The New York Red Bulls, U.S. Soccer Foundation and NYC Parks broke ground for construction of a new futsal court on March 16 at University Settlement/Eastside Community High School on the Lower East Side. The ground breaking event was held on site where Red Bulls General Manager Marc de Grandpre, U.S. Soccer Foundation President & CEO Ed Foster-Simeon and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver met to officially announce their collaboration.
The pitch will provide both critical afterschool programming and a safe place to play for New York City youth. Available to both the school and the community, the Sport Court mini-pitch will provide the community with a safe place to meet up, exercise and play soccer.
“It’s been a vision of ours since back in 2006 to provide opportunities for kids to have access to the game and play the game,” de Grandpre said. “Through soccer we’re going to engage young kids and give them an opportunity to learn life skills they wouldn’t learn anywhere else…this is going to be a safe environment for them so it’s critical.”
The event began with a press conference to announce the official details of the project and was followed by a photo opportunity. Red Bulls players and New York/New Jersey natives Mike Grella (Glen Cove, N.Y.), Andrew Jean-Baptiste (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Sean Davis (Long Branch, N.J.) and Connor Lade (Livingston, N.J.) were also in attendance. The RBNY stars met with fans, handed out jerseys, assisted with practice and posed for photos.
Soccer for Success, sponsored by New York Red Bulls, is U.S. Soccer Foundation’s free afterschool program that uses soccer as a tool to address children’s health issues and juvenile delinquency, was present and held practice at the site of their future field.
“There are some wonderful fields in New York, but a lot of them are out of reach of many of the children growing up around in underserved communities,” Foster-Simeon said. “Not only will our programming be here on this field, but after school this field will be available to the community and people can play on the community field on weekends and after school hours.”
The Sport Court mini-pitch, located at 420 East 12th Street, New York, will be completed this summer. U.S. Soccer Foundation has helped create more than 1,100 safe places for children nationwide and promote soccer as a vehicle for social change.
