(LOS ANGELES) Much of Street Soccer USA’s Los Angeles programming is focused around the Watts Imperial Courts, a famous housing project with a longstanding history in LA. LAFC, Adidas and Red Eye Foundation built a futsal court there that SSUSA uses for programming.
This summer and fall, we hosted Community Club practices in Watts twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Many participants, aged 6-16, had never played soccer before. SSUSA LA hosted a tournament earlier in the summer, but the players in the Community Club were not quite ready to compete yet.
In November, SSUSA hosted a second tournament at Watts. It was exciting for many program participants because it was their first time ever competing in a soccer game! The teams were divided by age groups into two brackets, u18s and u11s.
Our coaches were extremely impressed with our younger kids especially, who aptly applied the skills they learned in practice. After weeks of increased consistency in attendance at practice, the players were able to demonstrate an understanding of the game and the joy and excitement of scoring goals. While there were some impressive skills displayed, our coaching staff is more pleased with the teamwork and resilience the kids showed.
The tournament was supported by local partner nonprofit Red Eye, and the LA Galaxy sent their star squad with fun festival games on the side of the tournament. Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson came by as well to support the kids!
