2011 EduKick International Football
Academies Soccer Boarding Schools, Summer Camps Abroad
 EduKick,
Inc. is owned and operated by Joseph W. Bilotta (right)
and Corey D. Zimmerman. They are old soccer pals that
first met in Junior High School and played together on
competitive club teams and in High School. The two soccer
enthusiasts have always understood the value of their
friendship and have remained close friends over the years.
Bilotta and Zimmerman currently reside in Toronto, ON, and
Chicago, IL respectively.
EduKick Mission
Bilotta and Zimmerman (shown at right while in New York
meeting with A.C. Perugia club officials)
 created
EduKick based on the philosophy that exposure to foreign
language, culture and international soccer training abroad
would accelerate personal growth in young people. They wanted
EduKick to be different…a complete package that would have a
lasting and positive influence on the young person. As
professionals, soccer fanatics and fathers, they wanted to
create a program that maximized the EduKick youth's time
abroad; instilling a sense of independence and pride in
themselves for having experienced international travel,
structured language study, cultural excursions, and
professional soccer training.
Their Story - The Orgin of EduKick
While Bilotta and Zimmerman (pictured here with his family)
 were
still teenagers, something happened that would change the two
friend's lives forever. They were selected to play on a team
from Northern California that went to Germany (then called
West Germany) to play a series of matches against German youth
teams.
The teenage soccer players had the experience of their
lives and both have credited that trip with being instrumental
in their development as young people. "It completely changed
the way I looked at the world and myself," said Bilotta, who
would go on to learn Spanish and Italian as an adult. "I can
easily trace my interest in languages back to that trip I took
as a kid. I remember feeling a sense of confidence upon
returning home, I new that I was wiser and it made me feel
special."
EduKick Officials & Staff Professional Background
EduKick President, Corey Zimmerman, graduated
from
UCLA (B.A. in History, 1987) and Loyola School of Law
(J.D. 1991, Admitted to California Bar – 1991). From 1993 to
2004, Corey was a Partner and Equity Options Market Maker with
Botta Capital Management in Chicago, IL. In 2004 Mr. Zimmerman
created Greenview, Inc., also operating in downtown
Chicago.
He took up the "beautiful game" at the relatively late age
of 14. He quickly excelled in soccer and was a three-year
starter on his Varsity High School team; he also competed for
District and State traveling teams in Northern California.
Since retiring from the game due to an injury sustained during
his freshman year at UCLA, Mr. Zimmerman has coached various
youth teams for both boys and girls.
Mr. Zimmerman's interest in seeing young people travel
abroad stems from the opportunities he was blessed with as a
teenager; "I wanted to get involved with EduKick because I
know that team travel abroad has a tremendous positive
influence on young people...it helps them realize their full
potential as they mature and begin to accept more
responsibility. They see themselves as part of something
bigger, they appreciate things more and begin to expect more
of themselves."
 EduKick
Vice-President & Founder, Joey Bilotta (seen here
addressing the EduKick Spain 2004 Class), played Division 1
college soccer at
St. Mary's College of California (graduating in
Psychology, 1986) and then went on to play professionally in
Spain and in the U.S. (in the former American Professional
Soccer League, A.P.S.L.) during his twenties. Bilotta began
playing soccer at age six, thanks to the Austrian father of
his best neighborhood friend; now 46 years old, Bilotta
continues to play top-level amateur soccer (Over-30) with
Oakville MCM SC in Ontario, Canada.
Bilotta (at right) continued to be very involved in the
game after retiring from pro ball in 1991. In fact, during the
U.S. hosted 1994 World Cup, Bilotta was hired to be the
official World Cup "spokesperson" for the California State
Lottery. In that capacity, he appeared throughout the state in
special events promoting the U.S. World Cup and youth soccer.
|
After his professional playing career ended, Bilotta
(pictured here promoting the US hosted 1994 World Cup
for the California State Lottery) turned his attention to
professions in youth program management. He worked as a "Youth
Market Director" for the American Heart Association and also
as an "Assistant Director" of an Anti-Tobacco non-profit that
operated throughout three counties in Central California.
