Having been around sports since elementary school, Long Beach Poly girls’ soccer coach Angel Zavala understands the weight of youth sports expenses, which is why he created the Level the Playing Field Foundation to help underprivileged kids participate in youth sports.
“I grew up in a good neighborhood but my father was big into playing in lower-end communities so we can see what these other kids went through and appreciate what we had,” Zavala said. “You can see that there’s just so much talent and that they just didn’t have funds to be able to play for these big name teams.”
Zavala saw the impacts on what club sports can do for kids in Long Beach, and what the lack of funding can cause.
“It’s very unfortunate because some of these kids that I know and play with back then, some of them are in jail, some of them are dead [and] some of them just have a normal job,” he said. “If they would’ve gotten that chance, different things could’ve happened. They could’ve stayed in high school or been able to go off to college on a scholarship and advance from there.”
He remembers being in a situation where he didn’t have funds to go to a big club at 16-years-old. Zavala said he was playing in a soccer tournament and a club coach went up to him after his team lost.
“‘I know you’re playing for this team and you guys just got beat but I would love to come play for us’ and I told him, ‘It’d be great, I would love to but my parents don’t have the funds for it’ and then he said, ‘let’s talk to your parents and see what we can do and see how we can work this out,’” Zavala said. “He helped with some of it and it changed my life and I’m so thankful for that.”
The second-year Poly head coach wants to give that same opportunity to student athletes.
“I started brainstorming and I said, ‘Why don’t I start something that will pretty much help out and empower underprivileged kids? Let’s do something that could change it, one child at a time.’ To be able to give them that chance, that fighting chance instead of them being left behind,” Zavala said.
That’s when he created Level the Playing Field to provide student-athletes with funding for season fees, proper training, mental health support, and tutoring. Zavala said the program targets students from sixth grade through high school and requires participants to stay out of trouble, maintain good grades, and give back to their community.
“I want to try to help out as many kids as possible and keep them on the right path and give them that opportunity to grow and show their skills,” he said.
Zavala said club sports are very huge in Long Beach and that coaches have a huge impact. However, Zavala noticed that children are moving away from Long Beach.
“I’ve been looking at a few things and you see that some of these kids are leaving the Long Beach area or the Los Angeles area. They’re going towards Orange County because of the fact that they’re able to help them there,” Zavala said. “We have so much talent in this area that we need to find a way to keep them here and Level The Playing Field is a way to keep them here.”
Zavala saw a recent story on The562 a few weeks ago about how the Long Beach Patriots youth football program is struggling to secure access to city athletic fields due to a lack of football fields and support in the city.
“That definitely broke my heart because there are a lot of kids that I went to Long Beach Poly with that played with that organization that are doing huge things,” Zavala said. “If it wasn’t for that program, who knows what those kids would’ve done? It’s [the organization is] very big on keeping that alive and I definitely want to help with things like that.”
Level The Playing Field is more than a box to check off for Zavala. It’s more than just sports.
“It’s very very emotional for me and my heart is all in it. I just want to be able to help out as many kids and make it huge and successful and be able to grow and impact all of Southern California,” Zavala said. “If there is a kid for example that wants to go to art school but the parents didn’t have the funds too, I want to be able to help out as well.”
Zavala said that the organization is seeking sponsorships as well as donations from the community, local businesses and community partners with the goal of bringing in talented young athletes in the game.
“Sponsorships and donations, that’s very huge. That is what is going to keep Level The Playing Field afloat,” he said. “If you’re able to help out in some sort of way, we’d really appreciate it because it takes a village to change one kid at a time.”
The best way to reach out to the foundation will be through their website, where Zavala plans to have sections to contact for donations and sponsors. Since the website is being worked on, you could reach out through their Instagram @leveltheplayingfieldfoundation.
