The Red Bulls continued to give wings to the city of New York this week as they began a series of training programs and clinics throughout the five boroughs as part of Red Bull’s “New York’s Got Wings” program with New York City Parks and Recreation. On Wednesday, the program made its way to the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center at 1 Clarkson Street, located in Manhattan’s West Village area. Throughout the course of the initiative, the Red Bulls will host 28 sessions across all five boroughs, giving underprivileged youths a chance to have fun while learning soccer basics.
“This is a program that provides training for kids in areas who normally wouldn’t get to have a training organization show them things or put on a clinic,” Chris Bonawandt, a coach with the Red Bulls Training Programs from Queens, NY said. “These aren’t really soccer kids, per say, so we’re trying to present soccer to them in a fun way, to try to the get them motivated, activated, and really falling in love with soccer.”
Soccer is an unfamiliar sport to a majority of the participants, many of whom come from the inner-city where they are brought up on other sports, such as basketball. For some of the children, their taking in of the training program marks the first time they’ve ever touched a soccer ball. The program stresses the basic fundamentals of soccer, while also incorporating broader themes like hard work and teamwork. Ashonta Smith, a Recreation Specialist at the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, says the experiences the children gain from the clinics are invaluable.
“As a sports person, I teach soccer, I teach basketball; but to have professional coaches here from the Red Bulls, it’s an inspiration,” Smith said. “It’s a whole brand new experience that the kids will totally appreciate. And I think the kids really, really love it.”
The program continues next week in the Bronx before hitting Brooklyn, then Queens and finishing up in Staten Island the following week. In all, over a thousand youths from New York City will take part in this interactive and educational program. Also as part of the New York’s Got Wings program, Red Bull is donating $1,000 worth of soccer equipment to NYC Parks and Recreation for every goal scored by the team this season.
From just one session, Bonawandt sees the potential that New York’s Got Wings has in growing soccer in the New York area.
“For many of the kids, it’s their first soccer experience,” Bonawandt said. “So they come away with it saying ‘I want to play,’ or they ask their mom and dad, ‘Can we watch the Red Bulls tonight?’”.
Coupled with the generous donations of New York’s Got Wings, the interactive, hands-on training programs will keep kids active while introducing them, and hopefully turning them into, big fans of the beautiful game.
