Boston Programming Launches with East Boston World Cup

A Goodhue Photography

On February 20th, Soccer Without Borders hosted it's first-ever event for participants in Boston.  The East Boston World Cup brought together over 120 boys and girls ages 8-12, mainly from the neighborhood of East Boston, along with over 25 volunteers for a day full of indoor soccer, team spirit challenges, and fun. 

Once all of the participants were assigned their country and team for the day, the tournament began with a huge group warm-up activity that gave kids and coaches alike an opportunity to get to know each other.  While teams weren't playing in one of their five matches they were busy making posters, decorating t-shirts and making cheers based on their World Cup country.  The competition on the field was just as high as the off-field competition as the day's two spirit judges spent the tournament circulating through the teams and awarding them points for their spirit and sportsmanship.

The day concluded with a closing ceremony in which the parents and families of the participants played a crucial role.  As the participants readied themselves to deliver their cheers and show off their posters one last time, the parents and families formed a huge circle on the fields and when participants entered into the gym to take a victory lap around their parents they were greeted by cheers and applause.  Before the overall World Cup champions were crowned,  all participants were invited to take part in a six-week spring soccer season (April 19- June 2) that will be run by the Let's Get Movin' program and Soccer Without Borders.

A Goodhue Photography

A special thank you to the Salesian Boys & Girls Club for graciously allowing us to use their space to hold this event.  Also thank you to A Goodhue Photography for taking photos the day of the tournament, check them out on Soccer Without Borders' new Boston facebook page.  Last but not least, thank you again to all of our wonderful volunteers who helped to make the day a huge success.  The tournament provided a great opportunity to get to know kids and parents in East Boston and we're really exciting to carry this momentum into spring practices.

"Atrévete"- New season off and running in Nicaragua

Soccer Without Borders strives to support the positive growth of every participant, helping each individual realize that they have a voice and can work hard to reach their goals. So for this season in Granada, we agreed on a theme revolving around the general idea of challenging yourself. We want to push the girls to open their minds and continue improving on the field. A balance between the improvement of body and mind, this theme allows so much room for creativity.

To introduce “Atrévete” to the girls, we decided to start a Tuesday evening activity by bringing the Mariposas, Estrellas, and Nicoyas together with a dynamic challenge followed by a mentally engaging competition. To start, a couple of the coaches shouted a pair of numbers, the first signifying the size of the group and the second the number of legs allowed to remain on the floor. For example, a call of five-two meant a group of five girls with only two feet on the ground. They had to mobilize and strategize.

Next we divided the girls into groups and gave each one an equal pile of soccer equipment, such as cones, balls, and shinguards. The challenge: to build the highest structure in 12 minutes. Towers of stuff grew, wobbled, and toppled, but we saw some imaginative architecture and a lot of smiles.

Since then, the coaches and interns have visited houses, and the girls have signed contracts and set personal goals. We’ve already logged countless hours at the field and Alex (boy) has led the way with introducing iSoccer, a program to individually measure soccer skills pertinent to player development. With this, we have a more concrete manner of evaluation. The first results act as a baseline to improve on because we’ll have the girls perform the skills a couple more times this season.

Off to the races, the Nicoyas already won 1-0 in a friendly match against the American Nicaraguan School from Managua. The FSF Veteran team travels to Managua this Saturday to give ANS another battle. 

Although chosen for the benefit of the girls, this theme simultaneously dares us as coaches and leaders to push ourselves to enhance the SWB Granada experience. The challenge: to take SWB to the next level, and we’re up for it.

New SWB Features including the NSCAA Podcast "Off the Pitch"

Check out SWB Executive Director Mary McVeigh and Outreach Coordinator Mariel Wilner on the NSCAA's "Off the Pitch" Podcast.

SWB was also recently featured on Sympatico.ca and In Bed With Maradona, two online publications asking the same question: Can Soccer Change the World?

SWB joins Street Football World Network

SWB is excited to announce that we have been accepted into the streetfootballworld network! The SFW network unites 84 distinct organizations that span over 50 countries who all use soccer as a tool for development and sustainable change (Check out the streetfootballworld website).  With our acceptance into the network, SWB becomes the fifth US organization to gain membership.  We look forward to learning from and collaborating with these great organizations around the world!

La historia de un viaje estupendo

At the beginning of January, SWB Coach Estefan Bolanos, more commonly known as Techo, traveled from Granada, Nicaragua to Santa Ana, El Salvador to represent SWB at ASAPROSAR's annual camp. There he worked alongside SWB's Luis Palacios, Local Program Director in Solola, Guatemala, to coach soccer sessions at the camp, which features an array of activities including magic, art, and poetry. The trip marked Techo's first time traveling out of Nicaragua, and surely the longest bus ride he's ever taken. Check out some of his thoughts, comments, and stories below! Note: You may need an online translator.

"Este viaje fue mi primero y me ha gustado mucho, por que fue como una meta para mi. Ya que hiba solo viajando en un bus por 14 horas hasta el destina ya determinado.

Todo en el campamento me gusto porque fue una experiencia unica. Todas las personas, los chicos y los voluntarios fueron increible, porque me senti que estaba en mi casa, en mi pais, en mi comunidad, voy a contarles una pequena historia.

Cuando llegue a El Salvador, fue una sensacion muy buena porque ya habia llegado al destino, ya determinado, estuve en todo el equipo de Norteamericanos en ASAPROSAR por dos noches. Al tercer dia partimos al campamento con todos los ninos, ninas y adolescentes. La primera noche de el campamento, recibimos una noticia muy lamentable, la mama del abuelo Tom habia sufrido un paro cardiaco y cuando todos lo sabiamos eramos para que la recuperacion de ella fuera muy rapida e inmediata porque el abuelo Tom no podia viajar hasta los Estados Unidos en ese momento. Ya que habiamos empezado el campamento espectacular rodeodos de muchas personas especiales para todos lideres de ellos y nosotros los voluntarios, en ese mismo momento cuando habiamos terminado de orar por la mama de el abuelo Tom, los y las lideres de todos y todas los participantes en el campamento estaban contando la historia de todos y todas de ellos voy a contar un poco sobre esa historia. Una lider comento que si no hay un campamento asi como el que hubo, todos y todas los participantes estrian trabajando en un mercado hasta horas muy altas de la noche tipo 12am o 4am de la madrugada, en los semaforos endiendo caramelos y otras cosas para poder llevar dinero a sus hogares y es un poco triste lo que hacen luego que tuvimos esa reunion con todo el grupo. Habia un show de magia de parte de los voluntarios y algunos magos salvadorenos, yo nunca habia estado en un show de magia y fue muy facil enganarme.

Luego los dias pasaron y yo aprendi malararismo y on truco de magia, bueno esa experiencia que yo tenia en El Salvador fue muy especial y si tuviera que vijar otra vez, solo lo haria por ellos que son unas personas muy amables y los invito a vivir una experiencia asi como yo."