2021 EduKick International Football
Academies Soccer Boarding Schools, Summer Camps Abroad
 EduKick,
Inc. is owned and operated by Joseph W. Bilotta .
Bilotta currently resides in Toronto, ON, Canada.
EduKick Mission
Bilotta and (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 was
 were
still a teenager, something happened that would change his life forever. He was 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 player had the experience of his
life and he has credited that trip with being instrumental
in his development as a youth. "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 & 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.
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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, Espa�a), 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.
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"
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