A group of young boys gathered on the grassy field at Fort Worth’s Hillside Park every Wednesday evening. Some wore soccer cleats, some sported Crocs — or no shoes at all. Some were dressed in gym shorts and T-shirts; others were in jeans. They all waited for their turn to play against each other in one of the two small pitches along East Maddox Avenue.
Daniel Garcia Rodriguez and Henry Alvarez wrote down team names — Banana Boys and Rice and Beans — on a large whiteboard. At the center of the practice, Fernando Olmedo Rivera and Oscar Enriquez drew the boys’ attention to start the 4-by-4 pickup.
“Remember, guys, don’t start until three bounces,” Enriquez said through a megaphone on the other side of the pitch.
The boys gathered in the center of the field, one with the ball in hand. They nodded their heads and tossed the ball into the air. Their eyes stayed laser-focused. Once the ball hit the synthetic turf for the third time, they launched toward it.
The soccer ball flew, sometimes lofted over the pitch’s fence, while boys on the sidelines cheered wildly. Heads swiveled with the ball as it was kicked around the field. The spectators laughed, throwing out an occasional joke if a friend missed the goal.
Alvarez stood on the outside of the pitch, tallying the score as each team made a goal. He reminded the boys to avoid curse words and remain respectful throughout the game.
This is the routine for the four Rebelz Futbol co-founders twice a week. The group organizes free soccer pickup matches for kids every Wednesday and for adults every Friday. The pickup league brings out soccer players of all ages and genders in the community, eager to practice for their next game, get some exercise or meet new people. Whatever the reason, the quartet aims to make Rebelz Futbol a space where anyone can play soccer and everyone shows up for each other.
From pay-to-play to anyone welcome
Alvarez, Olmedo Rivera and Enriquez previously coached together for a children’s soccer league in Fort Worth. They soon began to notice that the cost to play became a barrier for kids to enjoy the sport. Fees to play would regularly stack up, Alvarez said. At times, the coaches paid out of their own pockets to help cover the costs and keep the fun going.
“We couldn’t keep feeding into this,” Alvarez said. “Some parents couldn’t afford it, or maybe they just wouldn’t even care to pay. I wasn’t gonna bother going after everybody.”
The price of playing soccer wasn’t something new to the group. Each of the co-founders has experienced the financial challenges of playing soccer into adulthood.
Alvarez and Enriquez formerly played together at La Cuatro, a soccer pitch in Fort Worth. Now, their old pitch is fenced off and mostly used for pay-to-play
leagues, they said.
Olmeda Rivera said, coming from Mexico, he was used to having endless access to the sport. Once he came to the U.S., he realized he could no longer be a part of a team without paying a price.
As a teenager, Garcia Rodriguez said he was good enough to qualify for a local private soccer league, but the league ran out of scholarships that would’ve supported his position. This played a factor in him acting out throughout high school, he said.
The experiences of Alvarez, Enriquez and Olmeda Rivera led them to step away from the pay-to-play system. They began holding their own free pickup matches for any of the kids in their leagues who wanted to join. The three met Garcia Rodriguez shortly afterward, and he now runs the group’s social media outreach.
Rebelz Futbol vinyl stickers and “Copa Rebeldia” trophies sit on display at Hillside Park on May 9, 2026. (Bianca Rodriguez-Mora | Fort Worth Report)
They continued to hold free practices through 2022, but then had a small hiatus until 2024, when they officially adopted the name Rebelz Futbol.
“Rebellious energy matches our vision for soccer to be more than just soccer,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “It’s something that’s authentic and empowering.”
The group would play at any free soccer field it could find in its early days. Increasing numbers of interested players showed up, inspired by word of mouth or social media.
Some kids came from the leagues where the group used to coach, but if someone from the neighborhood saw them practicing, they were more than welcome to join, Olmeda Rivera said.
As its numbers grew, the group also began hosting adult soccer pickup games. Word continued to spread — and the number of people showing up every Wednesday and Friday grew.
“We’ve been Rebelz for about two years now,” Alvarez said. “A lot of these kids haven’t had an official Rebelz uniform. But that doesn’t mean that they haven’t identified with who we are.”
Rebelz Futbol co-founder Henry Alvarez passes out free jerseys at the Copa Rebeldia event on May 9, 2026. (Bianca Rodriguez-Mora | Fort Worth Report)
The group had been holding practices at the Marine Park soccer fields in Fort Worth, as well as a handful of other fields scattered around the city. However, as the summer of 2024 came to a close, daylight saving time caught up to them.
Because practices were held at 7 p.m. to accommodate parents’ and players’ work schedules, it was no longer safe or reasonable to hold practices at a field that lacked the proper lighting.
The group then stumbled upon a cement tennis court, with lights that can be turned off and on by the public, at Hillside Park, right next to the Atatiana Carr-Jefferson Community Center.
“It was these old tennis courts that are underutilized,” Olmeda Rivera said. “We were lucky to find this one, because a lot of other fields did not have lights.”
The Pitch
Rebelz Futbol decided to use the tennis courts as a “field,” drawing lines in their heads for goals and hoping no one fell flat on their face on the concrete. Then, in February, the group was approached by a worker from the Jefferson Community Center.
The organizers said their players didn’t mind playing on the cement. As long as they had the lights on and a ball to play with, they were set.
But when the men were approached by a staff member at the community center about the possibility of Street Soccer USA providing the funds to the city of Fort Worth to transform the tennis court into two mini pitches, they knew they couldn’t miss out on the opportunity for the community.
