Hillsboro’s Colin McCabe was unsure if he’d fit in at International Soccer Club in Nashua. That was until coach Jared Barbosa made him part of the family.
He came in as a mousey winger from a big club team. Barbosa switched him to wingback and now he’s not afraid to get stuck in for a tackle. What flipped the switch was the team mentality. They all play for each other.
“I think the coach has taught me a lot, and I’ve learned skills; I’ve learned how to have more confidence with this team,” McCabe said.
The team recently swept through competition from Connecticut, Pennsylvania and the northeast to become Northeast Regional Presidents Cup champions. What complicated things is that soon after winning, they had to commit to a trip to nationals. The cost they needed to cover is around $20,000.
The team has to reach its fundraising goal by this week to get to the US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup in Wichita, Kan., from July 7 to 11. More information can be found on www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-isc-u13-eagles-represent-nh-at-nationals.
Three pillars carried ISC’s under-13 Eagles boys team to win Northeast regionals and have a shot at a national championship. Barbosa harps on them all the time: pride, integrity and family.
What sets the club apart is its low-cost model and its attempt to break down the barriers of entry to the sport. Barbosa thinks they can offer the same quality of coaching without the need to limit who can train. Too many are pay-to-play and ISC thinks it can get more out of players without limiting the sport to the wealthy.
Their model depends on a lot of help. Parents shuttling kids around for practice, fundraising and other funding opportunities to get kids down to Nashua to practice.
McCabe’s mother, Sarah, is just one of the parents driving from Hillsboro to Manchester to pick up players who wouldn’t be able to practice with a team otherwise. She wouldn’t swap it for any of the fancy club teams because she’s seen how much her son has grown.
Going from what she called a “sheltered” environment at Trinity Christian School to playing with kids from different socio-economic, religious and language backgrounds was all new to him.
“He’s like learning like it’s OK to be around different people, it’s okay to try different things. He can be defense even though he’s small, he can. Now, all of a sudden it’s like, well, if Jared thinks I can do it, maybe I can do it,” she said.
Barbosa, who also works as a guidance counselor in Nashua, has found a way to get this group to fully buy in. He and his staff have known for a long time that this U-13 squad was special; they could see it as they came up through the age groupings.
Barbosa said either everyone is going or no one goes. They’re a family. He recognizes that it took everyone buying in. It took the kids being willing to enjoy training a lot. It took a lot of carpooling.
“If you want to go to college, if you want to play in high school varsity, you don’t need to pay the thousands upon thousands of dollars,” Barbosa said of his message to his players. “Focus on yourself as an individual.”