During the fall of 1997, Keith Tucker, head soccer coach at Howard University assembled a group of his former players to discuss an alarming trend in college admissions’ for minority high school soccer players – their low SAT scores. Every year soccer players from across the Metropolitan area and across the nation were denied acceptance into college because of their low SAT scores. It was during these discussions that Soccer and Friends was born. Soccer was the vehicle that allowed us to become friends.Therefore, we saw it necessary to join hands as friends to make a change. 


Our plan was simple: Go into a community where the population was densely populated with immigrants and attract their children to our soccer program. Then use soccer as the tool to show them the importance of education in reaching their goals in life. We chose Langley Park, Maryland, an immigrant community overflowing with Central American, Caribbean and various African people, located five minutes from the University of Maryland, twenty minutes from Howard University and thirty-five minutes from the White House. 


Our program, which started as the Langley Park Soccer Club during the spring of 1998, moved to Buck Lodge Middle School. Two years later we changed our name to the Metropolitan Futbol Club, more commonly known as MFC, which still thrives today.   Through our after school program, run by Soccer and Friends, we have spent more than a decade promoting and coaching soccer in Prince George's County schools.


Our mission was quite simple “TO CREATE OPPORUNITY THROUGH EDUCATION AND SOCCER”. Well, we can proudly say “Mission accomplished.” and ongoing.  As of the fall of 2015, forty-one players have passed through our program and went off to college of which 14 graduated