BEACONS

LAND O’ LAKES — Pizza party after the game, everyone.

Sometimes before the game, too. Either way, players step off the small artificial turf field behind ABC Pizza sweaty and smiling after another round of pickup soccer.

The games are run by Cancha Kings, a pickup soccer group that went from one night a week at this field last year to games every evening. The group also plays in Trinity, Carrollwood, Palm Harbor, Clearwater and Zephyrhills.

Players 16 and older take the field for 6-on-6 matches, with five field players and a goalkeeper on each side. The games are short and fast, much like indoor soccer, but they’re played outdoors under the lights, and sometimes under car headlights.

Cancha Kings organizer Jorge Prada said the group started with indoor 7-on-7 games before its following outgrew them. Along the way, it found a partner in ABC Pizza owner George Fotopoulos, who opened up the field behind his restaurant.

“Last year, we just started ... Friday nights, and now we’re here every day,” Prada said. “Because of the community. The idea is and always has been, we’re in the community together, let’s play some soccer together.”

The field, known as Franny Granny Fotopoulos Field after George’s mother, Francine, has become one of the group’s most popular spots.

“George has a beautiful heart,” Prada said, “and he just wants everyone to enjoy playing a little bit of soccer.”

The games draw a wide range of players, from experienced veterans to local teenagers. Some travel among the group’s locations to test themselves against different competition.

Much of the appeal is proximity. In Land O’ Lakes, Prada said, players young and old ride up on e-bikes and scooters from just down the road.

“That’s how people do it now,” he said. “The sweet thing about this spot is that it has built up a lot of culture. This field is beautiful. And a lot of people really come and know that, yes, it could be competitive, but at the same time, we’re here to have fun and play. So Cancha Kings itself, my team and I, we’ve really done a great job in just building a fun atmosphere, where the incentive is playing for winning a FIFA Cup Friday.

“But overall, we’re here having fun playing the beautiful game.”

Players from neighboring towns turn up at all of the group’s locations, Prada said, including the original site at Generations Christian Church in Trinity and the covered outdoor field at the Sunderman Complex in Palm Harbor.

There’s more on the line than exercise. Winning teams can take home cash prizes, and theme nights, many built around this summer’s World Cup, keep things fresh.

And ABC Pizza is happy to have the players before and after games.

“Delicious food,” Prada said without hesitation. “That (Greek) dressing, I put that on my salad, on my pizza, on my pasta, on my bread. And I love their Hawaiian pizza.”

Prada expects Cancha Kings to keep growing, in both locations and players. Not every field comes with a pizzeria next door, but the goal stays the same everywhere.

“We’ve always been like, ‘Let’s play some soccer and ... bring the community together,’” he said. “If you’re not having fun, then you’re probably doing it wrong. And we really have a strong saying with Cancha Kings, in all our locations: “‘If we’re one together, we win forever.’”

For more information on games and locations, visit https://opensports.net/canchakings.