Texoma Football Club brings soccer showcase to Sherman

SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - Co-owners Ben Watson and Simon Keizer only started working on the Texoma Football Club about 9 months ago, but they’re already helping bring the sport of soccer to the local community.

“Growing up here, it’s been something that I would have dreamed to have in my backyard as a 10 to 15 year old kid pursuing soccer,” Watson said.

The club is hosting a slate of events this weekend at the old Bearcat Stadium in Sherman, all of which are available to the public.

Friday night’s event featured a youth training session where kids could learn from Tommi Pikkarainen, an international coach who came all the way from Finland.

“He’s with fc jazz,” Watson said. “They have a very historic club over there with tons of success over the past two, three decades. We’re very fortunate to have Tommi here with us to help run this event.”

While Friday’s event was fun for the kids of Texoma, Saturday and Sunday’s events will feature some serious talent from all over the place.

“It’s really a dream opportunity for 55 young men that have come from all over the country, some local, some national,” Keizer said. “Their hope is that they’ll have a chance to be accepted and be given two all expenses paid opportunities to go for a tryout in Finland.”

“Games will be conducted Saturday morning and Saturday evening,” Watson said. “Then Sunday morning, we’ll be hosting all star games for the players that we are the most interested in.”

In addition to this weekend’s events, the Texoma Football Club has lots more planned in the weeks ahead.

“We have our club night on July 26th over at Heyday Entertainment,” Watson said. “We’ll be hosting a watch party for the women’s world cup ... the woman’s game is growing more and more every year, and we’re excited to partner that with our club night.”

And for every event that the club hosts, it will be partnering with a charity to help give back.

“Our mission is to give back to the community that’s given so much to us,” Keizer said.

For more information on the Texoma Football Club, you can find them on Facebook or on their website.

Copyright 2023 KXII. All rights reserved.