ATLANTA — A soccer club that won a youth level national championship says they can barely afford to play in Gwinnett County because they can't get recognized by their athletic association.
It's been going on for years, and the founder of the Kalonji Soccer Academy (KSA) thinks they've proved themselves, but the county won't budge.
Soccer clubs in Georgia are run through the state Youth Athletic Association. They have to be certified to join that through the Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Department, voted on by the county commissioners.
But the KSA soccer club said they haven't been admitted into the organization, and as a result, have to pay nearly $7,000 a month just to practice.
The club said they meet all the conditions for joining the Youth Athletic Association: being a nonprofit, having citizens of Gwinnett County on their teams, and writing club bylaws.
The club says it doesn't understand why that hasn't been enough.
The players, meanwhile, say they're part of more than just a club.
"We're all a family, it's not just teammates, we are sisters," player Erika Perfecto said.
"It's awesome, the experience with our friends and our coaches and to play. It's unbelievable, I love it," Rachel Lifland said.
The kids on the team play with heart.
"KSA is a family first. It's all about just going from bottom up. Just building with what you have," said one player, Thesus Trueh.
Right now, they don't have much.
The teams are practicing in the parking lot of a Gwinnett County field that's too damaged to play on.
Even running on the asphalt, their under-18 men's team still won the U.S. Youth Soccer (USYS) national championship last year.
The club runs a number of boys and girls teams at various age levels. The under-19 men's team also won a regional conference that will allow them to play this season in USYS National League.
"It was a lot of hard work. It was really hard work, we are going to try again this year with the conditions that we have," Rayvon McGann said.
The club's founder says they refuse to let anyone stop them.
"It would be better for us to be on the field, but the fields are locked. It would be nice to have restrooms, but the restrooms are locked. This is all we have, so we will do what we can with it. All we can do here is speed and agility," head coach Bruno Kalonji explained.
He started the club when he saw how many kids wanted to play soccer, but just couldn't afford it.
Half of the children who play on his teams are from refugee families, and on scholarship to play.
They get their rides, uniforms and even meals from the coaches.
"We pick up these kids from their home. We feed them. On the way back to practices on the weekend, sometimes we take them to our homes," Kaljoni stated.
These are kids whose families cannot afford to have them play otherwise.
Kaljoni says they certainly can't afford steep fees just to practice.
But right now, the club has to pay almost $7,000 a month to Gwinnett County, because they're only considered renters, not members of the Youth Athletic Association.
Renters have to pay to use the lights on the field for $15 dollars an hour.
A spokesman for the Gwinnett Parks and Recreation Department told 11Alive over the phone that it's complicated, but KSA is not the only club that is not a YAA member.
He said there are two clubs that are members that the kids could join that practice down the street, but coaches for KSA say that's not the point. This is where the kids want to be.
"All we are asking for is a home. We want stability for the kids. A lot of parents drive really far and we don't know where we will be training," coach Max Povolotsky explained.
Without that YAA designation, they have to practice wherever Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation says. Right now, that's a field they can't even use.
"We're kinda used to being the underdogs in everything, so whatever we have thrown to us, we' ll take it," Trueh proclaimed.
11Alive reached out to every single commissioner in Gwinnett County to find out why they won't take this up for a vote, but so far we have not heard back.
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