Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association See It! Be It! College Sports Day
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association seeks to inspire, motivate, and support all youth, but especially the youth who live in under-resourced communities. We will collaborate with local colleges and university programs to deliver Grassroots soccer training along with equity training for interested players. We will design a day that has the potential to change the lives of everyone involved.
The principles of equity will inform and direct each aspect of this experience for the youth participants and the student coaches involved. Our vision of the “See It! Be It! College Sports Day” requires that we ground our training in the principles of equity when certifying student coaches to ensure that our efforts are truly impactful. Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer will align and develop equity training with the US Soccer Coaching Pathway to prepare college athletes to coach and mentor youth from under-resourced communities. In partnership with local colleges, we will train student athletes, free of charge, to be certified coaches that coach through the lens of equity.
Through our training we aim to expose the student athlete coaches to the importance of equity in every facet of their lives. These college players will work at local rec centers, after school programs and other community-based programs during the fall and spring to deliver soccer programming to the youth who attend. “See It! Be It! College Sports Day” will be the culminating event of the season. Youth players will be invited to enjoy a day of soccer at the colleges attended by their respective coaches.
Many of these youth players are caught in the Cycle of Poverty. This will continue to exist unless there is outside intervention. The youth will be transported to the college, enjoy a campus tour, food on campus and a soccer game. College Sports Day will not be the only intervention that will help these youth break this cycle, but it could be a crucial intervention for these youth to see something outside of poverty. We hope that if they see and experience a wonderful day at the college, they will aspire to be something special.
Our goal is to give these youth access to a world they may never have imagined so they start believing they can attend college if they choose.
Upcoming:
10/12 – Alvernia University 7pm
10/22 – Elizabethtown College