CityKicks

CONTACT:

44 Cottage St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-576-4730
users.rcn.com/jlrobles/home.html

Anne Strong, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Boston after-school sports programs involve only one in 10 students, offer nothing in the fall, and omit the world's most popular sport: soccer. CityKicks was created in 1999 to address this issue with middle-school girls. The City, the schools, other non-profits and the local soccer community, collaborate to offer a healthy and appealing alternative to watching TV, hanging out, or experimenting with risky behaviors after school ends at 1:30. Everything is provided: coaches, equipment, uniforms, fields, referees, scheduling, and transportation. Since it started, the program has doubled to 150 girls (80% from low-income, single-parent families) in 10 (out of the 20) Boston middle schools.

Benefits go far beyond healthy physical conditioning; effort, teamwork and sportsmanship are valued more than winning games. Participants attend local college and professional games, some can enjoy soccer camp on scholarships, and a Spring Jamboree brings everyone together for festive round-robin games, complete with celebrities. CityKicks' board includes executives and coaches from the New England Revolution, the Mass Youth Soccer Association, and BU's women's soccer team. The Boston Soccer Legacy Fund serves as its fiscal agent for donations, and it depends entirely on philanthropic dollars and volunteers. With your help, please.

(2002: HUMAN SERVICES: Children and Youth: Sports and Summer)