First, the Palm Beach Pumas will invite any child/player that has an extreme passion for the game of soccer no matter what his or her economic status of the family. It is extremely important to have an environment that is positive, enthusiastic, fun and passionate. Therefore, the program will only take players that hold the game as a major life priority.

 

The Pumas feel it is important to reach out to children that might not have the means to become members of an organized youth soccer program. Many of these children come from immigrant families that their home countries have rich soccer traditions.  The Pumas organization feels fortunate to able to reach out to these communities and provide a service of organized soccer that brings diverse families together for a common cause.

 

The demographics of the children and families we serve are Caucasian, African-American, Haitian, Jamaican, Mexican, Guatemalan and other Hispanic and Caribbean cultures

 

The program operates in 4 regions of the county.

 

NORTH	CENTRAL	SOUTH	WEST
West Jupiter	West Palm Beach	Lantana	Belle Glade
Lake Park	Lake Worth	Boynton Beach	Pahokee
Riviera Beach	Greenacres	Delray Beach	South Bay

 

The program first involves providing 10 introductory recreational modules at 35 different after school programs that is funded by Prime Time, PBC, Inc. These after school programs service economically disadvantaged children.

 

After identifying children with talent and/or passion for the game of soccer the players are recruited into the Academy. In 2006 the Academy will service 40 boys and 40 girls in each age group from Under 6 to Under 12 with the total of servicing 560 children.

 

The after school programs the Pumas serve with soccer modules are:

 

Riviera Beach	West Palm Beach	Lake Worth/ Lantana	Boynton Beach	Delray Beach	Belle Glade/ Pahokee
Strive Toward Excellence	Pleasant City Beacon Center	Adopt-A-Family	Forest Park Beacon Center	Village Academy	Pioneer Park Beacon Center
West Riviera Beacon Center	Westward Elementary	South Grade Elementary	Guatemalan/Mayan Center of Boynton Beach	Delray Beach Parks and Rec.	Pioneer Park Boys and Girls Club
Washington Elementary	Westgate Elementary	Barton Elementary			Goves Elementary Boys and Girls Club
St. Georges Church	New Beginnings	Lantana Elementary			Glades Kids
	South Olive Elementary	Guatemalan/Mayan Center of Lake Worth			Covenant Villas
	L.A.I.R.O				Pahokee Beacon Center
	Greenacres CARES				New Hope Charities