Miami Dade College Announces Plan To Field Soccer Teams In Fall Of 2024
Move over Lionel Messi, soccer is coming to Miami Dade College.
“Beginning fall of 2024, Miami Dade College will have men and women’s soccer,” the schools president Madeline Pumariega announced at Tuesday’s monthly Board of Trustees meeting. “And we are kicking it off.”
The news comes on the heels of Messi’s announcement on June 7 that he is transferring from Paris Saint Germain in France to play for Inter Miami—a Major League Soccer team created five years ago by David Beckham.
Shortly after the announcement, trustee Anay Abraham asked: “Is Messi coming with the deal?”
Her question was met with a volley of laughs from the audience.
The last time MDC fielded a soccer team was in the 1990.
“It doesn’t make any sense, if you think about our community and the diversity of our community, that we wouldn’t have soccer here at this college,” Pumariega said.
To kick-start the team, MDC plans to hire two coaches this fall and start recruiting a squad for the 2024-25 season. They will host open tryouts for the community.
Each team will feature 15–20 players and they will practice and play games at the existing soccer fields on the northwest side of Kendall Campus, according to interim athletics director Ramona Edwards.
Cristina Mateo, the senior director of campus administration at Kendall Campus, said nine light posts are being added to the space this summer. The project will cost $1.6 million.
It’s unclear at this time if any additional modifications will be made to the pitch.
What is known is that players will utilize the locker rooms and showers at the Theodore R. Gibson Health Center.
Kendall Campus President Anthony Cruz said the addition will increase student engagement.
“Anytime that we can bring in another sport into our athletic program, it’s a great thing,” he said.
Currently, Miami Dade College fields baseball, softball, volleyball and men and women’s basketball teams. They compete in Division I of the Southern Conference of the Florida College System Athletics Association.
The Sharks will compete in Region 8, Division I and will only play against teams in the state, Edwards said. The team will participate in 20-22 games a season.
This past season, Daytona State College and Eastern Florida State College had women’s and men’s teams in Division I. Polk State College suited up a women’s squad.
Kelly Warren, the executive director of the Florida Collegiate System Activities Association, said the National Junior College Athletic Association has not yet notified them that MDC will field the teams for the 2024-2025 season.
“We’re excited,” Pumariega said. “This is a great day for the community, for Miami Dade College, and especially for the students that are going to be able to stay here and play.”
Staff writer Nikole Valiente contributed to this story.
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