SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia schools are getting new soccer facilities, equipment and training, thanks to the World Cup matches coming to town next year.
Soccer organizations are providing new equipment and programming to Philly schools, as the World Cup nears. Six schools are getting new mini pitches — small hard-sided fields.
The School District's Leah Hood said they’re an upgrade for students who play team sports.
"So many of our students are really excited about engaging in those activities but there's no place to do them,” she said. “There's just concrete slabs in their schoolyards."
Four of the mini-pitches at the Kirkbride, Penrose, SLA-Beeber and McClure schools are provided by the nonprofit luv.futbol. Two more at Swenson Arts and Technology High and Building 21 are courtesy of the World Cup host committee.
The girls soccer team at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber in Wynnefield doesn't have a field of its own. Head Coach Hannah Ziev said players take SEPTA to a rec center.
"It's a combined soccer and baseball field. The field is really uneven, there's like a tree hanging over the field," she said.
Ziev said she appreciates the mini pitch donated by luv.futbol.
FIFA World Cup Host Committee Chief External Affairs Officer Melissa Piccoli said she hopes students are inspired by the World Cup players coming next year.
"We hope that they'll look at that and say, 'Wow, that could be me someday,' and use the programming and the mini pitches and facilities we're giving them as a sort of launch point," said Piccoli.
The host committee along with the U.S. Soccer Foundation are pitching in on $2 million in legacy soccer projects across Pennsylvania.