09/08/2026
Some sports cards are worth more than others — not because of their monetary value, but because of the stories behind them.
Sports cards have become a central part of the Sidekick Sports Academy experience over the years. Our players collect them, trade them, compare them and proudly bring them home.
For us, though, they’ve always served a bigger purpose.
Cards can introduce a child to a new athlete, team or chapter of sports history. They can celebrate effort and sportsmanship. They can spark a conversation between two kids who may not have known each other that morning.
And years later, they can bring back a memory.
This Diego Fagundez card brings back a pretty great one for us.
In 2012 — Sidekick’s inaugural year — Diego visited one of our very first camps, held in partnership with FC United in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Diego was still a teenager and already a pioneering figure in Major League Soccer. He was the first Homegrown Player in New England Revolution history and had made his MLS debut at just 16 years old.
Fourteen years later, it’s amazing to see that Diego is STILL playing in MLS, is back home with the New England Revolution…and is somehow also still only 31 years old! 😂
Swipe through these photos and you’re looking at some of the earliest days of Sidekick Sports Academy.
We were just getting started. But many of the things we still believe today were already there.
Sports should be fun. Kids should feel like they belong. Great coaches can make an enormous impact. And the best youth sports experiences give children memories that last much longer than the final whistle.
As we prepare to celebrate Sidekick’s 15th year of operation, we’re excited to open the archives and share more of the people, photos, moments — and sports cards — that have helped shape our impact in the community.
Fifteen years. A lot of memories. And a whole lot of cards. ❤️
