10-Year-Old San Ramon Soccer Player Making Waves Across the Pond

Lewis Hare of San Ramon is having a summer to remember. The soccer-loving 10-year-old traveled to England with family and is enjoying the opportunity to play a little soccer across the pond. He is a member of the San Ramon Soccer Club and plays for the club’s AZURI U11 Boys team.

While in England visiting his grandparents, he signed up and recently participated in an advanced soccer camp for youth players, administered by English Premier League Club West Bromwich Albion. Their 3 day ID Camp was at the West Bromwich Albion stadium and academy complex. According to his father, Richard Hare, there were around 60 players aged 8-11 in
attendance, nearly all of them local English players. He also said that the camps are a great value, with a 1:5 coach to player ratio for 6 hours per day.

Lewis loved the camp, and enjoyed competing against local players, many of whom were part of the club’s Player Development Program and elite academy.

Lewis’ team won the camp’s mini-tournament. The 10-year-old played so well during the camp that he was honored with the “Endeavor Award” for player of the camp. It is the only award handed out at the camp. It was also the first time the award had ever been given to “a player we had never seen before”, to use the exact phrase of the West Bromwich Academy Director.

To top it off, West Bromwich club officials indicated that Lewis was welcome back for additional
training in the future. How can we put this in perspective? It would be like an English boy attending a San Francisco Giants youth baseball camp and being honored as the “Top Player” in camp.

San Ramon Soccer has made great strides in improving player development over the past several years. The results are beginning to show, as teams and players achieve more success in competition.

Richard Hare is quick to praise the skill and hard work of San Ramon Soccer’s AZURI coaching staff. He attributes his son’s performance in the West Bromwich ID Camp to both Lewis’ hard work and the high quality training he receives from San Ramon Soccer. He participates in team and individual trainings with AZURI coaches Omar Cervantes and Luke Enna.Lewis started playing in the Recreational Program at age 8.

Last year, he played in the Copper Select Program where he and his team received weekly training from AZURI Coach Matteus Menezes. This season he plays for an AZURI team with Coach Omar Cervantes. Lewis is proud of being an AZURI with San Ramon Soccer. He wore his AZURI uniform during all three days of the camp, including during the awards ceremony.

In case the message wasn’t clear during the World Cup, Lewis was happy to show the English that soccer players in America are getting better all the time.

—Written by Mike McGinley

Photo: Lewis Hare, 10, of San Ramon. Photo provided by: San Ramon Soccer Club