Bilotta also worked in education, both as a teacher and as a
high school counselor (3 years at San Marcos High School in
Santa Barbara, CA). He is a U.S.S.F. licensed soccer coach,
certified bilingual educator (DELE Spanish Proficiency
Certificate - issued by the Spanish Embassy in Canada via
Salamanca University, España), and a seasoned youth soccer
camp program specialist.
Mr. Bilotta (pictured at right while at the EduKick Spain
"Elite" camp facility, "Ciudad del Futbol" in Madrid) has
considerable experienced in the field of youth travel
programs. Prior to opening EduKick, Inc., Bilotta started
Bilotta Co., a company that took Canadian youth to Spain for a
language and culture summer course. Previous to that position,
Mr. Bilotta worked as an assistant to
Professor Jorge Santana (email for reference) Head of
Spanish Department, University of California at Sacramento, in
a summer cultural exchange program course abroad in Madrid.
 Whether
as a program manager, teacher, counselor, coach or camp
director, Bilotta has over 27 years of professional experience
working with young people in education and/or soccer related
programs. In fact, Bilotta's first paid soccer coaching
position, while still a Sophomore at St. Mary's College in
1984, was with Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland,
California.
See Articles by Joey Bilotta
here
 View
Joey Bilotta's profile
EduKick V.P., Joey Bilotta (center), prior
to an American Professional Soccer league (APSL) match
in 1990. Also in this photo are Bilotta's former teammates;
Cesar Plasencia (left) and the Argentine defender, Alejandro
Basso.
 Jon
Morgan, General Manager
Mr. Jon Morgan, a native of Wolverhampton, England who has
resided in Ontario, Canada since the year 2000 brings both
expertise in soccer and professional business to EduKick Inc.
Having played for several years in England at the
semi-professional level Jon continues to play competitive
soccer in Canada (alongside EduKick's Joey Bilotta on Oakville
MCM) while also pursuing a successful youth coaching career.
Jon has extensive experience coaching boys and girls of all
ages and is currently involved with player development
programs in his home town of Cambridge, Ontario.
As a graduate of Engineering at Wulfrun College, England
Mr. Morgan (pictured here with EduKick V.P. Bilotta in
Beijing, China) spent several years gaining valuable
business experience travelling extensively and experiencing
different cultures and business methods.
 Jon
joined EduKick in early 2007 and is now following his dream of
combining business with his passion for football (soccer).
Mr. Morgan serves as full-time General Manager at EduKick,
Inc. headquarters located outside Toronto, Canada. Jon has a
wife of seven years named Jayne, also from England, and they
have two lovely daughters, Lily (7 years) and Ava (4 year).
Natalie D'Souza, B.Ed., M.A.
 is
EduKick's Director of Languages and oversees the
language curriculum in each participating country. Ms. D'Souza
possesses a Master's Degree in Spanish Literature (UC
Santa Barbara, 1998), a B.A. in French and Spanish and
also a teaching certificate in French and Spanish. Ms.
D'Souza is a 19 year veteran Spanish teacher at
Appleby College in Ontario, Canada. For additional
information regarding EduKick's language immersion program in
any of our host countries, please contact
Ms. D'Souza directly.
Gayle A. Arlen, Director of Corporate Sponsorship &
Legal Affairs
Ms. Arlen practiced law for over 14 years in the areas
of commercial finance, bankruptcy and general corporate law,
the last 7 of which she was Regional General Counsel of The
CIT Group/Business Credit, a major domestic commercial finance
corporation. Ms. Arlen has a B.S. in Economics from the
University of Rochester and a J.D. from Ohio State University.
Ms. Arlen, an avid “soccer mom”, has also served on various
committees for the Chicago Abused Women Coalition and does
volunteer work for The Anti-Cruelty Society. As a mother of
two registered youth soccer players in downtown Chicago,
Illinois, Ms. Arlen joins our other EduKick officials and
staff in sharing the passion for "the beautiful game!"
International Football Academies • Soccer Boarding
Schools • Soccer Academies • Soccer & Spanish in Mexico •
International Summer Soccer Camps • Language Immersion Soccer
Camps • Individual Soccer Programs Abroad • Soccer "Team
Tours"
|
|
|
|
|