Mission: Street soccer usa, inc. Is formed for the purpose of promoting, advocating and utilizing the sport of soccer and community-based programs as vehicles to eradicate homelessness and poverty in the united states.
Programs: Adult programs:street soccer usa coordinated delivered programming to over 1,000 adult homeless participants over the last year. Our largest program was in new york where we delivered life skill training through sports to 379 participants living in shelter. We also hosted a national street soccer event with 145 participants from our shelter based programs in twelve cities. The event took place at the art museum of philadelphia. From the pool of 145 participants, 8 men and 8 women were selected for the street soccer usa national team that traveled to represent the united states at the homeless world cup in glasgow, scotland. Youth programs:our youth programs expanded significantly over the last year, reaching 6,018 participants ages 517. The program expanded to new neighborhoods that included claremont village in the bronx, the tenderloin in san francisco, oak park, sacramento, and kensington, philadelphia. Street soccer usa built two new street soccer facilities, one in kensington, philadelphia and the other at the tenderloin children's playground in san francisco. Youth participants also took place in our annual street soccer usa cup series which featured major events in times square, new york, the art museum in philadelphia, and union square, san francisco. Coaches and volunteers:street soccer usa involved 1,209 volunteers in our programming and trained 156 coaches in our curriculum and methodology and supplied programs with over $58,000 worth of soccer apparel and equipment. Over the last year street soccer usa set records in terms of event offered, community festivals hosted, gear and equipment distributed, unique attendees, and total attendances.
As a coach and mentor for Street Soccer USA I have the privilege of working with homeless and at-risk individuals in San Francisco (as part of Street Soccer USA - Bay Area). Through soccer we teach life skills and build a community. We practice two times a week as a team, and each practice has a theme that applies to soccer and life. The last theme I coached was on "Control". We practiced soccer skills that help players control the game and the ball (dribbling, passing, trapping). We also talked about how we can better control our attitudes and emotions in life which will ultimately help us all make better, healthier decisions. I enjoy working with our team members, and love when one of the team members takes a positive step in their lives (getting a job, going back to school, finding permanent housing, etc). Street Soccer USA continues to be successful in "tackling" homelessness in America, and I'm proud to be a part of this organization.
