“I could hardly see a kid on the street playing soccer,” said Santos Futebol Club coach Luis Dabo. “Now, everywhere you go, you see kids playing soccer in Arizona.”

For more than 25 years, Dabo has been coaching kids as young as 6 years old in his soccer club in Phoenix.

“The biggest thing is preparation,” Dabo said. “They have to prepare physically, mentally and technically to play the game.”

Some of Dabo’s former players include a World Cup player, Olympic contenders and now newcomer center midfielder Eddie Jasso.

“There’s a talented group of kids in there and so I think Eddie is just the beginning,” Dabo said.

“My dad, he’s been playing soccer his whole life too, and that inspired me to play,” Jasso said. “I used to go to all of his games and I thought it was fun.”

Jasso, who is a freshman at Betty H. Fairfax High School in Phoenix, started kicking the ball around at the age of 5.

“I just like the game and the friends that are on here,” Jasso said. “I like being with them and I like the competition.”

Jasso, 15, trains with Dabo at least five days a week for two hours a day. His talent and determination is getting him a tryout with the Under-17 Men's National Team in Florida.

“It’s kind of scary because I’m going to be playing with kids older, 2 years older than me,” Jasso said. “I think it’s a big opportunity

Dabo says not too many kids like Jasso get a shot at a tryout like this. But no matter what happens, he knows Jasso and the rest of his club kids will be just fine.

‘When I look at the success they have on and off the field, it’s great,” Dabo said.