By Yolanda Rodriguez
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
MARIETTA, Ga. — Luis Lopez suits up: a red tank top over his white sweatshirt. Luis, 13, is a veteran soccer player — he was the captain of the Boys & Girls Club soccer team.
Now, Luis hones his skills at Las Colinas apartments in Marietta every Tuesday.
“I learn how to dribble, kick the ball better, hit it with my head better,” said Luis of Marietta’s fledgling Police Athletic League. “Most important — play with the team better.”
Within minutes, more children pass through the chain-link fence to take to the soccer field, a converted tennis court near I-75.
Autumn leaves scatter when they start to play, exhorting each other to run, play, get the ball. They score goals. Every now and then, the ball goes over the fence and into the woods, prompting a quick run to a mesh bag full of balls. The wayward balls will be retrieved later.
Marietta’s PAL program started at Las Colinas and at the Glenbrooke apartment complexes on Franklin Road in July. It’s designed to give youngsters a place to go to keep them off the streets.
Beyond that, with the participation of police officers who volunteer as mentors and coaches, its aim is to help children see cops in a more positive light, said Marietta Sgt. Mike Goins, who started the program.
Luis, an eighth-grader at Marietta Middle School, likes that idea, too.
“It helps,” he said. “At the same time, you have something to do and not be in jail or something.”
Jesus Juarez, 15, a student at Marietta High School, said the presence of the officers allows parents to feel “like they are giving us protection.”
The program has had its challenges and triumphs since it started with funds from Marietta’s Weed & Seed program and donations from the United Way and the Atlanta Falcons.
The Franklin Road neighborhood is a federal Weed & Seed site. The idea is to use law enforcement to weed out criminals, while community groups work with residents to plant seeds of revitalization.
The PAL pays the nonprofit group Soccer in the Streets to teach the police officers the rules of the game and how to be coaches and mentors.
It is expected to serve about 100 children — an easy number to reach during the summer months. But since school started, the program has dwindled to about four dozen children between the two complexes, Goins said.
This fall, the league switched from early afternoon practices to early evening practices. It meant the volunteer police officers, several of whom work late shifts, missed a few practices.
Goins, who is the head basketball coach at Marietta Middle School, is undeterred.
“We feel like if we hold on this winter, in the summer, it will blossom,” Goins said.
He plans to ask firefighters and children’s parents to help coach, too.
Ricardo Montoya, the supervisor of programs for Soccer in the Streets, said it’s not unusual for upstart programs to have participation issues in the beginning.
Franklin Road has about 1,000 school-age children.
“It’s a good idea. There is a great need,” Montoya said.
“When you start a program, it takes about six months to one year for it to consolidate. At the end of next summer, we should see real results,” he said.
The children who show up regularly, “shows that the program works,” Montoya said.
The program uses soccer as a chance to teach life lessons.
When it started, there were children who didn’t listen to the coaches. Others didn’t respect their fellow players, said Juan Pena, a coach for Soccer in the Streets.
“They were like problem kids. They used bad words,” Pena said. “And, right now, they respect. There’s three rules: Listen to the coach, respect the coach and respect the others.”
Despite the bumps, other parts of the program are rolling along.
The PAL recently dedicated an office at the Glenbrooke apartments with donated space from the management. The PAL pays for the utilities, an Internet connection and the alarm. A local businessman donated the $200 alarm, Goins said.
Today, the office will open for business — homework help, tutoring and Internet use. Goins said it will be open 4-7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.
Officer Michael Randall, 26, who volunteers at Glenbrooke, wants to help in the office, too.
Randall has played soccer since he was 5 years old. The Michigan native saw the PAL as a chance to pass along his skills.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Randall, who has been a Marietta police officer for almost two years.
Now, when Randall is on patrol, he sees some of the same children he’s helped play the game.
“You see them on the road. They are more comfortable,” Randall said.
“They will come and talk to you. They will approach. They are not shy about talking to you.”
The PAL also sponsored seven boys — at $185 a pop — to play football on the Marietta Eagles team. Montoya recommended two boys from the PAL to play with the North Atlanta Soccer Association. And the Ridge Pointe complex, also on Franklin Road, wants Goins to bring the soccer program there, too.
To spark more interest, the PAL is planning a “soccer cup” game on Dec. 8. The PAL plans to sell hot dogs and hamburgers to raise money and get new kids to sign up.
“The kids want to do a game,” Goins said. “They want to see some action.”
Copyright 2007 Atlanta Journal Constitution