Wedged between boutiques and cafés on Kailua’s hippest block is the Paradise Soccer Club. This little lodge, opened in 2013, is a community center for the beautiful game. Owner Max Anton, who at 34 is a lifelong soccer player with three seasons in the semipros, says his vision was “influenced by surf and skate shops—we tried to make it a place where somebody can come in and talk story about soccer.”

PSC has four teams (three for adults, one for youth), holds tournaments and hosts pickup soccer across the island. “We try to promote the Hawai‘i soccer community as much as possible,” says Anton, his tattoo of a soccer ball peeking out from under the hem of his shorts. The shop hosts live viewing of soccer tournaments and soccer-based video game tournaments, and employs footie-mad high school kids from the neighborhood.

Hanging on the walls is a row of jerseys signed by the greats—Pele, Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo—overlooking a wall of soccer shoes and team jerseys. But PSC also carries its own logo jerseys, some done in collaboration with other Hawai‘i brands that have become internationally known—in4mation, Fitted, Kicks/HI and Pow! Wow!—along with streetwear by labels such as RVCA and Stūssy. The shop releases a new jersey design almost monthly. Now in the works is a collection with Zippy’s, the local restaurant chain that has helped countless youth sports teams get to tournaments through its fundraising program that has aspiring athletes selling $9 tickets for buckets of chili.

Anton was one of them—he went from an American Youth Soccer Organization pint-size player to being part of the first Hawai‘i team to win the US Youth Soccer National Championship in 2004. Today he and PSC are “kind of ambassadors of Hawai‘i’s soccer community,” he says. When the Pacific Rim Cup came to O‘ahu last February, organizers tapped Anton and his team to do social media. On islands where many young people leave to find opportunity on the Mainland, Anton has been able to stay in his hometown doing what he loves. Talk about a winning goal.

paradisesoccerclub.com