WASHINGTON – D.C. United and DC SCORES have announced that beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the D.C United Foundation and its United Soccer Club will join forces with award-winning youth development nonprofit DC SCORES to serve more than 2,000 young people across the District of Columbia. By consolidating efforts, overnight the organizations will dramatically enhance and extend their shared mission to improve low-income children’s physical fitness and confidence while building literacy, increasing school engagement, and deepening their connections to their community. Melding DC SCORES’ robust curriculum and proven success with D.C. United’s name recognition and soccer resources presents an unprecedented opportunity to benefit young people throughout Washington, D.C.
“This is a natural union that brings a new level of impact and visibility to the extraordinary work that has been done for years by both DC SCORES and the United Soccer Club,” said D.C. United Chief Operating Officer Tom Hunt. “We are thrilled to combine our resources to maximize programming that is making a difference in the lives of children in the D.C. community.”
“We are extremely excited about the potential of this partnership to build the joy of soccer, instill the fun of learning, and bring the power of a team to hundreds more children,” said DC SCORES Executive Director Bethany Rubin Henderson.
This partnership is not intended to fund current DC SCORES sites. Instead, it is focused on expanding the number of schools and families who have access to meaningful, sports-based, whole-child enrichment programs. Consolidated programming and operations will result in greater visibility of both that unmet need and the benefits of DC SCORES programs within the city and beyond. That, in turn, will open the door to new levels of support and philanthropic investment to expand and respond to the overwhelming demand. The upside potential: 3,000 children / year.
“We’ve seen in cities across the country how soccer is changing young lives for the better — from building confidence to instilling healthy habits to simply exposing children to the joys of the game,” said Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. “How fitting that this partnership will strengthen the ability of these two fine organizations to serve young people living in our nation’s capital.”
DC SCORES programming leverages children’s interest in soccer to tackle an array of negative effects of poverty on a child’s life: a lack of extracurricular enrichment, a scarcity of adult mentors, insufficient physical exercise opportunities, and a lack of connection to their community. DC SCORES delivers its unique curricular blend of soccer, poetry, and service-learning through free after-school programs and summer camps led by trained youth development professionals. D.C. United invites all members of the local business community to join it in improving children’s lives by making a donation directly to DC SCORES.
