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Rui Simoes has been running a summer camp for the past decade to bring organized soccer to less-privileged children in Toronto.

Shortly after the inaugural League1 Ontario season in 2014, local police officer Rui Simoes embarked on a new venture to give back to soccer and his local community in Toronto.

For the last decade, Simoes has been running soccer camps with the support of ProAction Cops and Kids – a charity helping initiatives that build bridges between children and police officers – to provide playing opportunities for children whose families can’t afford other programs.

Through his role as a School Resource Officer, Simoes built relationships with schools in the Toronto area and learned that children were bored and lacking activities to do outside of school hours. Simoes grabbed his soccer ball and approached one of the principals to run an afterschool soccer club in their gym.

After a successful first year, his sessions expanded in 2016 to an under-utilized soccer field at a different school, paving the way for a summer camp that has become a huge part of the local community.

“Being a police officer, we have a number of routes we can use to be able to better the kids in our community,” said Simoes. “What started off as a little soccer event with 20 less-privileged kids in a gym with soccer balls, teaching them the game and having some fun with it, has become just shy of 100 children participating.

“I thought it was going to be something that’s short-lived. We’d be able to do it during the summer, and then it might wash away – especially if my job required me to move to another police division and there was nobody who could pick it up.

“Fortunately, my whole policing career has been with this division, and I’m privileged enough that my role rolled into the Neighbourhood Community Officer program. Now I’ll be on regular patrols, and I’ll have the kids from the soccer program saying hello to me in the street.

“It’s become a big community event, and people are coming to me asking if their kids can join – and of course they can; the program is geared towards giving everyone the opportunity to be able to play the sport of soccer.”

League1 Ontario connected with Simoes in 2023 through grassroots ambassador Anthony Totera (pictured below) and provided the program with equipment such as soccer kit – aiding Simoes in his mission to give back to the sport that helped make him who he is today.

“I was born and raised in the city, not really coming from much. My dad was the working person and my mum stayed at home, so I couldn’t really afford much stuff growing up.

“Soccer balls was always something we could get our hands on because I was on a team, but I always said that if I could do something when I was older to help other people access the game, I would.

“I had always seen soccer as something you do as a kid and then life takes over, but the reality is you can be older and still enjoy soccer. It’s easy to get everyone together; all you need is a place to play and a soccer ball, and it’s still about having fun.

“Some of the older kids who have moved on to high school or college are coming back to volunteer. They will spend their summers helping kids to learn passing drills, shooting, dribbling.

“Kids are growing up and giving back to what helped them along the way – it just goes to show the power of sport.”