Efforts turn futile for travel soccer games on Marco

There will be no travel soccer games on Marco Island.

An Under 14 team will play under the Marco Storm banner, but have practices and play its games at the soccer complex near the Bonita Springs YMCA.

The team will be made up of four or five Marco players and the rest from East Naples.

The team will be under the auspices of the Bonita Soccer Club Storm.

There had been a chance for at least one more team, but the time was too short for registrations.

“With only one team, for scheduling purposes, it will play with the other Storm teams (in Bonita Springs),” said Antonetta Rodi, Bonita Soccer Club president.

“By Aug. 19 we had to declare our teams to the state and order uniforms,” she said. “Trying to get started over the summer, with vacations, was too rushed.” Marco kids did not start school until Monday.

There were introductory soccer sessions in late July, when it looked like Marco may have as many as four teams, but the numbers just didn’t materialize. The short-lived Marco Soccer Club had planned to take advantage of the Bonita Club, already a state-sanctioned organization, which would have saved Marco a $12,000 sanctioning fee.

Rodi said that she will see if there is interest for more Marco teams in March, while school is in session. “I will come back and talk to the Optimist Club, which has a large program, to see if there is enough interest and have flyers in the schools. It will be a lot easier next year to have tryouts and registration during the school year if enough interest is shown.”