First State Bank makes donation to TVCC soccer program
(First State Bank presents a check for $1,000 to the TVCC men's and women's soccer programs Wednesday morning. Pictured, from left, are TVCC Athletic Director Eddie Kite, Vice President of Student Services Dr. Philip Parnell, First State Bank's Ruth Beltran, Coach Antonio Ledesma, First State Bank's Armando Rincon, and TVCC President Dr. Jerry King.)
The new Trinity Valley Community College men's and women's soccer programs received a boost Wednesday with a $1,000 donation from First State Bank.
"First State Bank is proud to partner with TVCC," FSB Vice President of Marketing Kim Hodges said. "The college has a great history of championship sports and many of us at the bank are host parents. This is a chance to support a growing program with a hometown coach and we wanted to help them get a good start."
The soccer program was approved by the TVCC Board of Trustees in February 2020 and Coach Antonio Ledesma is getting ready for the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals to play their inaugural NJCAA fall season.
But first, there will be a spring club season to get the programs up and running and to help Ledesma -- who has been scouting local high school games and will be attending upcoming soccer showcases -- with recruiting.
"I think there's enough talent in the community and the surrounding communities for us to compete with all the schools out there," he said. "And we want to bring in some talent from out of the country."
The soccer program will play its home games on the Athens campus at the field know as The Pit or The Hole.
"It's going to be great," Ledesma said, "to actually have it on campus and have some of the students from the dorms come and participate."
TVCC President Jerry King said he is also excited about having the soccer games on campus.
"It is going to be new, it is going to be on campus and I think having it on campus is going to bring some more excitement to campus life like it does in the gymnasium," he said. "We're really looking forward to it."
Coach Ledesma certainly knows the power of that field better than most since the Athens native started playing there as a teen. He also knows the reputation of TVCC sports.
"Being from here, it is exciting but it also makes you nervous," he said, "because there are many programs from TVCC that are successful. There's a sense of accountability to bring in students who realize that we want to be a winning program. It's a little bit of a challenge and I think that's exciting."
For more information about the TVCC soccer program, contact Ledesma at 903-670-2618 or antonio.ledesma@tvcc.edu.
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