Just before the holiday season, our Life Works program rewarded a group of youngsters who have truly shined as leaders throughout the year, receiving a gift for their efforts.
36 children were presented with cleats at the Station Soccer pitch at MARTA Five-Points. They gasped, their eyes widened, and the smiles stretched from ear to ear when they received, for some of them, their first pair of cleats ever.
Shortly after their surprise, the children jumped onto the pitch in style. IN particular, the girls vs. boys matches were quite entertaining, and everyone’s skills were on point.
The dedication and effort of the Life Works participants to the program is truly amazing and something to be thankful for. These children come from a range of different nationalities such as Iraq, South Sudan, Nepal, Indonesia and the U.S.
Soccer in the Streets works hard to level the playing field for all youth, and is great to afford the kids with opportunities to succeed, both on an off the pitch
Life works is one of our signatures programs, which aims to prepare teens with “soft” skills to enter the workforce. Life works makes sure that participants are active and on and off the pitch. Twice a week, year round, they have workshops off the field with programming staff and advisers who identify topics and field trips that are engaging and can lead to the future success of graduates. Additionally, they play games on weekends year round.
Teenage participants serve as role models to the younger children in the program by acting as junior coaches and increase the capacity of the organization by preparing the next generation of kids to succeed.