It was the summer of 2007. As is a common conversation in many homes, a father asked his son, Akash Nigam, a high school freshman, to use the summer to give something back to the community. The son was very agreeable, but being an avid soccer fan, had only one condition - it had to be related to soccer.
A lot of brainstorming later, the idea behind the Kick, Lead and Dream Camp was born. Create a world-class soccer camp for underprivileged kids where high school and middle school soccer stars mentor soccer loving children from the less fortunate segments of our community. Institutionalize a support infrastructure consisting of sponsors, parents, civic leaders, and preventive law enforcement groups.
With support from community leaders such as Kal Sandhu and Oscar Garcia, and forward looking groups such as MV Police Activity League and MVLA soccer club, the first inaugural camp was conducted in July 2007. It was a great success and involved 5 high school student coaches, 30 campers, and two weeks of fun soccer drills.
The 2009 camp expanded to 50 coaches, 250 campers, extensive soccer training, integrated guest speaker series, academic center, fitness training, and a junior camp for younger kids.
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