Bull City Bulldogs | Amid crime in Durham, the youth soccer program is keeping its eye on the national prize

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — The next Patrick Mahomes could be on the fields at Campus Hills Park in Durham.

But for now it's all about the basics for this group of under 6s from the Bull City Bull Dogs.

“They develop leadership skills, learn discipline, you have to listen to someone other than your parents from time to time,” Talaya Burris, the mother of a 10-year-old on the team, said Tuesday.

The team called ABC11 to speak. The Bulldogs have been invited to nationals in Florida and need the public's help.

The tournament is in Tampa in December and they need more than $8,000.

“We want to make this happen for these kids and we will keep fighting until we get there,” said Fred Evans, co-founder of the Bull City Bulldogs.

No one here ignored what they had seen in the Bull City in the last three days and what these children are seeing.

Many of them come from communities where violence occurs.

“You can’t blind them from it,” Evans said. “It will continue to happen. One thing we do is pray for these children.”

Durham police say eight people have been shot since the weekend, three of them fatally. At this point, they don't know if either of them are connected.

“If we keep them busy, they will have to spend less time being swallowed up by these mean streets,” Evans said.

The team needs $8,500 to compete in the nationals in Tampa in December.

Talaya does everything she can to keep her ten year old out of trouble and get these kids to Florida.

“These children can benefit from being in a new environment,” she said. “Seeing other kids like them doing the same things and seeing teams that might be better suited to do that.”