We are excited to announce that we awarded nine grants totaling nearly $245,000 to seven communities across the country! These grants will help build and enhance Safe Places to Play for kids in underserved communities. Follow this link to learn more.Congrats to the 2016 Safe Places to Play grant recipients!
- Borough of Bound Brook (Bound Brook, NJ)
- Castro Valley Unified School District (Castro Valley, CA)
- City of Bell (Bell, CA)
- Soccer in the Streets (Atlanta, GA)
- Street Soccer USA (Philadelphia, PA)
- Urban Edge (Roxbury, MA)
- Wells High School (Chicago, IL)
*received three grants Our Safe Places to Play program has been busy constructing fields as well! Check out a few that were completed this month.New York, NY: This mini-pitch is part of the 20-for-20 Mini-Pitch Initiative and is in partnership with adidas, MLS WORKS, NYCFC, and Southern New Hampshire University.
Houston, TX: This new play space is open for play! The mini-pitch was completed in partnership with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, and the MLS Players Union.
The U.S. Soccer Foundation has partnered with Trinity Health to expand Soccer for Success to reach more kids! Follow this link to learn more.
Join us for the 2017 Urban Soccer Symposium and follow this link to register. Make sure to book your room with the group rate before they sell out.
We have new partnerships with organizations that are running Soccer for Success in their communities across the country! These organizations include After-School All-Stars South Florida, City of Columbus Recreation & Parks Department, FirstLine Schools, FLIPANY, ReIMAGINE Mack Road Foundation, The Simple Foundation, and Youth Speak Collective. Follow this link to check out Soccer for Success locations. We can’t wait for the season.
Check out recent articles that feature the Foundation’s work:
- Our President & CEO reflects on the power of coach-mentors to shape kids’ lives. The Star In A Kid’s Eyes Is Often A Coach-Mentor, by Ed Foster-Simeon, U.S. Soccer Foundation
- Soccer for Success and Safe Places to Play are mentioned as effective programs that address the need for play to promote a healthy weight! Fighting Childhood Obesity by Catherine Arnst, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This past month, the U.S. Soccer Foundation attended the Social Innovation Fund (SIF)Convening, a conference that brings together Social Innovation Fund grantees and their sub-grantees to learn about best practices in social innovation.
In addition to attending sessions, the Foundation also presented! We shared best practices in leveraging technology to manage program outcomes. Our favorite part of the event was meeting and collaborating with fellow Social Innovation Fund grantees.
