A new soccer organization with Brazilian ties recently joined the youth sports scene in Belmont.
Botafogo Soccer Academy Belmont, part of the international academy network of the Brazilian professional club Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, offers development-focused training on technical skills, creativity, and confidence during biweekly sessions.
“It was a passion that became an opportunity and we wanted to bring it to this area,” said Gustavo Kruschewsky, one of the group’s cofounders and owners.
The group held its inaugural event March 7, where interested parents and players met coaches and did some drills. Official sessions begin April 7 at Belmont Day School.
Held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, kids ages five to seven will train from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Participants ages eight to 12 will go from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Of all locations to host an international soccer academy, why Belmont?
“One of those things that came by chance,” Kruschewsky said. “It just happened to be one of the locations that worked out, and it was close to the Boston region.”
Kruschewsky and Marvin Ramos, another co-founder and owner, met in the late 1990s at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and bonded through soccer. Decades later, they embarked on this new project as they wind down their main careers as a local police officer and fire department lieutenant, respectively. Kruschewsky’s wife, Lilian Salas, does the administrative work. Kruschewsky and Salas live in Nashua, New Hampshire. Ramos lives in Everett.
Soccer is among the most popular sports at Belmont High School for both girls and boys. Last year, almost 15% of the school’s male enrollment tried out for the boys team. The girls advanced to the MIAA Division I Final Four last fall.
Kruschewsky and Ramos said the new venture is meant as a complement to and not a competitor of existing soccer programs like the Belmont Soccer Association. Unlike the Belmont Soccer Association, a nonprofit organization, Botafogo Soccer Academy Belmont runs under a for-profit model.
“It’s our intention to have a good working relationship where we can have clinics and help out,” Kruschewsky said. “We want to be involved. We understand not every kid is for Botafogo Academy, but we can be for every kid. Obviously we’re a business, but if there’s an opportunity to help kids out, we’re going to help them out.”
A native of Brazil, Kruschewsky moved to the United States when he was 9. His father, who has the same name, played for Botafogo in the 1960s. Ramos, originally from El Salvador, moved to the United States at age 10. The two became friends during their adolescence spent mostly in Cambridge.
“Soccer was their security blanket,” Salas said. “It was what allowed them to build relationships, and I think it was very important for them at a personal level.”
Licensed by Botafogo, the academy hired three coaches who all played at the collegiate level. The program uses training methodology from the Brazilian pro club, which competes in the country’s top league and made international headlines with a win in the group stage at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The coaches also received licensing in the Botafogo style, which emphasizes creativity.
“When things get tight in a game and you have to make a decision, sometimes you have to get creative and figure it out,” Kruschewsky said. “We’re going to bring that love of the game and the methodology as well.”
