Washington Youth Soccer Foundation

About Washington Youth Soccer Foundation

A Healthy Future Starts With A Soccer Ball By creating equity in youth soccer, every child in Washington can develop to their full potential through soccer. Our mission is to increase youth soccer opportunities and access for all children in Washington, with a primary focus on underserved youth and communities. Through free soccer programs and transforming underused spaces into mini-soccer pitches, we believe soccer is the key to building community strength and creating lasting social change. Who We Serve Through the support of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, our free #SoccerforSuccess program uses soccer as tool to teach children about nutrition and healthy choices, to provide mentorship from caring adult coach-mentors, and to engage families and schools to foster a closer community. #SoccerforSuccess programs are started at elementary schools with at least 70% of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch, with priority given to schools serving communities of color and higher rates of transitional bilingual or migrant students. More than 80% of our players are youth of color and more than 76% are eligible for free and reduced price lunch. With community-focused hiring and a goal of coach-mentor staff matching our player demographics, coach-mentors of color on staff increased from 40% to 67% in 2017. 77% of participants categorized as overweight or obese improved or maintained their waist circumference by the end of the season. 66% of all children in the program improved or maintained their BMI score and 73% improved or maintained their aerobic capacity. Social-emotional impact is just as important. Surveys of our players show 89% of participants make healthier choices; 85% try harder to stay away from violence and fighting; 89% try harder in school; and 89% feel better about themselves. From nine sites in Spring 2017 to 14 sites for Spring 2018 - including a new site in Yakima - we have grown more than 50% in less than a year.

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