Cape Coral Soccer celebrates more than 50 years of growth

CAPE CORAL, Fla.(WINK) — Long before thousands of players took the field each year and soccer complexes filled with families on weekends, youth soccer in Cape Coral looked very different.

Players practiced on baseball outfields, traveled across the state to find opponents and helped build the fields they would one day play on.

For Cape Coral Soccer Association Director of Soccer Operations Eddie Carmean, those early days are more than stories. He lived them.

“Cape Coral looks a lot different than when I got here in 1977,” Carmean said.

Carmean began playing soccer through Cape Coral Soccer Association as a child, back when the organization had only a handful of competitive teams and no dedicated soccer fields.

“We started playing on the baseball outfields at Pelican Complex. The soccer field wasn’t there yet,” he said.

In those days, opportunities to play were limited. Local competition was scarce, forcing teams to travel across Florida for matches.

“That was the only choice we had,” Carmean said. “There was not a lot of local teams.”

One memory still stands out decades later.

When Pelican Soccer Complex was being built, players arrived for practice expecting to kick a ball. Instead, they were handed pieces of sod.

“The practice for that night was to lay the sod down for the field because they were just putting it down,” Carmean said. “The 10-year-old kids literally laid the sod for Pelican Soccer Field.”

What started as a small community effort has grown into one of the largest soccer organizations in Florida.

Today, Cape Coral Soccer Association serves approximately 2,600 recreational players annually and supports more than 40 competitive teams. The organization also operates a free TOPS program for athletes with special needs, bringing dozens of players and volunteers together each season.

The club’s growth mirrors Carmean’s own journey.

After playing youth soccer in Cape Coral, he went on to play collegiately at the University of South Florida before spending years as a professional player. Following his playing career, he returned to the same organization where it all began.

“This game has given me everything in my life,” Carmean said.

On busy weekends, thousands of people visit the fields. Volunteer coaches donate their time, young referees earn their first paychecks and local businesses support the organization through sponsorships.

While the game has evolved dramatically over the past five decades, Carmean believes the mission remains unchanged.

“Life lessons and lifelong friends,” he said. “You click those two boxes and the rest of it’s irrelevant.”

More than 50 years after its founding, Cape Coral Soccer Association continues to serve generations of Southwest Florida families, proving that a program built by parents, volunteers and players can leave a lasting impact far beyond the scoreboard.