Soccer in the Streets' Family Shines in Professional Debut
Soccer in the Streets partnered with Chris Wiley & Oz Pizza, among others, to develop StationSoccer - East Point. And the idea for it came from an unusual place: Chris' then-14-year-old son Caleb Wiley.
From Atlanta United:
"One day after work, Chris and his son Caleb, who [was] on the Atlanta United U-17 Academy team, were leaving the restaurant. Caleb motioned at the spot behind the restaurant and said, 'Dad, that would be a cool spot for a little pitch.'" And StationSoccer - East Point was born.
Caleb Wiley (26) celebrates his first career MLS goal
Fast forward a few short years and Caleb Wiley, now 17-years-old, moved up the ranks in the Academy all the way to the first team with Atlanta United and recently made his professional debut, scoring his first career MLS goal and sealing the victory over Sporting Kansas City.
“When I saw it go into the back of the net, it was a huge moment for me,” said Wiley. “To do it in front of this huge crowd, in front of friends and family is something special.”
Celebrating in the stands with as much joy as Caleb did on the pitch was his dad, Chris Wiley. Chris has been a part of the local business community in Atlanta since the 1990s when he opened his first Oz Pizza location.
Supporting the local community has always been important to the Wileys, whether they’re feeding the neighborhood, supporting a safe space for kids to play soccer, or donating generously to local efforts.
Chris Wiley in front of Oz Pizza’s East Point location
“We are really big about community,” Wiley explained. “We've been offering weekly fundraiser nights for 12 years. We have given over $45,000 dollars to our local area communities.”
“That’s why we are here,” Wiley expressed with love. “We are here to give back, to support the community. That’s what we like to do.”
For Caleb’s part, although only 17 years old, he’s already inspiring the next generation.
Caleb Wiley subs on for his childhood idol (left); Wiley is pictured with Josef (right) when he played with the U12 ATL UTD Academy
“Just keep on dreaming. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be who you want to be.
Just go out there and have fun, believe in yourself and you can achieve it.”
– Caleb Wiley
Southside Players Invited to Participate in HBCU Showcase
Soccer in the Streets had seven players from the girl’s Southside program participate in the first-ever Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) ID Camp. This ID camp provided players around the country with an opportunity to showcase their talents to various colleges with soccer programs in hopes of being recruited to play in college.
These seven girls were invited to submit an application in order to participate in the camp. Part of the application process consisted of a highlight reel, and that was all camp organizers needed to see to invite the players to participate.
Some of the colleges in attendance included:
Arkansas Baptist College
Alabama State University
Alcorn State University
Shaw University
South Carolina State University
Hampton University
Trinity Washington University
The ID camp was put on by the Boyd Parker Sports group. This was an incredible opportunity for these players to showcase their soccer abilities in front of college coaches and scouts. This camp will be an annual event in Atlanta moving forward, and we’re excited to help more of our players gain opportunities that could help them take the next step in their soccer careers.
Although Soccer in the Streets focuses on personal development through sport, it’s great when our players’ soccer abilities develop enough to help them gain new opportunities as well.
From Civil War To Georgetown
At Soccer in the Streets, we work hard to help our players become young leaders who positively impact their communities. These players often overcome numerous obstacles along their path in life and it fills us with pride to share the example of their success. This month we are sharing the story of Ermias Sium - a former Soccer in the Streets youth player who is now giving back and making his mark on Atlanta.
At Soccer in the Streets, we work hard to help our players become young leaders who positively impact their communities. These players often overcome numerous obstacles along their path in life and it fills us with pride to share the example of their success. This month we are sharing the story of Ermias Sium - a former Soccer in the Streets youth player who is now giving back and making his mark on Atlanta.
He excelled through life and worked hard as a youth player when started playing at our organization at the age of five on the Clarkston boys team. His parents moved from the small East African country of Eritrea, at a time when there was a Civil War.
Young Erimas playing soccer
““ From my humble beginnings, the one constant thing in my life has been the love for soccer, and its ability to build a strong community of friendship regardless of your ethnic background.” ”
Ermias had a passion for soccer and wanted to transfer that into coaching. It was a goal of his starting at the age of 19 while attending Georgia State.
“Growing up in Atlanta, I was aware of the systematic obstacles facing the community the organization serves. Although, I was missing the consciousness of the deeper economic and social barriers".
It was important to him to give back to the younger kids as he was fortunate enough to play for our organization. During his freshman year, Ermias decided to fulfill his dream and become a coach at Soccer in the Streets.
“It was not until being a coach that it took me from being a bystander to a direct change agent in these low-income communities,” Ermias said.
Working with kids with social-economic backgrounds is important to our organization as we navigate through the tough obstacles they face on a daily basis. Ermias gave his knowledge to the kids that were going through tough times.
Ermias coached for a few years with the organization and got great experience working with all the kids. He learned the importance of mentoring, training, and developing young underprivileged children from the same areas he grew up in. As seeing the educational gaps throughout Atlanta.
Ermias at Georgetown University
“During my time as a coach, I also managed and piloted the first training sessions at StationSoccer - Five Points and some Atlanta Public Schools. The disparity I witnessed at the schools I coached at in the APS school system encouraged me to do research on how to solve the highly ignored problem of noninclusive training sessions we sometimes see in soccer practices across the world,” said Ermias. “In turn, I constructed inclusive training sessions in which kids of all ages and skill levels could participate.”
After his time at the organization and schooling at Georgia State, he then graduated in the summer of 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems. With his enthusiastic determination for education, he decided to pursue studying for his Master’s Degree in Foreign Services and was later accepted to prestigious Georgetown.
“I deem change should originate at the forefront of the country. I echo with the program pillar of social justice because it is impossible to create justifiable policies,” said Ermias.
Ermias has taken on a variety of jobs from working at Fortune 500 companies to working at tech startups, where he worked as a research analyst to study diverse entrepreneurs and their companies.
Coach Ermias with SITS youth players
Ermias felt he had an impact on people’s lives around him and especially on the youth players’ lives in metro Atlanta communities. Ermias left with a powerful message: “A great teacher learns from his students.”
“I know that statement holds extremely true in regards to my time a the Soccer in the Streets program. I was able to humble myself and truly learn how to listen. During my training sessions with my players, we learned what made each other “tick” and when we listen closely, we were able to build community and the skillset for it to sustain. Lessons like this are transferable to almost any aspect of life and will be a tool for sustainable success for years to come.”
Our coaching team at Soccer in the Streets strives to create positive youth development experiences for our players. Through our evaluation process, we have learned that our participants need more authentic engagement with adults as well as the opportunity to work with peers in teams to develop meaningful relationships. Ermias is an essential part of that initiative for Soccer in the Streets as he not only led off the field, but he chose to leverage his influence to impact others outside of soccer.