Another Story Involving Soccer in the Mission
Anyone living in our fair city for any length of time has seen the Mission District gentrification story played out in the media ad nauseam.
Even mainstream media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek have documented the influx of tech workers and the exodus of the Latino community.
Last October a viral video of a confrontation between “techies” and neighborhood kids on a Valencia Street soccer field was seen as a microcosm of San Francisco’s growing pains, with new residents pitted against old.
Now another challenge involving a soccer field in the Mission is brewing, but one that could unite Mission residents from all walks of life towards a common cause. America SCORES Bay Area has selected the district’s Marshall Elementary School as the latest target for their Field of Dreams Initiative.
America SCORES Bay Area is the San Francisco-based chapter of a national non-profit that works with low-income kids, using soccer, poetry, and service-learning to instill them with physical fitness, self-expression, and a sense of community.
The aim of Field of Dreams is to put turf soccer fields in 18 of San Francisco’s public elementary and middle schools within the next four years. Editor’s Note These turf fields are not the kind containing rubber pellets.
And the schools earmarked for this endeavor (which currently offer their students only asphalt to play on) serve some of our city’s neediest children.
Marshall Elementary sits at the corner of 15th and Capp Streets and serves almost 300 students, grades kindergarten to 5th, in a Spanish two-way immersion program, giving both native English and Spanish speakers an opportunity to become bilingual and biliterate. Beyond the academic focus on English and Spanish language development, there’s also a concentration on science and literacy.
America SCORES Bay Area’s goal (see what we did there?) for Marshall Elementary is to “transform 4,000 feet of cracked asphalt into a beautiful, safe play space for sports and play of all kinds.”
This is the sixth Field of Dreams makeover in San Francisco for SCORES and the benefits of these makeovers go beyond just getting kids to be more active. Schools with turf fields are seeing less play injuries and more participation by girls. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on their previous success at Redding Elementary, on the edge of the Tenderloin.
There are a myriad of opportunities for residents of the Mission and beyond to get behind this project, which has a total cost of $45,000.00.
For starters, you can join their crowdfunding effort here. Individuals or companies who give a particularly significant amount can have their efforts acknowledged on a plaque that will accompany the field.
There must be some well-funded, Mission-based company wishing to rack up a few community karma points, right?
So, anyone in the Mission want to talk about soccer?
In the spirit of full-disclosure, we should state that we at FootySF regularly volunteer our time, efforts and money on behalf of America SCORES Bay Area. They’re just one of several local soccer-related non-profits whose good works we like to support.
