Safe Places to Play transforms abandoned courts, empty schoolyards, vacant lots and the like into state-of-the-art soccer fields for kids.
The Foundation awards grants three times a year to underserved communities to help cover the costs of lighting, irrigation, construction, surfacing and enhancement.
For communities where space is at a premium, Safe Places to Play developed what we call the mini-pitch. These are small, customized areas perfectly suited for organized soccer programs and pick-up games. Mini-pitches provide a quality playing surface for kids. They also transform the look and feel of neighborhoods.
Click here if you are interested in bringing a new safe place to play to your community
Before
After
New York City Soccer Initiative
In partnership with the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, adidas and the New York City Football Club, the U.S. Soccer Foundation will enhance underserved communities by creating 50 new Safe Places to Play Mini-Pitches across New York City's five boroughs between 2016 – 2020.
This transformative public-private partnership brings together significant resources to the city and will increase access to safe play spaces for the children who live in underserved areas throughout New York City.
Click here to access the press release.
Click here to find out more about this program on the official website of the Mayor of New York.
As the project progresses, our photo library will feature our new Safe Places to Play Mini-Pitches.
Support Us
Kids across this country need a safe place to play. That's where you come in. 89% of your donation goes to support life-changing programs that help kids reach their full potential both on and off the playing field. Consider becoming a supporter today, and help us make a real difference in a child's life.
Our Partners
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adidas
adidas, the Foundation's Safe Places to Play - Mini-Pitch Partner, supports providing children in underserved communities with safe play spaces nationwide. adidas strives to be the globally leading and most popular sporting goods brand. Dedicated to innovation, adidas embraces creativity and seeks to be socially responsible in all facets of its brand. For more information, please visit adidas.com.
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APT
APT (Advanced Polymer Technology), the Foundation’s Partner for Acrylic Coating Products, is a global leader in high performance sports surfaces. APT provides people around the world with safe, reliable, performance enhancing surfaces. APT’s Laykold Masters acrylic surfacing system will be the official surface of an estimated 500 mini-pitches. For more information on APT, please visit www.sportsbyapt.com.
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AstroTurf
For athletes and soccer enthusiasts, AstroTurf® is redefining how synthetic soccer fields are built and perform. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of clubs, high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf’s LigaTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit the company’s recently redesigned website, www.astroturf.com/soccer. - See more at: https://ussoccerfoundation.org/article/astroturf-partners-with-the-u.s.-soccer-foundation-as-a-national-partner-for-field-building-program#sthash.FL8E8bAM.dpuf
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Brock
Brock is the U.S. Soccer Foundation's preferred shock pad products supplier. Providing safe places to play is at the core of what Brock USA does as a company. Brock PowerBase/YSR, PowerBase/PRO, and ShockPad/SERIES artificial turf shock pads have revolutionized an industry to provide better impact absorption and performance for fields to help reduce concussions and other injuries. By partnering with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Brock hopes to make America’s artificial turf fields the safest places to play for children. Brock's shock pads are also the only product in the artificial turf industry to be Cradle-to-Cradle certified, so they're not only thinking about a child’s well-being today, but their futures as well. For more information, please visit www.BrockUSA.com.
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CHA
CHA Sports, the Foundation's Supplier for Soccer Facility Design and Planning Services, provides community partners with expertise in soccer facility design. CHA Sport's full service approach allows the company to build world-class projects without breaking budgets. For more information, please visit chacompanies.com.
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Hunter
Hunter Industries, the Foundation's National Partner for Irrigation Equipment, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of irrigation equipment for turf, landscape and soccer fields. Hunter Industries' focus is on landscape irrigation with a significant part of its business centering on the proper care and maintenance of sports turf. For more information, please visit hunterindustries.com. Please contact Lynda Wightman, 406-273-3073, lynda.wightman@hunterindustries.com with any questions regarding the U.S. Soccer Foundation's grants program.
