2 NJ Nonprofits Have High Hopes For Youth Soccer In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — Growing up in North Jersey, Edgar Guardia learned something early on: he loved soccer. Now, the Lyndhurst native is helping to spread his love for the sport in Newark, where he’s teamed up with a local nonprofit that helps level the playing field for disadvantaged young athletes.

Guardia, president of the New Jersey Alliance FC (NJAFC), a semi-professional club based in Lyndhurst, recently partnered with Just One Soccer League, a nonprofit based in Newark that serves hundreds of children every year.

Their goal? To build better neighborhoods with the power of soccer.

Since launching in 1995, the league has given local boys and girls a way to play the sport competitively, while also “protecting them from the politics and economic inequities that exist in youth soccer.”

According to general manager Neftali “Rick” Hernandez, the league’s ultimate goal is to expand beyond Newark and establish a foothold in urban cities throughout New Jersey, giving local youth a “unified” experience.

If so, Just One Soccer will have a powerful advocate in its corner with Guardia.

As a boy in Lyndhurst, Guardia played soccer intramurally and with local youth organizations, but his family wasn’t able to make travel teams, camps and 1-1 coaching a priority. Work always came first; Guardia helped his father at his local electronic repair shop in Newark after school.

In high school, Guardia volunteered with Just One as a coach in exchange for a coaching license. And his enthusiasm for the talented young stars he met there inspired him.

“There were amazing soccer players, but they just didn’t have the resources to advance or to get noticed,” Guardia said.

In 2012, he launched the NJAFC with a single mission, inspired by his time at Just One: “To provide an opportunity for athletes to make it to a higher level without the financial or networking strains imposed by the soccer funneling system.”

Today, the NJAFC runs women’s, men’s and youth clubs which play in semi-professional and amateur leagues such as the Garden State Soccer League, the United Premier Soccer League and the Women’s Premier Soccer League. The group’s youth division plays for the United Premier Soccer League Youth Academy.

The NJAFC and Just One plan to kick off their new partnership in February with a socially distant ribbon-cutting ceremony at Just One’s headquarters at 2 Grafton Avenue in Newark.

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know about a local organization that should be profiled, contact eric.kiefer@patch.com

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