From soccer to flag football, children in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District are getting free access to different sports through their school.

For fifth and sixth graders in the district, the blow of a whistle means an opportunity to play sports.

“We’ve got girls here that have never kicked the ball,” said Los Osos Middle School 6th grade girls socccer coach Marcus Ziedses des Plantes.

Ziedses des Plantes has been coaching soccer for all skill levels and ages for the past 35 years but it’s his first season as a part of the Elementary Athletics for Achievement program.

“I think our focus here is not only to make make it fun, but my goal here is that I’d like to see every one of these sixth graders come back as a seventh grader player,” he said.

The program is now in its third year and began due to lower participation in high school sports from socioeconomic disadvantaged kids.

“Students from disadvantaged backgrounds just were not represented on our sports teams, and that’s because they could not afford to participate in club sports or many team sports at an early age,” explained San Luis Coastal Education Foundation Executive Director Christine Robertson.

Athletics Coordinator Phil Angel is in his first year with the program and said that out of the 1,000-plus 5th and 6th graders across 10 elementary schools and one middle school, for the fall sports season, which goes about five weeks, they saw more than 330 students participate along with 19 coaches.

“Nationally, we find that a lot of kids quit sports in sixth grade, and for us, we’re wanting them to start and and foster a love of sports,” Angel stated.

With its high participation, the program relies on volunteers to help serve all the teams each season.

“One of the biggest challenges for this program is just being able to manage demand for growth,” Robertson said.

But with the partnership between the Cal Poly College Corps program and the volunteers at each school, Angel sees it as a growth opportunity. He also sees the program as a way for children to have a chance to play without the pressure of skill, finances and winning or losing.

“The wins and losses are not the most important part of the program. Rather, it’s the sportsmanship and the connection to our elementary school,” Angel said.

“They’ll find the love of the game as long as we get quality coaches and quality people around to support them at whatever level they’re interested in doing,” Ziedses des Plantes concluded.