“We sent them everything. We showed them that there’s a growing, vibrant soccer community in this space,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “Invest in what we’re creating, not for us and for our use, but for the use of the neighborhood and for the community, and they accepted that.”
Rebelz Futbol players kick around a soccer ball while waiting for their turn in the 4×4 tournament at the Copa Rebeldia event on May 9, 2026. (Bianca Rodriguez-Mora | Fort Worth Report)
The new field was officially open by April, less than two months later. The organizers shared that despite feeling grateful for the change, they felt mixed emotions. There was a feeling that the change was mostly driven by the 2026 FIFA World Cup happening only minutes away, which was a concern because FIFA represents exactly what the group is against.
Most people who participate in their pickup games wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket to any of the World Cup matches, the organizers said, as prices ranged from over $500 to $4,000.
“FIFA isn’t going to save us. FIFA isn’t going to provide the needs that we actually need, not only for our communities but for the game,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “We are the ones who are going to show up for ourselves and provide what our community needs. It will never be FIFA.”
Olmeda Rivera said that the group has seen an even higher turnout since the pitches were installed. He shared that due to the larger numbers, the group has been determined to keep the space open for anyone to use, and made efforts to host events that cater to the surrounding community.
In May, the group hosted “Copa Rebeldía” and donated the proceeds to a family dealing with lawyer fees after a relative faced deportation. Throughout the World Cup, the group hosted watch parties and free pickup tournaments. The Rebelz also partnered with local vendors to provide things such as soccer-themed giveaways and free haircuts. A local DJ usually provided the soundtrack, remixing popular Nortenas and Tejano songs, or putting a Latin spin on popular songs.
“In a lot of these soccer spaces, we don’t see our music, we don’t see our art, we don’t see people that look like us,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “So, that’s why we decided to do things differently.”
“Not the best coaches in Fort Worth”
At a recent game, Fort Worth mom Lily Covarrubias sat in a lawn chair with her partner and her 4-year-old son, Santi, as they watched her oldest, 11-year-old Sebastian, take the field. As Santi walked around the pitch, kicking his own mini soccer ball, Covarrubias recorded a video. She strapped a small microphone to Sebastian’s jersey, hoping to get some funny audio to use.
“Sebastian has been with Coach Henry since he first started playing soccer. That’s where he started initially; with Coach Henry,” Covarrubias said. “He’s now on another team, and things are a little bit more strict in that team…. Here, he’s able to get a break from all that and just have fun. We’ve been coming every week since then.”
Covarrubias spread the word to other moms in the area, many from the old league that used to charge them to enroll their players.
Levi Gardner watched the game from outside the Hillside Park soccer pitch with his son, Cash, at the Copa Rebeldia event on May 9, 2026. (Bianca Rodriguez-Mora | Fort Worth Report)
Ana Ambriz shared that after her son, 12-year-old Santana, aged out of his old league, she reached out to everyone she knew to find a new one that she could afford. Ambriz said most of the leagues she wanted to apply to had fees going up to almost a thousand dollars. Then, her brother was introduced to Olmeda Rivera, who told them to stop by a practice.
Now, Santana excitedly waits for her to take him to Hillside Park for the pickup games.
“(Soccer) builds character, but sometimes you feel like you can’t do certain things because you can’t afford it, and it’s at the cost of the child,” Ambriz said. “It feels warm and fuzzy to be able to give him that and not have to say, ‘I can’t pay for it this week.’”
Ambriz and Covarrubias said their kids have picked up better communication skills, learned to respect their fellow players and gained confidence in playing the game.
Another Rebelz parent, Brandon Rodríguez, said he comes back every week because of the feeling of belonging that the coaches have instilled in him and his children.
It also has brought him great joy to see his boys, Adrian, 11, and Anthony, 9, build friendships throughout the years they have played with Rebelz. He shared that when he grew up, playing sports was unaffordable for him, and he is grateful to be able to provide that joy for his boys through Rebelz.
Children at the Copa Rebeldia event participate in a communtiy mural project outside of the Hillside Park Pitch on May 9, 2026. (Bianca Rodriguez-Mora | Fort Worth Report)
“It builds community, it builds just camaraderie. These kids can make friendships.” Rodríguez said.
Alvarez, Olmedo Rivera, Enriquez, and Garcia Rodriguez hope to make their group even more accessible. They recently began partnering with the DFW Latina Futbol Club to welcome more female-identifying players, and with Metro Blaze, a soccer league for blind players.
“We’re not specifically the best coaches in Fort Worth or the best soccer players,” Olmeda Rivera said. “But I think that sense of community and welcoming and connecting people is what I find special about this space — that’s why people come back.”
As the recent practice came to an end, the four Rebelz Futbol co-founders gathered the young boys into a huddle. Some won that final game, and some faced a devastating loss made worse by nagging jokes from a friend.
All the boys caught their breath as they began to stretch their arms into the center of the huddle, stacking their hands on top of one another. “Rebelz on three,” Enriquez said.
As the group let out their final cheer, none appeared to remember who’d won or lost. Walking away from the field, they were just looking forward to the next match.
Bianca Rodriguez-Mora is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at bianca@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/07/23/more-than-just-soccer-rebelz-futbol-creates-a-space-for-anyone-to-play-cost-free/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=688928&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/07/23/more-than-just-soccer-rebelz-futbol-creates-a-space-for-anyone-to-play-cost-free/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>