ABGC celebrates 50th anniversary

For the past 50 years, the Annandale Boys and Girls Club has provided sports and recreational opportunities to local youths. Now the ABGC, the oldest soccer club in Northern Virginia, is planning to vacate its headquarters on Columbia Pike and move to larger quarters, mostly likely to another location in Annandale.

Kip Germain, co-director of the ABGC, believes youth sports is an “important outlet to keep kids occupied after school and help them stay out of trouble and learn about teamwork.” He notes that soccer and other sports offer a positive alternative to the influence of gangs. He is proud of the many national championships won by ABGC teams. Most recently, the Conquistadores adult soccer team won the 2009 Open First Division Co-Ed National Championship in Dallas Oct. 25.

Germain estimates the club handles about 6,000 registrations a year. That includes 2,200 soccer players, 1,000 basketball players, 300 lacrosse players, and smaller numbers for football, T-ball, boxing, wrestling, and cheerleading. The club serves about 3,000 families a year, he says, since families usually have more than one athlete, and many kids play more than one sports. Several sports, such as soccer and boxing, serve adults as well as kids. The ABGC also offers summer soccer camps and sublets its auditorium to other groups for kung fu, tai chi, jazzercise, and zumba.

For Germain, a former professional soccer player on the Washington Diplomats (the forerunner of D.C. United) and the Atlanta Chiefs, the ABGC is a full-time job. All three of his children played division I sports in college. His father, Everett Grant Germain Jr., founded the club in 1959, and served as its president until his death in 2006.

Various fundraising activities support ABGC programs, including bingo, party rentals of its indoor soccer facility in Springfield, and Christmas tree sales. The trees are sold on North Chambliss Street in Alexandria near Landmark Mall.