Creating Safe Places to Play in Underserved Communities
Summary
The U.S. Soccer Foundation committed in 2022 to doubling the number of pitches installed in underserved communities across the United States by 2026 – amounting to at least 1,000 underserved communities having safe places to play. By building safe places for youth, families, and communities to gather, engage, and be active, mini pitches play an instrumental role in rebuilding the connective tissue that brings a sense of security and leads to health equity.
Approach
The U.S. Soccer Foundation commits to doubling the number of mini-pitches installed in underserved communities across the United States by 2026, amounting to 500 mini-pitches and 1,000+ underserved neighborhoods having safe places to play. The timing of this commitment is tied to the 2026 World Cup coming to North America. The lead up and follow on to the World Cup presents a once in a generation opportunity to grow the game of soccer across the United States and to use soccer as a vehicle for strengthening communities and transforming the lives of youth from underserved neighborhoods.
By transforming abandoned courts and vacant lots into soccer spaces for kids, The U.S Soccer Foundation will increase community access to safe and healthy living by working with community partners, landowners, and funders to identify spaces within underserved communities of mutual interest to ensure that sports-based youth development programs can use these spaces for free and that they are open to the public.
Once a space is secured, The U.S. Soccer Foundation will partner with Musco Lighting to install their mini pitch model that includes lighting, lockable storage, ADA-compliant access gates and benches for community use, and a 10-year warranty. After installation, community and funding partners are engaged to develop a fun-filled opening celebration for the community. Along with the partnership with Musco Lighting, The U.S. Soccer foundation has additional partners who have committed funding to support 97 of the 500 mini pitches needing to be built to support our commitment.
This commitment is built on the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s long track record of impact. in 500+ underserved neighborhoods across the U.S. The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s mini-pitch community impact reports indicate that: 1) 98% of users say people in their community are more active; 2) 98% say the community feels safer; 3) 97% say the mini-pitch is accessible to all; and 4) 93% say the mini-pitch serves as a community hub. Further, community partners report that after a mini pitch is installed: 1) five times more soccer is played at sites; 2) three additional hours of daily play is made possible by mini-pitch lighting; and 3) and average of four hours of free daily programming runs on the pitches.
This commitment will provide access to safe play spaces to underserved communities and seeks to improve the health and well-being of youth throughout the U.S.
Action Plan
The U.S Soccer Foundation estimates about 115 mini pitches will be installed annually between September 2022 and December 2026. Based on signed commitments, The U.S. Soccer Foundation will establish a quarterly reporting system that details the number of new pitches committed for that quarter, installation schedule for that quarter, and opening celebration schedule for that quarter. Additionally, reporting data for external use will include overall progress towards the commitment, annual survey data about use, and periodic stories about impact.
Each specific mini-pitch project must always proceed on its own schedule – so that the local community is not forced to meet deadlines that would jeopardize their projects. Some projects are completed within 3-4 months of initiating our site reviews, while others can take approximately one year based on a variety of factors (local approval processes, weather, or scheduling conflicts) . In practicality, the actual process to install a mini-pitch once the other factors are in place is 2-4 weeks. The Foundation always provides such schedules to its partners to track each project’s process as we seek to work collaboratively to ensure all goals are met.
Year 1 (2022) : 115 new pitches built
Year 2 (2023) : 115 new pitches built [230 total]
Year 3 (2024) : 115 new pitches built [345 total]
Year 4 (2025) : 115 new pitches built [460 total]
Year 5 (2026) : 115 new pitches built [40 total]
Background
Founded in 1994, the mission of the U.S. Soccer Foundation is to provide underserved communities with access to innovative play spaces and evidence -based programs that instill hope, foster well-being, and help youth achieve their fullest potential. Recognizing the sport’s powerful potential to improve the health and well-being of youth throughout the U.S., we use soccer as a vehicle for social change. Inequities across the physical environment, social environment, education, housing and employment have profound effects on marginalized communities across the country. Children who grow up in underserved communities face distinct challenges in achieving health and wellbeing, including less access to safe places to play, sporting and health programming, or positive mentors. According to the 2021 State of Obesity Report, Black and Latinx youth have disproportionately higher rates of obesity than their Asian and white peers. The State of Obesity Report indicated that obesity prevalence for Asian youth was 8.7 percent, Black youth 24.2 percent, Latino youth 25.6 percent, and white youth 16.1 percent. These disparities can be partially attributed to less opportunity for physical activity and activity spaces. Children in neighborhoods without safe places to play have a 20-45% greater risk of becoming overweight, and such play spaces are more likely to be unavailable in communities of color as compared with predominantly white neighborhoods. Seventy percent of predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods lack any type of recreational facilities as compared to 38% of predominantly white neighborhoods. Further, 77% of kids living in households that earn less than $25,000 do not participate in sports. Only 35% of Black and 34% of Hispanic kids play sports on a regular basis.
Progress Update
The Foundation opened its 700th mini-pitch in the City of North Las Vegas on Monday, April 15. This milestone brings the Foundation 70% of its goal to double the number of pitches installed in underserved communities–amounting to at least 1,000 by 2026. The 700th mini-pitch represents a total $70 million social impact investment made in under-resourced communities to date. Survey data collected by the Foundation continue to the show the many benefits that mini-pitches provide in communities to play a role in improving health equity: 99% say that people in their community are more active after installation of a mini-pitch; 98% say their community feels safer after installation of a mini-pitch; and 91% say that the mini-pitch serves as a community hub.
Partnership Opportunities
We are seeking funders to support the scale of mini-pitch installation in underserved communities in the United States. Funds can be leveraged for pitches in specific communities, to serve as a matching program, and/or to support mini-pitch expansion writ large. We are open to campaign-style investments or highly targeted investments. Branding and recognition opportunities are available. We are also open to partnerships with public officials and other NGO partners interested in scaling safe places to play in the United States., The U.S. Soccer Foundation would like to offer others the opportunity to partner to achieve the goals of creating 500 safe places to play across the United States. Once funding for a mini-pitch is secured, the Foundation will serve as the implementation partner for bringing mini-pitches to underserved communities. Specifically, the Foundation will source the sites, work with community landowners on matters of usage, insurance, and permitting, and work with Musco Lighting on installation. The Foundation will also work with funding partners to develop an opening celebration activation and media plan for the mini pitch opening and/or groundbreaking ceremony.