Playing in select company
Frisco's growth
allows Colombia native to form soccer club
By DAVID
HINOJOSA Staff Writer
Published July 6,
2004
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All Santiago Arevalo wanted when he moved
his family to a remote area off Highway 720 in Frisco was plenty of
room for cycling, one of his two passions.
"When you came here at night, you couldn't even see the city
lights," Arevalo said.
Since then, plenty of strip malls and restaurants have been
built there, helping transform Frisco from a sleepy town to a
bustling suburb.
That was only four years ago.
Frisco's rapid growth is allowing Arevalo to follow his
second passion - soccer. Arevelo is founder of the Frisco
AC select soccer club, which is holding nightly (6 to 8)
tryouts at Frisco's Warren Sports Complex through Thursday.
Arevalo, 49, is a native Colombian who moved to the United
States 20 years ago after retiring from professional soccer. He came
to America to attend graduate school and earned a mathematics degree
from MIT in the early 1980s. He has worked in the information
technology field since.
In addition to working in the private sector, Arevalo has
coached with Dallas Inter, the Longhorns and Dallas FC for the last
15 years. Last year, he founded Frisco AC, the only
select soccer club based in Frisco.
The idea is to not only gather the best talent from around
the area, but to retain as many talented Frisco players as possible.
"The transition is not going to happen overnight," Arevalo
said. "We are Frisco citizens. We love Frisco. We want to represent
Frisco."
Frisco AC has two boys teams ready to start
this fall. Frisco AC '93 (Under 12) and Frisco
AC '94 (Under 11) will be Classic League entries. Arevalo
hopes to fill up rosters for one more boys team (Under 13) and three
girls teams (Under 11-13).
Eventually, Arevelo hopes to have a full select soccer
program with teams from Under 11 to Under 19. But, he realizes he
needs to take things slowly at this point.
"If you want to do a good thing, you have to do it from the
bottom," he said. "You get the little kids and teach them how to
play soccer. You give them a good foundation."
Forming Frisco AC fulfills an eight-year goal
for Arevalo. While he's not ready to quit his day job to devote his
time fully to the club, he said he's not going to give up on it
easily.
"This is a dream come true," Arevalo said. "This club will
keep going as long as I live."
E-mail dhinojosa@dallasnews.com
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