PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — East Falls puts the neighbor in “neighborhood.”
“[East Falls] is a great Philadelphia neighborhood like a lot of neighborhoods that have generations of families that have lived here,” says Jen Arnoldi, president of the East Falls Sports Association (EFSA).
EFSA has been around for almost 50 years. It organizes soccer and baseball leagues for kids in the tight-knit, family-oriented East Falls, as well as other communities, and works with Parks and Rec when it comes to basketball. All the magic happens at McDevitt Recreation Center.
Jen and her husband, Eric, are not originally from here. Jen is from North/Central Jersey, while Eric hails from State College. But that has not stopped them from making this section of Northwest Philadelphia their home, sharing love for teams like the Phillies, Eagles and Union, and volunteering their time to create an excellent experience for kids who want to play sports.
“It’s great for the community,” Eric added. “It’s great for our neighborhood. It’s great for the children. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s really about the kids that participate — to teach teamwork, collaboration, sportsmanship and really reinforce what it’s like to be part of a team and why it’s important to participate.”
The Arnoldis have been involved for years. Jen has been the president of EFSA for nine years and volunteer coach for 14. And Eric is what he describes as a “general helper” — a guy who will coach or occasionally act as a fill-in player.
Yes, you read that correctly: fill-in player.
“All of our coaches do play with the kids,” he said. “I think our organization, particularly the soccer, is really skills and drills oriented. And when you’re starting with a very young age group — the three to four-year-olds — they don’t really know what they’re doing. And even at the end of the year, it’s kind of humorous to see them play.”
Related
To Eric, it’s not about winning or losing. As he put it, it’s not the end of the world if you lose and it’s not the best thing ever to win. It’s a good opportunity for kids to get around, be healthy and have fun. And the Arnodlis, parents of two daughters, are happy to be involved because it sets an example of volunteerism. Jen said sometimes their kids will even chip in to coach the players.
“So I think that part of our family’s involvement has been special for me,” she said. “They feel like that’s something we do in our neighborhood. Kind of part of who we are.”
And without question, one of the coolest aspects of the leagues is examples of family tradition.
“We have families that participate like the grandfather says, ‘I played at McDevitt when I was a kid, right, like 75 years ago!,’” Jen pointed out. “So that I think is a wonderful piece of history in our neighborhood.”
Eric says it’s "really cool when the grandfather is out there with his son, with the grandchild, and they’re all there on the field and you have multiple generations kind of reliving their youth."
Related
Jen explained that because the coaches are volunteers and not professionals, the leagues are affordable.
“And we certainly do what we can to help those that have hardship. That’s our policy,” she added.
The 2023 soccer league gets underway in a matter of days. If you’d like to sign your kid up, check out their registration page.
Jen urges people to come down to McDevitt on Saturday mornings for the laid-back, fun atmosphere and have their kids join the party.
“It’s like organized chaos,” she says with enthusiasm and laughter, “kids running around, parents drinking coffee, milling around the playground.”
Related
