With all of last year’s players in stable housing and off the street, this year for Street Soccer Seattle has been focusing on bringing in new players as we continue to empower our current player to bigger goals. We developed and implemented a recruiting campaign to engage more homeless and continue spreading the word about our program to new and existing social service organizations in Seattle. Bringing in new players requires “Showing Up”, one of our eight street soccer skills. In “Showing Up”, time is important to building trust and being able to show up in so many places. We’ve expended a great foundation of social service relationships and recruited some amazing new players. Yet, it’s still a daily effort and focus.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring in enough players in enough time to send a team to Philadelphia for the annual Street Soccer USA Cup, where we’ve brought a team since 2010. However, our Program Director, Chris, decided to go on his own.
“I believe the SSUSA Cup is an important time to foster relationships with coaches, directors, and players from around the country, get to know players and other city programs’ strengths, and share and learn ways for us all to improve”
–Chris, SSS Program Director
Beyond engaging with players and hearing their stories, Chris also talked with program coaches and leads, targeting improvements methods he could bring back to Seattle to amp up our player recruitment and volunteer engagement. Themes such as Showing Up, creating extremely low-barrier engagement points, and staying present even when success isn’t immediate, affirmed and expanded on SSS’s current strategies.
Additionally, Chris heard and saw the impact SS cities have been able to have by expanding the demographics beyond what we typically serve in Seattle. This includes engaging more players from refugee and low-income communities, and youth, as well as maintaining strong ties with the homeless population.
From sharing a room with the Philadelphia team, going on an Amazing Race activity with the Sacramento Women and Twin Cities Men, to watching players shine on and off the pitch at the base of the famous Philadelphia Art Museum Steps, the weekend was inspiring as usual. We are excited to implement Chris’s insight and see even more impact on SSS players and our community!