2011 Footprint Fields Grant Recipients

Thank you to everyone who applied for a Footprint Field Grant this year. We would like to commend you for your efforts and hope you will apply again next year! The competition was steep, but now we would like to introduce you to the recipients.

Congratulations to all of our Grantees for 2011. We wish you the best of luck as you move forward with the Footprint Fields Program, and continue the process towards providing your community with a new and improved soccer pitch.

City of San Bruno

San Bruno, CA

The City of San Bruno’s Community Services Department works closes with a number of different youth-based organizations (including AYSO and CYSA) to provide soccer programming to its young residents. The refurbishment of Lion’s Field will help to address the city’s pressing need for soccer facilities. Once completed the field will see a 67% increase in use and will be the only year-round public athletic facility in the City of San Bruno or the two nearest cities, South San Francisco and Millbrae.

Concordia University – Portland

Portland, OR

Concordia University – Portland is committed to impacting the lives of vulnerable children and young people. The Concordia Athlete Corps and Teacher Corps provide hundreds of tutors and mentors to the community and work to expand opportunities for at-risk youth. The construction of the Concordia Community Athletic Complex will allow the University to expand its soccer-based youth development programming and enhance the impact it can in the city of Portland.

Cordova Recreation and Park District

Rancho Cordova, CA

The Cordova Recreation and Park District will use its Footprint Fields Grant to turn an unused dirt lot into a safe, accessible play space for the community. The Cordova Recreation and Park District will run free and low-cost programming designed to create healthy habits and improve the fitness of local youth.

Enlace Chicago

Chicago, IL

Enlace Chicago is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the residents of the Little Village Community by fostering a physically safe and healthy environment in which to live and by championing opportunities for educational advancement and economic development. The new Footprint Field will directly serve 2,000 children and the 90,000 members of the Little Village Community.

Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis – Michael A. Carroll Stadium

Indianapolis, IN

The revitalization of the Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium field will allow Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis I to host world class soccer events at their facility while also addressing the city’s significant need for soccer facilities in the downtown area which contains a large population of underserved youth who are currently being shut out of the game because programming, fields, instruction and facilities are not affordable.

Kansas City Soccer Foundation

Kansas City, MO

The Kansas City Soccer Foundation was founded in 2006 by Sporting KC (then the Kansas City Wizards) to provide charitable and educational programs to youth in the Kansas City metropolitan area, using soccer as a tool. These programs range from providing college scholarships to high school students giving back to their communities to developing health education programs for young children. The construction of a Footprint Field in Northeast Kansas City will help to improve and expand the programs currently being offered by the Kansas City Soccer Foundation to an area that is in desperate need of safe, sustainable and accessible soccer facilities.

Madison Area Youth Soccer Association

Madison, WI

The organization’s mission is to foster the physical, mental and emotional growth and development of youth through soccer, at all ages and levels of competition. MAYSA has made a commitment to providing opportunities to low-income children in a number of ways by providing low-income programs with logistical support, donations of equipment, free facility use and annual grants. The creation of a new FieldTurf field will allow MAYSA to further expand the support it can provide to programs catering to underserved communities.

Michigan Wolves & Hawks Soccer Club

Detroit, MI

Despite operating in one of the most economically distressed areas of the country, the Michigan Wolves & Hawks Soccer Club continues to provide affordable programming to underserved children in Southeast Michigan through its Wolves Hawks Youth Academy. Highly qualified coaches and players from the club volunteer their time every week to mentor younger players in the Academy.

Northside Independent School District

San Antonio, TX

Located in San Antonio, TX, Northside ISD is the largest school system in South Texas and the fourth largest in the state. Northside ISD is committed to maintain a broad-based sports program that will afford all students with athletic interests the opportunity for safe and healthy participation in their sport of choice. Moreover, Northside ISD uses sports to provide student athletes guidance and information on gang prevention, conflict resolution, health, self-empowerment, truancy prevention, tutoring, and improved academic performance.

Parkways Foundation

Chicago, IL

The Parkways Foundation works to enrich the physical and cultural landscape of Chicago’s pars which encourage the feeling of community, foster a sense of ownership, enhance the quality of life, and engage the neighborhood. As the philanthropic partner of the Chicago Park District, Parkways funds projects throughout the City of Chicago that include the needs of children and families. The East Garfield field project is part of a much larger effort to provide safe play spaces for children and families in Chicago’s economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Salt Lake City Corporation

Salt Lake City, UT

The municipal government of Salt Lake City is working with a number of community partners including the Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer team to develop an athletic complex designed specifically to address the quickly growing need for facilities in the city. The Salt Lake Regional Athletics Complex represents a serious commitment to the continued support and growth of the game of soccer in the greater Salt Lake City area.

St. Benedict’s Preparatory School

Newark, NJ

St. Benedict’s is committed to serving Newark’s at-risk youngsters and those from low-income backgrounds in the hopes of providing them with the necessary education and instruction to become responsible, contributing members of society. Home to one of New Jersey’s storied soccer programs, St. Benedict’s also provides facilities and support to soccer-based youth development programs, including the Claudio Reyna Foundation and the Brick City Soccer program. Both programs will be able to expand their capacity once the artificial turf surface at St. Benedict’s has been replaced.

The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division

Chicago, IL

The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division is one of the oldest charitable organizations in the City of Chicago, having served the region since 1885. With the construction of this new Footprint Field the Salvation Army Metropolitan Division will have the unique opportunity to radically transform one of the most distressed communities in the city, the Far South Side, by investing in the 74,000 youth who live nearby. The field will support the organization’s youth development initiatives by coupling the educational elements of the programs to sports, specifically soccer.

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District

Beaverton, OR

The Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District works with the local recreational soccer league and competitive leagues to offer programs that expand the availability of soccer to its residents. In addition, the Portland Timbers, through their Hispanic Outreach, are active partners, providing players as mentors to low-income youth clubs in the greater-Portland area through the Adopt-a-Club program.  The project will provide a much needed soccer facility and in doing so, support various other community soccer programs that promote health and wellness, curbing childhood obesity, mentoring at-risk youth and education initiatives.

West Aurora High School

Aurora, IL

West Aurora High School has a rich athletic tradition, one that engages the local community and encourages its student-athletes to resist the influences of gang culture that affect the Aurora community. Beyond providing the community with a safe, professional quality playing surface, the field will provide the children and teens of Aurora with a positive alternative to the negative influences they face.

Widener University

Chester, PA

Widener University has developed a strong partnership with the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer and the two are teaming up to build a field in the economically distressed Chester Upland area outside of Philadelphia. The field, as part of a larger athletic complex, will be used to improve the health and well-being of urban youth. Specifically, the project will provide year round programming with a special emphasis on the summer months to when youth violence and gang activity spikes.