Companies Combine Soccer Training with Language Immersion

From http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/08/4614603/ex-kennedy-high-star-offers-soccer.html

Ex-Kennedy High star offers soccer-language immersion programs around the world
By David Caraccio
July 8, 2012

With an eye toward playing soccer at the college level, Elk Grove High School junior Megan Wilson got a chance last summer to improve her game in a way she never thought possible.

Wilson trained with elite players from around the world at a soccer academy in Madrid, one of eight international venues operated by EduKick Inc., a company founded 11 years ago by Joey Bilotta, 47, a former soccer standout at Sacramento's Kennedy High School who also played for professional teams in the capital and elsewhere.

Wilson's soccer skills weren't the only thing that improved. Her three-week EduKick program also featured Spanish immersion courses.

Think of your typical exchange program that offers travel and study abroad – the type parents and high school students have been taking part in for decades. Now add intense soccer training in the world's strongest futbol nations – such as England, Spain, Brazil and Italy – and you have an idea of what EduKick is selling.

Another player in the market is Pleasant Hill-based International Futbol X-change, founded by Michael Carlson, a former player, in 2003. Carlson said he didn't model his company after EduKick. IFX, which has recruited players from Sacramento, places students individually with host families and on various youth clubs rather than together at academies.

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