LAKELAND — For Lucas Teixeira, the news further showed how much the Tropics Soccer Club is becoming more a part of the Polk County sports landscape.

Thursday evening, under a light drizzle outside downtown Lakeland’s Swan Brewing, Teixeira -- a defender for the Florida Tropics SC indoor professional soccer team -- listened as Tropics Soccer Club (TSC) officials described the growth of the organization in the area through recent affiliations with other soccer clubs and organizations.

According to team officials, the TSC’s “soccer umbrella” now represents about 5,000 youth and 1,000 adult players from across the I-4 corridor -- Polk, Pinellas and Osceola counties.

From Lakeland, the TSC operates the professional Florida Tropics of the Major Arena Soccer League United, the Lakeland Tropics outdoor team of the United Soccer League’s Premiere Development League, the Florida Tropics Women’s Premiere Soccer League franchise and most recently, affiliates with the St. Petersburg Kickers FC.

On a stage, Dr. Panos Iakovidis spoke about the partnerships now represent under the “umbrella” of soccer from Tampa to Orlando and in between.

During the 20-minute presentation, Iakovidis highlighted recent developments in the spread the TSC’s professional soccer lead in Lakeland. Joining him were Chris Economides, TSC chief operating officer and Andrew Ross, general manager and vice president of operations.

Most recently, the TSC announced a new partnership with one of the premiere amateur teams in the United States – The St. Petersburg Kickers FC. That team, founded in 1958, is a seven-time United States Adult Soccer Association national champion, has won 30 Florida Suncoast Soccer League championships and 25 Florida State Soccer Association State Championships between three teams.

And in the past 11 months, the Tropics partnered with three youth soccer programs, created the Florida Lady Tropics with Pinellas County United (PCU) soccer and last week announced an affiliation with the Lakeland Adult Soccer Association creating the Lakeland Tropics Adult Soccer Organization.

Additionally, a TSC merger with the Lakeland FC youth soccer organization created Lakeland Tropics FC youth, with 2,500 players. The PCU merger resulted in the PCU Tropics, representing 2,000 players and a similar deal with Celebration Youth Soccer in Osceola County has become Celebration Tropics.

“Everything has been going very well; we’re very pleased with the support we have from the community and we’re accomplishing all of our goals,” said Iakovidis, prior to the announcements. “It makes me feel like what we’re doing is something the community needed and we’ll be part of it for decades to come.”

Besides focusing on growth and mergers, TSC officials also hinted at other future plans, including buying an abandoned building in Auburndale to turn into an indoor soccer complex for Polk County and creating an expanded soccer facility in central Polk County. If that is done, it would offer the possibility of having a Major League Soccer team use Lakeland for preseason training and bring in MLS teams for local tournaments.

Teixeira, a native of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in his third season with the Tropics, said the TSC’s announcements showed a stabilization of professional and amateur soccer in Polk County and Central Florida.

“It gives everyone a chance to play and experience what having professional soccer in the area is – it’s a full a structure of youth, amateur and professional soccer, which is good for the public and good for us as players,” he said.

Paul Catala can be reached at paul.catala@theledger.com or 863-802-7533. He can be reached at Twitter @pcat0226.