to definitely be following.

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<v Speaker 2>Fantastic. Yeah, we've got the Instagram the Facebook, the X

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<v Speaker 2>We've got a website if you want to learn more

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<v Speaker 2>about the club, so just look for rail Lancing FC

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<v Speaker 2>online and learn more about the club. And if you're interested,

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<v Speaker 2>I have questions, please get in touch.