From his dad’s deli shop in the center of Jacumba Hot Springs, 9-year-old Danny Leon Jr. can walk a couple of blocks down Old Highway 80 to the Jacumba Community Park.
Leon Jr. grew up playing soccer there. The park has a basketball court and a baseball field, but not a soccer field. It’s more like an open space covered in dirt, rocks and weeds. And parents have to bring pop-up soccer goals if they want to set up a game.
“This isn’t the typical place you would practice soccer if you’re trying to achieve growth from the practices,” said his father, Danny Leon Sr.
Like many youth soccer families in Jacumba, they have to travel 30 minutes to practice on a real field.
A community-led effort, however, is underway to foster the sport in Jacumba — starting with building the town’s first soccer field. The community plans to install a smaller artificial turf field, known as an under-eight (U-8) field, in the next few weeks. Soccer coaches and families hope the initial development will turn into even more investment in the sport.
Leon Sr. and local soccer coach Jess Price are leading a fundraising effort to open a full-size soccer field in the near future.
“God willing and people willing, everybody will come together,” Leon Sr. said. “And we can make this happen.”
Soccer practice means a road trip
For Jacumba’s American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) teams to practice on a real soccer field, they need to hit the road.
“We’re all traveling to Pine Valley because that’s the closest field we have,” Price said. “30 minutes back and forth — an hour — for them to practice ... it’s very hard for these parents to do that.”
Price started learning how to coach soccer three years ago because her daughters love the game. Prior to coaching, Price had never played soccer in her life.
But she’s all-in on the sport now. Price drives to Pine Valley four times a week to run practices for her U-8 and under-14 (U-14) teams.
The hour-long round trip just to practice on a real soccer field creates a real challenge for families. But in a way, they’re the fortunate ones.
Some Jacumba families can’t afford to cover the fees and costs associated with organized soccer. Those kids are left to play soccer in the streets or on the unruly dirt plot at the Community Park.
When Leon Sr. and Price look out at the park, they see something different. They’ve been leading the months-long effort to install the new turf field. It’s a vision right now, but they’re close to making it a reality.
The future of soccer in Jacumba
Leon Sr. moved to Jacumba 36 years ago.
There were hardly any organized sports back then, he said. And the missing support that’s usually found in youth sports left a mark on his generation.
“A lot of my friends, unfortunately, did fall into things they shouldn’t have,” Leon Sr. said.
When he had children of his own, he wanted to make sports more accessible to them. Leon Sr. started organizing free sports practices for his older son and other youth a decade ago. Kids from the community would gather to play flag football, soccer and baseball at the park.
But over time, the practices have fallen off. Leon Sr. and Price are hoping the new field will change that — and they’re leaning on their neighbors to pitch in.
The park is owned by the Jacumba Community Service District (JCSD), which is the water utility for the area. The district board signed off on the project and is paying for the used turf.
Leon Sr. said Millers Inkopah Towing and Roadside Assistance, a local company, will help unload the turf in the park. The JCSD will also bring out a crew to help install the field. Price said AYSO will be donating old goals that will need to be refurbished. Jacumba resident Don Bessette contributed soccer balls and cones for the field.
But the U-8 field is not the endgame for Price and Leon Sr.
They’re also fundraising for a full-sized soccer field that would double as a football field, which they envision in the center of the park. Leon Sr. said the community has already pledged tens of thousands of dollars in donations that would get them a fifth of the way to their goal.
Leon Sr. is in the process of creating a nonprofit to accommodate the donations needed to fund the project.
He hopes the community’s efforts are a lesson for their kids.
“If you want something, you work for it,” Leon Sr. said.
