ids need to be kids. They need to imagine, experience, create, run, jump, kick, play, goof around and blow off steam. They need room to move, room to grow, room to be themselves. They need to be taught and they need to learn for themselves. They need the freedom to fall short and the support to stand tall and the understanding that both are okay.

Twelve years ago, Coach Steve saw through the eyes of his almost four year old son the woeful state of sports programs for the very young. Three thousand miles away Coach Akeim experienced a similar vision. In Brentwood, Coach Steve, in a weekly respite from writing, began a soccer class for Evan and his friends. In Philadelphia, Coach Akeim directed the local YMCA back into community relevance. When Evan, a voracious athlete said he wanted to try hoops, Coach Steve shrugged and asked, "Where do I sign up?" Coach Akeim had the answer. Ready for a new adventure, he'd packed his whistle and his sneakers and was heading west. Fortune and serendipity introduced the two. When Coach Steve's rookie Cougars took the court for their first game at the Barrington Recreation Center, Coach Akeim was the black-and-white striped referee. Watching the kids barrel up and down the court, the two did more laughing than coaching or reffing and in that moment a lifelong friendship was born.

While Coach Steve, Coast Sports and now C&C Soccer have focused their energies on the Westside, Coach Akeim's LA-Sports Kidz has worked its magic from Calabasas to Compton. Few know that Coach Steve turned Coach Akeim on to his first organized class. And more significantly, not many are aware that Coach Akeim "invented" the class-ending, crowd-pleasing game of Cookie. Big stuff. For the fifth year in a row, once again joined by ultra coaches Christian, Cooper, Tracey and Pete, they will confederate as Coast Sports Kidz to present SOF and Rookie Camp, the best - and most unique - summer camps in the city.

It's gonna be another great summer.

Coach Steve
Coach Akeim