Roger Kelly had two answers when asked about his favorite part of Monday’s soccer camp. He liked scoring goals. He also liked stopping them.
“I am the goalie. Number one,” he said, as another child nearby challenged his claim to the top spot.
For Rodger’s mother, Chloe Kelly, that enthusiasm was the point. Her son usually plays baseball and football. He had seen soccer on television and played a little at school, but the free camp at the Mathews-Dickey Club gave him a chance to try the equipment, practice drills and learn more about the game.
“I hope that he takes some knowledge of the game,” she said. Seeing him as a goalkeeper was especially exciting because it was a position unlike those in the sports he normally plays.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis hosted the camp in North St. Louis with U.S. Soccer’s Soccer Forward initiative and New York Life. It was organized for children ages 5 to 13 ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. men’s national team match against Chile at Energizer Park.
Brandon Williams, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, said the chance to experience something new made the partnership valuable. Children who had never met a World Cup player could spend an afternoon learning from people who had reached the sport’s highest level.
“One of the biggest things for me is exposure,” Williams said. “Getting our young people exposed to different opportunities, innovation, different people, different experiences is something that’s extremely important.”
Williams told the children he had once been a club member himself. As a young person, he met professional athletes through the club and said those encounters helped him believe he could become a professional athlete, too. The skills and inspiration he received from the club took him all the way to the NFL, where he played wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, the then home team St. Louis Rams before concluding his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. At Monday’s event, he wanted the children to take advantage of their own chance to learn, listen and meet people.
Among the guests were St. Louis natives Brad Davis, who played in the 2014 World Cup, and Tim Ream, who captained the U.S. team at the 2026 World Cup. Ream is scheduled to be honored before Tuesday’s match, though he is not on the roster against Chile.
Ream said athletes have a responsibility to show up in their communities. Meeting a player in person can give a child someone to look up to – or introduce that child to a sport they have yet to consider.
“We can have such a major impact on the next generation of kids,” he said.
Davis said some of his favorite memories of soccer came long before his professional career, when he played with friends as a child. He saw that same chance for fun at Mathews-Dickey. But he also raised a question about what comes after a single afternoon of drills.
He wants children who discover they love soccer to have a way to keep playing, with adults following up and helping them find other opportunities.
“This is a great starting point,” Davis said. “But now it’s taking the next step to make sure that all these kids that are currently out here now or in any other program around the country have a gateway to continue going.”
Williams said the club’s role is to keep showing up for children after special events end. “We are consistently here every single day,” he said.
Maya Stephen, manager of partnerships at the Soccer Forward Foundation, said she watched children pass the ball, make eye contact and communicate with one another. Those small exchanges were lessons in teamwork, even for children who might never join a soccer team.
She hoped they would remember the people around them as much as the drills: the players they could aspire to be, and the club staff there to help them grow.
“This game belongs to everyone,” Stephen said.
Chloe Kelly saw another possibility for Rodger. If he comes across a soccer game somewhere else, she said, he may now feel confident enough to join in.
The U.S. team faces Chile at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Rodger left Monday’s camp with goals scored, new people met and a place he was eager to defend.