Celebration of Soccer

What do you get when you add music, soccer balls, back-packs, hot dogs, drinks and fun skill sessions? In September in New Jersey you got 1000 happy kids with big smiles as we celebrated Youth Soccer Month. We started out by getting the Acting Governor of New Jersey, Richard Cody, to issue a proclamation that September in New Jersey is Youth Soccer Month. That was only the beginning!
To New Jersey Youth Soccer, calling September Youth Soccer Month was more than just a saying, it was an event! Or should I say 4 events. We took our tried and true recreation festivals and turned them into “Celebrations of Soccer”. On successive weekends in September, the volunteers and staff of New Jersey Youth Soccer targeted four inner city programs throughout New Jersey and brought our “Celebration of Soccer” to their community. Rick Meana, New Jersey Youth Soccer Director of Coaching, created sessions of fun skill games for all age groups.
		In addition, the local organization brings in some high school players who act as facilitators in the skill games. They are not coaches or referees, just there to make sure the games go as planned and that everyone plays safely and has fun. The high school players have as much fun as the younger kids do. As one of them put it at the Jersey City Celebration “If you guys come back next year, I will definitely be here to help. This was great!”
The players are broken down into appropriate age groups in advance and come to the “Celebration” at a specific time for their age. They spend 90 minutes or so playing fun non-competitive games geared at their age level. All the while music is playing to make it a truly festive atmosphere. And it doesn’t stop there. After they have finished their fun games, they line up for a hot dog and drink. But that’s not all! Every kid took home a new soccer ball, a New Jersey Youth Soccer Recreation t-shirt, a backpack courtesy of Oxford Health Systems and various soccer-theme goodies such as pencils, bouncy balls, trading cards, puzzles, and key chains. Needless to say the smiles went from ear-to-ear as they got their gifts.
All of this was done at no cost to the four programs. Al Sinclair, New Jersey Youth Soccer President summed it up best when he said “New Jersey Youth Soccer is a responsible corporation within the state of New Jersey. As such, it is our responsibility to support our communities with these types of activities. It good for New Jersey Youth Soccer, but more importantly its good for the less fortunate youth of our state.”
		The kids were not the only ones smiling either. Current and former members of the New Jersey Youth Soccer Board of Directors volunteered their weekends to make these events possible. As tiring as it was bringing it all together, there is nothing more satisfying that seeing the smiles on the kids faces at the end of the day. That makes it all worth while! For New Jersey Youth Soccer, September was more than just Youth Soccer Month, it was a Celebration of Soccer!
Pictures from other Celebrations of Soccer

Click on pictures above for full size picture