July 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 21

yo u t h S P O R T S

Play with Purpose

Soccer for Success motivates low-income students

Photos by Zola Short (above) and Meredith McClure (below)

to see how we can
improve performance in the schools, " says Garth Welch, a
30-year soccer coach in Houston. Welch, who works for the
Houston Parks and Recreation Department, coordinates the
Soccer for Success program with local middle and elementary schools. The U.S. Soccer Foundation's program targeting students in low income
areas now includes more than 1,000 children at 15 schools in the Houston area alone.
Nationally, the program reaches 4,000 kids at 60 locations in five cities, with plans to
expand to 10 cities this fall, according to Wylie Chen, director of programs and grants
at the U.S. Soccer Foundation.
e're using soccer as a carrot

Soccer for Success offers after-school
soccer programs that provide kids with
an opportunity to play organized soccer, get physically active, learn good nutrition habits, and interact with mentors.
The programs are held at or near schools,
which eliminates transportation costs. In
order to play, students are required to attend tutoring sessions each week. Beyond
the actual tutoring, the program provides
additional academic benefits because
teachers and students become more familiar with each other and build relationships outside of the classroom, according
to Welch.
" Some of the schools where we've had
the most success are where we've had the
principals on board, out there working
with us, " Welch says. " We were able to
establish some really outstanding, longlasting relationships with the schools to
work together to tackle these issues. "
One big fan of the program is Zandra T. Aguilar, assistant principal at Patrick Henry Middle School in Houston. Her
students were playing unsupervised soccer in the streets after school, and warning signs like graffiti indicated that some
were trending toward possible gang
involvement.
" I met with the targeted students and
asked them, 'What can we do to get you
out of this mess?' They all answered, 'Ms.
Aguilar, all we want to do is play soccer,' "
Aguilar says. " After Soccer for Success, I

can honestly say that all the students involved in that 'gang' activity were no longer involved; instead, they belong to a
new team called Soccer for Success. "
" The Department of Justice indicates
that 18 million children need mentors, "
Chen says. " There's only three million
that are being mentored right now on
one-to-one basis, and so there's 15 million

children mentoring gap....Team sports
like this are a great way to have a positive mentor for several kids. One thing we
emphasize with our coaches is that you're
not just teaching them to play the game
or offering some nutritional tips. You are
being a mentor and a positive role model. How they treat them and how they interact with them is with respect, not in an
Soccer for Success programs in Los
Angeles (above) and Houston include
elementary and middle school students.

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July 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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