Meet Raphael Alves | Sports Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raphael Alves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raphael, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Since I moved to the US, wasn’t hard to identify that youth sports was much more focused on the “profiting” than everything else. It happens with many sports, but in soccer I would say it’s even worse. The sport has no culture developed in the country just yet and businesses take advantage of parents lack of knowledge regarding the sport development.

Why not creating something legit, right?

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I had a shorter career as a professional soccer player than I planned, due to many reasons. However, I always stayed connected with the sport, studying and keeping in mind everything I have been through as a young athlete. The elements I should bring with me as a mentor and the ones I should leave behind.

The Culture of the sport where I come from is just immeasurable. My question was – how could I bring that “feeling” to a place where no one has an idea of how it feels like?
How can they understand the community orientation around the sport, the integration, the inclusion and many other social rules that make Football (soccer) the biggest sport on Earth?
How can we develop a program where all of these “rules” are respected, while stimulating the kids creativity and love for the sport?
How can we play the sport in the way it’s supposed to be played, without thinking about results or more than that, promoting ourselves through positive results only?

We are evolving, improving and finding solutions every day. But we have been doing something different than everything you will find regarding youth sports, in a great way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach. People can’t come to Orange County and not spend time on those places. So much to do and see.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Besides my family, friends and loved ones in general (which are the foundation of everything), without my partner Adriano and the whole Culture FC Sports staff I wouldn’t be able to develop anything. Also, I really can’t forget the families that understood our work and have supported myself and the whole group in every possible way from day one.

Website: www.culturefc.com

Instagram: culturefcsports

Facebook: Culture FC

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@culturefcsports

Image Credits
Bruno Zanotto – BZFILMS