Help Jaden Train in Liverpool at the Steven Gerard Academy

Hi, my name is Jaden Felix, and I want to tell you about my dream of playing professional soccer and my opportunity to train at the Steven Gerrard Academy in Liverpool, England.

I started playing soccer when I was 7 years old. My grandfather and I were outside playing with a soccer ball, and he was teaching me some moves. The first move he taught me was the step over, and ever since then, it’s been my go-to move down the sideline. My grandfather played soccer his whole life, and he inspired me to play.

I started to realize that I was good at soccer when a Division 1 coach came to my middle school soccer game, Coach Peter from Florida Gulf Coast University. He came to talk to me and my dad, and I scored 3 goals in that game. Ever since then, I knew that my hard work would pay off and this was something that I was passionate about doing for the rest of my life.

What I love about soccer is that whenever I have a bad day or I feel unmotivated, depressed, anxious, or angry, as soon as I touch the ball, all my problems go away. That's the beauty of the game that I love.

The first coach who believed in me was Speed and Coach Reid from Fort Myers High School. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t even be playing soccer right now because I didn’t believe in myself; I didn’t believe in my potential. They saw the potential in me—they saw great things that I could do in the future if I just believed in myself.

I moved to Houston, TX in 2023 to get a better education and to help the #1 person in my life, my mother Collette. Since I’ve moved here, I’ve gotten a lot more exposure—a new family life, new friends, and new teammates and coaches.

Now that I am about to graduate high school, I am looking at different opportunities to play soccer at the next level, either professionally or in college. I’ve done a lot of work promoting myself on recruiting sites and Instagram, which led to an invitation to go to Liverpool, England, to train at the Steven Gerrard Academy. One thing that my coaches have always told me is that I have a lot of potential, and the professional training programs that are available at the Academy have helped thousands of young players like me reach their potential, either through a contract with a professional team (in Europe or America) or a scholarship at a top American university.

The Steven Gerrard Academy has a close relationship with Liverpool FC and has even placed players on their teams (Curtis Jones is a current example). They have training programs that are for 6 months or a year. I believe that I need a year at the Academy to fully realize my potential. The next cohort that I am eligible for will start in September 2025. I believe in my heart that I have the talent and the work ethic to reach my goal of signing a contract to play professional soccer. What I don’t have is the money it will take to complete the training. Tuition for the program is $25,000 a year. I need your help in raising the money to play for the Academy. Any amount will help, and I am truly blessed and grateful for your support. This is a big opportunity that God has blessed me with, and I’m ready to take it.