SABR women’s league attracts players of all ages, skill levels

By Gary Curreri

Charley Kale moved to Delray Beach in February and sought out an opportunity to play soccer in an adult league.

Kale not only found the SABR Adult Women’s league online, now she also serves as the program’s social media czar. Kale, who owns a creative marketing business (Charley Kale Creations) drops photos and reels weekly to help generate interest in the club.

“The thing that attracted me was there were all kinds of different levels,” said the 25-year-old Kale, who moved to South Florida from Ohio. “There were people who were just starting off in soccer to some that played professionally or in college. There are a few players that have been playing in this league for a few years now.

“It depends on how many girls we get to determine how many teams we have,” Kale said. “We will either play 7v7 or 11v11. Obviously, whenever we have enough teams, we will play 11v11 and have playoffs.”

Heather Anesta, the SABR Adult Program Director, organizes the teams and helps Carrie Barker, the SABR Director of Coaching, organize training plans for the season.

There are between 32 and 64 players per season depending on spring or fall (fall is 7v7 and 11v11). The cost is $80 league fee, plus $30 for Florida Adult Soccer Association (FASA) insurance for the adult league. The players come from diverse occupations, ranging from students and hairdressers to doctors and engineers.

When the players register, they say what their skill level is, and the teams are then selected as evenly as possible. Players may also have to drop in during a pick-up session to help determine what that player’s skill level is.

“It is actually pretty cool to have a 19-year-old playing on the same team as a 50-year-old,” Kale said. “We have one lady who is 60 and she comes and plays with everyone who is younger.

“You can tell that the girls love playing with each other,” Kale continued. “It’s a social gathering in a sense. Everyone is tired from their days, so everyone enjoys seeing one another and playing soccer. They are catching up on the week and I have seen a few girls develop (their skills). You have some people who are best friends from playing in this and others who enjoy helping others. I also know that both the women’s and the men’s league are always looking for goalies.”

“It seems like everyone is looking to help each other, and I have seen one mom who has shown massive improvement from February to now,” Kale said. “It is super cool to see her out there. Her daughter plays soccer as well and she’ll bring her daughter out there to watch sometimes.”

There are several sessions to choose from including pick-up sessions, training sessions, and the league.

Monday is generally a pickup night where players will show up and play with each other. That also happens on Saturday mornings.

On certain Tuesday nights, there is training with Barker, and they go over different skills and different aspects of the game like defending and team shape. Wednesdays are days that the league holds its games, generally starting at 6:30 and 7:45 p.m. at Sand Pine Park. The pickup games are at 7 p.m. on Mondays and 9 a.m. on Saturdays.

“You are playing the whole entire year,” said Maya Pattaway, 28, who has played in the SABR Women’s League as well as the Coed League for the past four years.

“You don’t really take any days off unless you are going on vacation,” she added. “That’s the best thing about it. We use an app called Spond (a team management application) to we say we are attending or not attending the game. We are able to see the number of people that are coming, which is really good incentive to make people come. It’s good because you can comment how you are excited about tonight and that gets more people to come, so it is a social thing.”

Kale coordinates the social media for the adult soccer page on Facebook and Instagram as well as doing everything from marketing to content creation.

“I get to play and work, so it is super fun,” Kale gushed. “I know the girls like to hang out together. They will go to the beach and do dinners and things.”

The leagues and even the pickup games can be pretty competitive, according to its players.

“Even if you have never played,” Kale said, “you are definitely going to get better.”

For more information visit the SABR Adult Program at the webpage: Adult Soccer – Soccer Association of Boca Raton; Instagram: sabr.adult.soccer or the Facebook page: SABR Adult Soccer.

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