Sports fans and soccer enthusiasts alike can agree that for the sport of soccer to grow in popularity it all comes down to one thing: talent. Finding it, growing it, and producing players quality enough for top leagues.
FC Long Beach is one of many local clubs working to produce that talent, and they did so this summer as three club stars will play for Guatemala’s U17 & U20 Women’s National Soccer Teams. Sisters Amanda Bolanos (16 years-old) Alyssa Bolanos (17) and Jennifer Mejicanos (17) all play for the LBFC GU17 team and will represent Guatemala in the World Cup Qualifiers next year.
Father and coach Earl Bolanos heard through the club coaching grapevine that the Guatemalan Women’s National Team and coach Stanley Gardiner were coming to Garden Grove in June to find players for the U20 & U17 squads. FIFA rules state that minimal qualifications is that a player have at least one grandparent born in the country they will represent. Mejicanos’ father is from Guatemala and the Bolanos girls have grandparents from Guatemala. All three players must apply for dual citizenship in order to play in official FIFA games. The trio wowed Gardiner in Garden Grove and were leaving Long Beach for Guatemala in August along with eight other players from the area.
“The US is so diverse that just about any country can look for players here…the Mexican women’s national team has,” says Bolanos, who visited the girls while they trained with the Guatemalan National Team in August.
Amanda (Lakewood High) and Mejicanos (Bellflower High) made the U17 team, and Alyssa (Lakewood High) made the U20 team, but they all got to work with Guatemala’s best female soccer players and coach Gardiner.
“He was really nice,” says Amanda, but her sister is quick to add that they “needed everything translated,” which Mejicanos was able to do.
Almost the entire two-week trip was spent on the field or in the nearby dormitories, and the girls are eager to return in December to train for the U20 World Cup Qualifier in January and the U17 Qualifier in March.
“This is massive for our club,” says Mark Hervin, FC Long Beach Technical Director & Coach. “It’s our first national team players, and that’s a sign of things to come and a product of hard work. Our other players look up to that.”
The five-year-old non-profit is part of Long Beach Youth Soccer Organization (LBYSO) with nearly 1,500 boys and girls playing in recreation, signature league and club soccer. LBYSO is a full service soccer organization that offers recreation, signature and club level play for ages 5-19.
It was that club level play and attention that got Gardiner, Bolanos, Bolanos and Mejicanos all to Garden Grove in June.
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