The Soccer Pit Cobras Fight for Fields

Around 400 people gather at the Immokalee soccer fields during the kickoff of The Soccer Pit Cobra’s spring practices when suddenly, the lights go off. With kids, parents, and grandparents present, the shocking darkness put the players and guests at risk of injuries. The lights never came back on that night, sparking a public conversation for better attentiveness of Immokalee’s needs. 

On February 27th, at the Collier County Public Commissioners Meeting, a passionate coach reiterated his undying invocation to acquire the renovated soccer fields his kids deserve. This is more than just a soccer field to Manny Touron, coach of The Soccer Pit Cobras, but rather a symbol of injustice to the current and future generations of Immokalee and other less-funded areas of Collier County.

According to Touron, for 15 years the request for renovated soccer fields in Immokalee has been ignored on the county’s capital project list, having no restoration fulfilled in the last 30 years, at least in the lower-income areas. “Our kids in Immokalee, they play at Paradise Coast, they play at North Collier Regional, they play games at Big Corkscrew,” said Manny Touron. “How do you answer a kid when he or she asks on the way back from the games, ‘Coach, why don’t we have fields like that in our town? Don’t they care about us?’ I hear that from kids over and over again. Will their question ever be answered?” 

Last year, Touron and the kids had hopes their wishes would be delivered when it appeared that plans of a new pool, fields and interior would take place at Immokalee Sports Complex, but last Fall, “poof,” the money was gone. Touron remarked that he “didn’t feel the taxpayers had an appetite for [the renovation of a single field].” He went on, “It’s not just about the fields. They [the kids] feel like second-class citizens.” 

Beginning in 2007, The Soccer Pit Cobras started out as a small group, practicing in the grass area of Farm Worker Village. The leaders knew that soccer could become a vehicle for the kids to continue their education after high school. Now, the group has grown into over 200 players participating in recreational and competitive programs. The Soccer Pit Cobra’s mission is to advance leadership and teamwork through technical skills, integrity, respect, and self-worth. It is only right that the leaders of this county support these kids to fulfill their undertaking.

Touron believes that the options for further development being explored are inadequate and there could be a short-term resolution. From his understanding, RCMA wants to sell the land on Lake Trafford Road to the county for field developments. The team’s motto states, “If you are a Cobra, you’ll never walk alone.” Hopefully, Collier County will walk with them.