November 8th in Dogtown. Locals come together with celebrity appearances by Jasmijn Jansen (Netherlands Freestyler), Mana Tee (Thailand National Team)
This group has too much skill for their age.
Venice Beach FC's youth Futsal Club girls have been putting work for awhile now.
Once a week, footballers come from all over Los Angeles and beyond to come play at the slum by the sea. Some have shoes, others don't. This is football in Venice, California.
Chloe Allison is a local player with a big talent. This past week we caught up with the LA Galaxy girls academy player, fresh off of winning the club "Player of the Month" for September 2017. Chloe beat out other nominees Bradford Jamieson IV, Romain Alessandrini, Gyasi Zardes and Emmanuel Boating (all Galaxy MLS first team players). It is no secret she has a bright future with her current work ethic and mental approach to her game.
2017 marked the launch of VBFC Futsal Club. Starting with the younger generations, Futsal Club focuses on teach players to compete, create, and control the ball & their dreams by simply one word... PLAY.
We had the pleasure of helping our friends at Adidas & Copa 90 catch up with Gyasi Zardes and his journey from Hawthorne to winning the Gold cup with the US National Team, and playing for his hometown club Los Angeles Galaxy. You'll see VBFC players Joey Wilson, Kota Nakayama, Nigel Davis, & Coach Tim Walsh balling with Gyasi in Hawthorne on his hometown courts.
Kniko, Nigel, Kota, Joey, Gyasi & Tim
Another beautiful August-evening of pick-up at the Venice Rec. Center brought out a strong lineup of players. The games brought out the usual local regulars, Santa Monica College men's soccer team players, and some fresh new faces, both international and local, off the Boardwalk. VBFC youth player Dylan Walsh returned and made a huge impact, helping his team on both sides of the ball. VBFC's Kasra Hadavi also made an appearance to ready himself for his club Fall Season. SMC Men's team players made sure the level stayed high, lead by Athlete Development veteran Kota Nakayama. Once again, this session was captured by legend-behind-the-lens Joe Walsh (@tmesisfc).
Former LA Galaxy star, MLS champion, &VBFC coach Brandon McDonald held a beach side training clinic for the VBFC girls while in town preparing to join his new club in Malaysia. While spending a week in Venice, Brandon was training with VBFC & coaching the youth players leaving quite an impression on many of them. The Mac is somewhat a legend around the dog town coast.
Our brothers Baggio Husidic (LA Galaxy) & Bryan Gaul (Offenbach Kickers) stopped by our youth training camp last week to talk to the players about life as a pro. Baggio shared his scooter with the kids as he continues to heal from a broken leg he suffered while playing with the Galaxy against Minnesota United a few weeks back. The kids wished him a quick recovery and can't wait to see him back on the field. Bryan was happy to jump into the futsal games and show the youth why his left foot is paying his bills.
