America SCORES New York

America SCORES New York serves as a driving force in promoting structure, fair play, commitment, teamwork and self-expression to underserved, at-risk youth in New York City. Through a combination of soccer, literacy and service learning, our unique after-school program shines a spotlight on these student athletes helping them develop the skills necessary to lead successful lives off the field and outside the classroom.

We partner with urban public schools, hiring and training their teachers to coach their students in soccer, poetry and service learning five days-per-week after-school. Over the course of the school-year, our poet-athletes:

• Get 10x the amount of exercise of  kids in their age group
• Engage in more than 60 hours of poetry workshops, improving their creative writing skills and self-expression, and demonstrating a positive attitude towards school and the school community
• Engage in more than 60 hours of physical activity through soccer and health games, increasing their level of cardiovascular strength and learning how to make healthier choices.
• Engage in more than 60 hours of service-learning workshop, learning how to be leaders and effect change in their communities.

WHY SOCCER AND POETRY?

Soccer tends to distribute reward and responsibility evenly among team members, which is an ideal partner to our team poetry and service learning workshops, emphasizing self-awareness and collaboration through writing and discussion. Soccer also tends to act as the “hook” for engaging students in school and in our creative writing and community service projects.