Youth soccer alive and kickin' in South Walton

After a successful spring season, the U.S. 98 Soccer Club is gearing up for the fall with a new area to play in eastern South Walton.
Club President Christian Franek said an undisclosed local developer is allowing his group to use an area of land to play games in hopes of promoting the sport further in the area.
“There’s not officially a done deal on the facilities,” he said. “Right now they have a piece of property, a park space, that they are offering for us to use.”
The season starts Sept. 20, but a mini-camp is scheduled for the end of this month at Helen McCall Park. The contract for use of the new field should also be finalized at the end of July.
The club’s goal is to eventually have two separate soccer areas for kids in South Walton; one that plays at Helen McCall and another that plays at the newly proposed field east of U.S. 331.
“The great thing about space on the eastern side is that it would be soccer specific,” said Franek. “It would allow us to do tournaments and anything else.”
U.S. 98 Soccer was created last fall by Franek and Jim Leroux with the intention of expanding and upgrading soccer facilities for youth in the county and to bring in professional traveling teams for matches.
Franek said although the budget for the club has been tight thus far, they have not needed any financial help from the county and are hoping to add more sponsors this fall.
“We didn’t do the full package in the spring,” he said. “There were seven sponsors this spring.
“What we’re trying to do is keep the same cost. We’re really going to hit sponsors by offering them a much bigger package. (This fall) we are going to have jerseys with sponsors on the front of jerseys.”
Leroux, who is also a soccer coach at Destin Middle School, said the ultimate goal of the club is to expand throughout the area.
“Our dream is to have a U.S. 98 league across the Emerald Coast and throughout Northwest Florida,” he said. “It’s a worldwide sport and it’s a shame that it’s not more accessible in the area.”
For more information on U.S. 98 youth soccer, visit www.us98soccer.com.