Those who drive into Sedona from Cottonwood on any given Sunday morning may notice that there is always a group of people playing soccer at Sedona Red Rock High School’s John Ordean Memorial Stadium.

The players: Men, women and children alike, have congregated and played in a competitive yet non-aggressive way every Sunday since 2010.

“The whole idea is to keep everyone together and off of the streets,” said Lorenzo Sanchez, the organizer of the group. “People who have nothing to do come play and have fun.”

Anywhere from eight to nearly 40 people of all ages show up. It all began when Sanchez and other local coaches wanted to begin playing again. They contacted high school officials, who gave them permission to use the field every Sunday, but at a cost.

Twice every year the group cleans the entire high school, athletic facilities included. The next time will likely be in May when school lets out for summer.

“It’s a good thing to do,” Sanchez said, noting that the need was clear since the school has only a couple of janitors. “When we come and clean, it looks nice and clean.”

Aside from the variety in age and gender, a good amount of international flavor is mixed in, too. Players hail from countries like Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Italy, Guatemala, Austria, Sweden, Morocco and Romania.

When teams are selected, the nationalities are purposely mixed, for one to avoid physical confrontation and at the same time promote the relationships between players of varying backgrounds.

It represents the coming together of two communities that share a common interest for playing soccer.

Organizing everything was not difficult, either.

“There were no challenges at all,” Sanchez said. “They [the school] knew we were doing this and more people and more people starting coming.”

Occasionally the team, which is still without a name but will likely be called Sedona Oldies, plays against teams from Flagstaff or Phoenix.

On Sunday, March 26, two players from Northern Arizona University’s Division I women’s soccer team made the drive down to play. Ocean, the 12-year-old son of Sedona Red Rock High School co-coach Johan Lagercrantz, was on the field, too, seeing the ball just as much as the big kids. But having children play is nothing out of the ordinary.

“The main thing is when we have kids [play] they start very young,” said Sanchez, who added that those unhappy with child participation are asked to leave. “We work with them, teach them and tell them what to do.”

No skill level is required. Adults play who had never known how to play soccer until starting to play pickup on Sundays.

Once upon a time, Sedona resident Scott Gilbert was new to the game. Now he takes the field and mixes in with the rest.

“It’s fun to watch everyone develop, it’s not as aggressive, so you have an environment to learn in,” Gilbert said. “It’s hard to learn soccer as an adult unless you have that kind of environment.”

There is no fee to show up and play.