From football to family. Le football est plus qu’un jeu – soccer is more than just a game.
Every year, a group of French soccer all-stars travel overseas to compete in a Southern California tournament. While they spend 10 days in the area exploring and training, the players stay with host families in Long Beach throughout their time — offering more than just a life-changing athletic experience.
“We show them the California-American way, just hanging out in beautiful weather,” Program organizer Anita Patten said. “When these kids get a chance to come out here, just to see their faces, I just love it.”
Fellow program organizer Jason Beebe said the program offers the same level of award and beauty to the Long Beach residents who participate as well. The teenage players come from a variety of small towns in Northern France, so the experience allows for a cultural exchange between the French soccer team and Long Beach families.
“This is a way of bringing people in Long Beach together,” Beebe said. “It started all with Long Beach families, all sharing their community, all showing what Long Beach has to offer, and spreading the word to the little towns in Northern France.”
The first half of the team’s stay is focused on the tournament, so the days are filled with training before the weekend games. The French team is the only European team represented in the entire tournament, Beebe said, so their participation is highly valued amongst competitors.
Prior to the tournament each year, the team has not played together. Try-outs are hosted in France and once the players are selected, they come to California to start training together.
“For them to come and play together for the first time, and usually make it to the finals every year, shows the degree of soccer that they’re bringing to the tournament,” Beebe said. “If you’re a soccer person, they just play good soccer — it’s fun to watch.”
This year, the French team won the entire tournament and were crowned back-to-back champions.
“It’s usually Americans that go to Europe to play, so it’s a big deal for both a tournament to have an international team, but for a European team to come over here is pretty special,” Beebe said.
The rest of the time is spent exploring the Southern California area. While the team takes a few days themselves to go to Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm, the Long Beach families step up for the downtime: showing the French players beach bonfires, barbecues, and American grocery stores.
“It’s all just new to them, it’s not what they do in France,” Patten said. “You see their eyes widen, just wow, and they always say, ‘Everything in California is big.’ It’s just pure joy to watch them. I love seeing people happy.”
Jennifer Paz is a Long Beach resident who has hosted players for the last ten years. She said the wonder that Patten described is one of her favorite parts of hosting the French team.
“Exposing them to a different culture made them so curious about what was happening in another country,” Paz said. “You really keep your relationship alive because they want to come back and visit. It goes both ways too — you get to know more about their culture and also form that friendship to go visit them.”
Beebe said his participation in the program goes back to his childhood. Beebe’s parents were consistently hosting exchange students — a valuable experience for Beebe growing up. One of the students even moved to the United States and has stayed Beebe’s best friend throughout the years.
“They took people from all over the place, and it was nothing but good experiences,” Beebe said. “Knowing that you’re helping out and making these dreams come true for these kids — they come out for the soccer tournament but that’s just a side note to them seeing what the United States and California lifestyles are — so when you expose them to all the other things California has to offer, it really opens up their eyes.”
The connection between French teams and Long Beach families goes back 30 years. But as the decades have passed, less families have volunteered to host, building more obstacles in the road for the program.
“We would like to get back to where it was,” Patten said. “In the last few years, it’s been mostly empty nesters or our friends who have been hosting, but the purpose of this was to have families with kids so they could see how these kids lived their life and you could get that connection as a whole family, not just as two older adults. That’s our goal — to pass this down to a younger group.”
Paz was convinced to host the French players a decade ago and hasn’t regretted it since. She said she started hosting when all four of her children were young, emphasizing that youthful connection.
“It has been nothing but a great experience,” Paz said. “It changed my kids’ lives, changed our lives, and we do not regret one day doing it.”
One of the best parts of the program is staying connected to the players as they continue growing up. Patten said some of the kids she has hosted have gone on to become professional soccer players and doctors.
Paz also emphasized this on-going connection. She said after years of hosting, Paz went to visit France with two of her daughters and reconnected with some of her former players and their families — and that wasn’t even where the connection stopped.
“My oldest daughter went to college at UC San Diego, minored in French, moved to France for three years, and it literally was because of this program,” Paz said.
Beebe said the declining numbers are making it harder to keep the program running. Although ten days can seem like a long time, in reality, the players are gone most of the day training, so on a basic level, they need a meal and a place to sleep.
Paz said the biggest thing potential host families can have is an open mind. Not only do they get to interact with the French culture, but they also get to outreach within the Long Beach community and form a tight camaraderie amongst one another.
For those who may be hesitant about volunteering as a host family, Patten encourages participation, saying the commitment is not as scary as it sounds.
“It’s not as daunting as you think because they’re gone all day with the coaches,” Patten said. “It’s a whirlwind, it goes by so fast. When they leave, most of us host families, we’re crying. They leave, and you just get such a good connection with them.”
Beebe also said the entire reason for why he continues to host every year presents itself at the end of the French players’ stay. Even through broken English, the families find ways to express their gratitude and love to each other.
“After the days they’re here, they always come back and, in their accent, they say, ‘I come back again,’” Beebe said. “That’s when we know we’ve made an impact. They realize that this is a little different, it’s kind of neat, they want to see more.”
Patten and Paz both said the program is one of the most rewarding experiences they’ve had in their lives. Not only do they get to meet the foreign players, but they’re able to connect with other Long Beach families through the social events as well.
These connections end up being lifelong. Even after the French players leave, the host families stay in touch with them via text messages, phone calls or photos.
“I would say at least 50% [of host families] have kept in contact with or have actually gone to France and spent time with the families of the host that they had,” Beebe said. “That’s the connection you make and the international friends you make — they last forever.”
For Patten, finding new families is about more than just fostering those strong connections overseas – it’s about keeping a program around that has made impacts throughout the city over multiple decades and generations.
“I’m hoping we can convince some new blood and some excited blood to come in and keep this going,” Patten said. “I’d hate to see it die off after 30 years.”
Beebe said if anyone is interested in the program, they can reach out to himself or Patten via email through Jason on jhillbb@gmail.com or Anita on pattenclan@aol.com.
“It is a worthy cause. It’s an amazing thing to do,” Beebe said. “The host families benefit from it. Obviously, the kids get a lot out of it. Memories are made and wishes come true for the 18 boys that come out every year.”