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Kwik Goal
Kwik Goal, the Foundation’s Official Supplier for goals, seating, boundary equipment, training equipment and coaching accessories, will be supporting a variety of Foundation programs and initiatives including: Soccer for Success, National Training and the Safe Places to Play program. Over thirty years ago, Kwik Goal was founded on the revolutionary concept of providing transportable goals for coaches at all age levels. Since that time, Kwik Goal has continued to focus on helping coaches and soccer programs create safe and dynamic learning environments by supplying high quality, safety tested soccer goals, field equipment and training equipment to the domestic and international market. For more information, please visit Kwikgoal.com.
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Musco
Musco Lighting, the Foundation's National Partner for Sports Lighting, has specialized in the design and manufacture of athletic field lighting for over 35 years. Musco’s newest innovation, Light-Structure GreenTM, offers significant advantages for your budget and the environment — operating costs are cut in half, spill light is reduced by 50%, and 100% of your maintenance costs are covered for 25 years. To request your free copy of Sports Lighting: Answers to 7 Common Questions, please visit www.musco.com. Please contact Mike Shindler at mike.shindler@musco.com with any questions regarding the U.S. Soccer Foundation's grants program.
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Nike
NIKE, Inc., the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s National Partner for Athletic Apparel, supports the Foundation and its programs by providing Nike apparel to kids in underserved communities. Nike believes in the power of sport to unlock human potential and is committed to providing access to sport and physical activity for kids to help set them up for success for life. For more information, please visit http://about.nike.com/pages/community-impact.
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SCORE Sports
SCORE Sports, the preferred provider of shin guards to the Foundation’s Soccer for Success program, is a family-owned and operated business specializing in sports equipment, uniforms and apparel. SCORE is an industry leader and has been involved in the sports community for over 40 years. SCORE outfits athletes with high-quality uniforms that SCORE develops, designs and manufactures in the U.S. SCORE takes pride in working with various non-profit groups and causes to give back to athletes who may need some extra support to play the game they love. SCORE is environmentally cautious with the materials it uses for its products and does its part in minimizing our environmental footprint. SCORE proudly offers a wide variety of products to provide customers with a one-stop shop for all your soccer needs. For more information, please visit scoresports.com.
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Soccer.com
Soccer.com, the Foundation's National Partner for Soccer Equipment and Uniforms, was founded in 1984 to provide high quality soccer gear at reasonable prices through its nationally circulated catalog. Soccer.com embodies a passion for the game that extends to the people who play, coach and support soccer. For more information, please visit soccer.com.
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Sport Court
Sport Court®, the Foundation's Supplier for Futsal Surfaces, has been the industry leader in modular athletic flooring for over 30 years. With more than 50,000 installations worldwide, and the largest and most experienced network of authorized dealers, Sport Court® delivers innovative, durable, high-performance solutions for a variety of sports and activities. For more information, please visit sportcourt.com. Please contact Joel McCausland at jmccausland@sportcourt.com for any questions regarding the U.S. Soccer Foundation's grants program.
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TGI Worldwide
TGI Worldwide, the Foundation’s National Partner for Visual Branding (Signage, Event Décor, Pageantry, Sponsorship Activation), Perimeter Field Board Systems, Creative Services and Event Operations is proud to support a variety of initiatives and programs throughout the United States. Headquartered in the U.S., TGI is an internationally recognized sports marketing company delivering high profile Visual Branding, Live Event Management, LED, and cutting edge Digital Sports Applications to enrich the experience at major events and deliver commercial impact for sponsors and partners. The company has a 20-year history in providing its various solutions for many top-tier domestic and international events, organizations, teams and companies, with proven success and turn-key solutions across 1000+ events, 160+ cities and 50+ countries globally.
For more information on our services, please visit www.worldwidetgi.com or contact Mike Squire at msquire@worldwidetgi.com / Phone: 312-371-5852.
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World Soccer Shop
Launched in 2001, World Soccer Shop is an online soccer retailer based in Birmingham, Alabama. It carries one of the world’s widest selections of officially-licensed products from the sport’s top brands and teams. World Soccer Shop is passionate about soccer and endeavors to spread the beautiful game around the world, especially to those in areas of need. For more information, please visit www.worldsoccershop.com.