Soccer-tennis? Foundation fundraiser combines sports

Borrowing a training technique and turning it into a fundraising possibility is at the heart of an upcoming soccer-tennis tournament.

The New Mexico Soccer Foundation, founded in 2007, has raised more than $300,000, which it uses to fund scholarships for youth soccer players, helping to offset club fees, travel expenses and equipment purchases.

Most of that money comes through donations and an annual fundraiser “casino night”.

But now, foundation president Devon Baird, owner of Vernon’s Speakeasy and a well-regarded youth coach in Albuquerque, has raised the fundraising stakes. So he dipped into his coaching arsenal to come up with a soccer-tennis tournament, set for Aug. 2-3 at Bosque School — where Baird attended and played soccer.

“This is about soccer in New Mexico, and something really fun that we don’t do a lot of here is soccer-tennis,” he said. “It’s a great show of skill, as well as just a good time. So we really wanted to put something together that was not only a great opportunity to fundraise, but also an enjoyable experience for everybody to come out, have fun, watch the game and celebrate soccer in New Mexico by raising some money.”

Soccer-tennis is played on a pickleball court with two players per team. The tournament is broken down by age groups, with seven brackets for youth and another three for adults. The goal is to have 100 teams, Baird said. Additionally, the NMSF is looking for companies to advertise and sponsor courts.

“The foundation is phenomenally important to New Mexico soccer,” he said. “Last year, we did get around 70 scholarships for youth players throughout the state of New Mexico, throughout all clubs.”

Overall, the NMSF has given out more than 1,000 scholarships.

“We’re expecting that to grow and, with the introduction of events like this, we want to be able to grow the foundation’s capacity to give back,” Baird said. “In terms of soccer, it is a very expensive sport, especially nowadays. So, not only do we want to be able to provide scholarships for team fees and for coaches’ fees, we also want to be able ... to do travel expenses and, eventually, college scholarships.”

The idea, according to Baird, is to provide opportunities for those who otherwise might not get to play.

“It’s incredibly important to keeping kids on the field,” he said. “We really believe in soccer as a means of learning, and so we want to make sure that the kids have the opportunity to learn through soccer by staying on the field.”

Besides, events like this are just fun, said 13-year-old Shane Stockton, who plays for the NM Rapids Club, one of Baird’s teams, and will be competing in the tournament with his twin sister, Audrey Stockton.

“I think it’s really fun,” he said. “I like it. It’s good for juggling and to get more touches.”

Javi Castillo, 14, said he enjoys being able to freewheel it.

“I like that you’re gonna make your own moves. Say there’s a ball behind you; you can use your skill, or you can just kind of do whatever you want,” he said. “You can make your own skill playing soccer-tennis, and it’s mostly just having fun. Soccer-tennis just brings a lot of joy to a lot of people’s heart. I love playing it.”

And getting a chance to play a soccer-tennis tournament that his coach devised makes it even more special.

“It should be pretty fun,” he said, “Especially since my coach ... he’s kind of leading (the sport) right now. He makes things very fun, so I think it’ll be pretty fun.”