New England

America SCORES New England offers our unique after-school program to 3rd – 8th grade students in 12 Boston public elementary schools and 10 middle schools with 660 student-athletes at these schools participating on 44 teams. The program is divided into creative writing workshops, soccer practices, and one day a week is devoted to inter-scholastic soccer games against another SCORES team. The fall season lasts 8 weeks and the spring season is 10 weeks.

Through two annual events, Poetry Slam! and Voices, SCORES further inspires urban youth to share their experiences with others through creative writing. Our students have the opportunity to publish their work in Kicker!, a national literary magazine; Learning Kicks!, an anthology of students’ creative writing; and in the family newsletter, SCORES’ Scoop. Every spring a College Kicks event brings SCORES children to a university campus to work with college athletes to promote higher education as a goal. An end-of-the-year Jamboree! provides a culminating experience where all students celebrate their many accomplishments.

Why creative writing and soccer? Our program builds on the growing interest in the world’s most popular sport to bring a recreational and educational program to hundreds of urban youth in need of healthy activities and academic support during out-of-school time. Soccer is a sport that is fun, easy to pick up, and is extremely popular with many immigrant families. Teamwork skills learned on the soccer field are translated into a supportive atmosphere in the writing classroom. By combining the team sport of soccer with a specially designed program of creative writing, our programs promote leadership, teamwork, self-confidence and positive self-expression among urban young people.

America SCORES New England employs over 70 Boston public school teachers as Writing and Soccer Coaches. Writing coaches receive training on our unique creative writing curriculum. Soccer coaches receive training in First Aid, CPR, and Sport Safety and are licensed by the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association.

For more information, please visit our flagship program, America SCORES Boston, online at www.americascoresboston.org.