New York

In New York, 18-year-old Yasmine and other Young Leaders are working to use the power of football to connect young people from different communities through the Soccer Bloc project.

New York City is renowned for its openness and vibrancy. However, some areas are underserved, with many young people missing out on opportunities to engage with their community in a safe space.

For the last two years, NYC Young Leaders have been tackling this problem by providing access to free after-school and summer football programmes for more than 350 children across the city.

Yasmine and other NYC Young Leaders will build on the success of the project by extending the reach to new mini football pitches across all five boroughs.

Through the Young Leaders work, they will connect even more communities to each other, encouraging children and young people to celebrate their diversity through the power of football.

Yasmine is passionate about supporting young people to feel more connected, using the power of football to create change in communities. “I use soccer to create an environment where people and younger kids, older kids, teenagers have this space where they can play safely without being judged.

“Kids should be able to understand what’s going on in their communities as well as in other communities. We want to educate these kids on that and how they can begin to have that first step in creating a difference.”

This project is delivered by the New York City in the Community Foundation, and generously supported by SAP.