Today the Pearl River County Soccer Club will host its first Fall Festival in Picayune.
The non-profit group is kicking off their season with the fundraiser to help offset the cost of lights, new goals, uniforms, tournament fees, referees and field maintenance, parent volunteer Sherry Brown said.
There are 32 teams made up of children ages 4 to 19. They spend the majority of their time playing on the fields at Friendship Park and West Union Field, Brown said.
“Our club is made up of parent volunteers who coach and pay the majority of fees,” Brown said. “Because our soccer club is not well known, we don’t get a lot of sponsorships. We want to bring awareness to our club here.”
The parent coaches undergo a background check before coaching, she said.
The club plays under the umbrella of the Mississippi Soccer Association and, last year, six teams competed in the state championship, she said. The 16-year-old co-ed team placed second in the state.
The club is open to boys and girls and the season for children 8 and younger lasts eight weeks in the fall and spring. For young adults ages 10 and older, the season lasts from September to May and that includes any district and state games, Brown said.
Brown is the mother of six children, five of them play soccer. She was looking for something for the children to do and heard about the club by word of mouth.
“They have a knack for it,” she said. “They have benefited socially and learned to work as a team. They have also learned discipline and exercise. They are homeschooled, so this is like their physical education.”
During their season, the older children play every Saturday, while the younger ones play during the week at night, Brown said.
Today’s festival is free to the public and will feature carnival games, which will require tickets to play, Brown said. One ticket cost 50 cents and most games require one or two tickets to play. There will also be prizes, food vendors, a dunking booth, a bounce house and face painting, she said.
Beginning at 9 a.m., there will be about 100 players on the field playing soccer, she said. One-hour games will take place throughout the day, with the last one beginning at 4:45 p.m.
The festival will be held at West Union Field, located at 1288 W. Union Road in Picayune and will last from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Pearl River County Soccer Club is open to children throughout the county, Brown said.
For more information visit www.prscms.org and Facebook or contact club president Ivan Foster at 619-813-4864 and ivan_foster@yahoo.com.