Teams throughout Florida and as far as Michigan will be competing at this weekend’s tournament.
The Plant City Futbol Club, also known as the Lancers, is set to host the 2024 Plant City Strawberry Classic this Presidents Day weekend at the Otis M. Andrews Complex and Ellis Methvin Park, where 120 soccer teams from as far as Michigan will compete to see which teams come out on top. More than 3,000 visitors a day are expected to descend on Plant City to watch the games.
“We actually had 186 teams submit applications to play but we ran out of field space and can only accommodate 120 but that is a 20 percent increase from last year,” said Club President Jacob Hughes.
The Lancers, who have been the city’s competitive soccer team for 45 years, have seen its roster increase by 15 percent this year to almost 250 players and boasts two defending state champion teams and three regional Elks Soccer Shoot champions.
Hughes, who said the team is grateful for the relationship the team has with city leaders, considers his club a graduate program to the rec league. “A lot of our players start playing in Plant City’s rec league and even our coaches are volunteer coaches in the rec league,” he said.
The Lancers have tryouts every May. “Plant City is such a connected community that if there’s a family out here supporting rec soccer, they probably have cousins and uncles and brothers and sisters in our Lancers program,” he said.
Sixteen year old Lydia Leon, a center midfielder on the Lancer’s U17 girls’ team, who’ll be playing in this weekend’s tournament, said even though she plays on her high school soccer team, she also likes the drive of her Lancers team. “I like to be in competitive soccer because the girls on the team have a passion for the sport and are all striving to play at a higher level,” she said. “They push me to my limits, it’s just very nice to go to tournaments and win because it boosts my confidence.”
She started playing soccer in Plant City’s rec league at age seven, following the path forged by several family members. “Later my dad encouraged me to get me into competitive soccer,” she said. She loves the large cheering squad of family members that show up and support her and the team during games. “I feel the love because they’re coming out to watch me play,” she said.
In addition to helping improve her skills, she said Lancer practices are always a great stress reliever. “If something goes wrong outside of soccer I can always come to soccer and my mind is off of it and I get to kick a ball hard,” she said.
As a nonprofit organization, Hughes said the Lancers strive to keep costs down for players and their families. “Bigger corporate style clubs make athletes pay $2,000 and up and we keep our registration fees a third or a quarter of that,” he said. “We’re under $600 this year and like to say we’re bringing affordable, competitive soccer to our community.”
He said this weekend’s tournament will come down to style against style, player against player as he instills the warrior spirit in his players. “The warrior spirit isn’t necessarily the winning spirit because we want players to have resiliency,” he said. “If you just teach players how to win then they can’t handle the loss but if you teach them how to be a warrior, then they can handle the loss.”
A lesson applicable on and off the field.
For more information about the Lancers visit plantcityfc.com.
