Drawing inspiration from the dense development and multi-use transit stations in England, Sanjay Patel envisioned replacing the parking lots by MARTA stations with soccer pitches.
Tag: soccer
Posted inLatest News
Saturday was a big day in East Point: ‘This site is going to change people’s lives’
Ten-year-old goalie Kelan Watkins was a phenomenal shot blocker in the inaugural play Saturday on Soccer in the Street’s new field. The play represented a tender moment in metro Atlanta, a time when the first winds of autumn accompanied what may be a major shift in everyday life for a lot of people.
Posted inColumns
Grassroots soccer at the intersection of transit, equity, social infrastructure
By Guest Columnist SANJAY PATEL, director of special projects at Soccer in the Streets
It’s Saturday morning in late August and a soccer team from the Garden Hills neighborhood is aboard a MARTA train heading southbound. As the youngsters approach their destination, the recorded announcement on the speaker system exclaims, “Welcome to West End Station, exit here for StationSoccer….”
Posted inColumns, Main Slider
Atlanta United are our champions
I remember being up late in my cousin Chris’s open area ranch home living room off Columbia Drive in October of 1996 watching the Atlanta Braves lose the World Series to the New York Yankees despite having a commanding 2-0 lead.
My younger brother, my cousin and I were in utter disbelief at what we had just witnessed.
Posted inColumns
Happy news on the refugee front, in Clarkston
By Guest Columnist JILL ROBBINS, chief program officer for the non-profit Soccer in the Streets
Judging from the headlines, you’d think there’s no such thing as happy news on the refugee front. As someone who works directly with refugee kids in Clarkston, I can tell you there is so much more to the story. I see happiness in the faces of refugee kids every day in my role as chief program officer for Soccer in the Streets, where I have worked in youth development for more than 20 years.
Posted inWABE
Hopefully, soccer team can help unite fractured DeKalb County
Original Story on WABE By Maria Saporta Play Audio The new Atlanta United soccer franchise announced Tuesday that it had chosen DeKalb County for its headquarters and $35 million training facility. The DeKalb Commission voted earlier that day to approve the agreement with Atlanta United FC, one that would involve a $12 million investment by the […]
Posted inWABE
Atlanta’s new soccer team could be symbol for unity
Original Story on WABE By MARIA SAPORTA Play Audio Soccer fans still have to wait about a year and a half before they will be able to go to a match to see Atlanta’s pro team at the new downtown stadium. But when owner Arthur Blank officially unveiled the team’s new name – Atlanta United FC – […]
Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith
In Africa, former Atlantan helps kids One World Futbol at a time
For a couple of weeks in 1996, Sandra Cress helped bring the world of soccer to Atlanta. Today she lives in Nairobi and is helping children around the world live healthier lives through one tough soccer ball that stays round when they kick it.
The standard soccer balls used across Atlanta suburbs don’t stand a chance in the thorns, glass and barbed wire of the developing world. There, kids create makeshift balls of rags or whatever they can find. Cress said she saw kids kicking a ball made of old fruit taped together.
The virtually indestructible One World Futbol, made of a hard foam similar to that in Crocs sandals, has already transformed Cress’ world and should inspire anyone with deep knowledge, contacts and enthusiasm that do not seem to fit in the present job market. The indestructible ball offered Cress an opportunity to come full circle in her passion for soccer and expertise in humanitarian aid.
