Kensington Soccer Club Provided 38 Summer Programs To Keep Kensington Safe And Active
A camper looks over at cheering campmates during Kensington Soccer Club’s summer camp at William Cramp School./Photo: Gene Kim, Kensington Soccer Club
KENSINGTON, Pa. — Kensington Soccer Club was highly active in the summer, providing the community of Kensington with over 37 different program opportunities to get involved with the organization.
From community recreational soccer to free summer camps, Kensington Soccer Club was able to provide community members with numerous fun and enriching activities.
Embedded below is KSC’s Summer Program Map, demonstrating where the Club was operating this summer. To access the map key, click the top left corner. To access full-screen mode, click the top right corner.
In summary, here’s what Kensington Soccer Club had to offer across the city of Philadelphia:
5 Community Recreational Soccer Sites
2 Summer Camps
9 Soccer Clinics at Partner Summer Camps
3 Adult Soccer Programs
2 Teen Soccer Programs
8 Travel Soccer Programs
5 Community Events
4 Enrichment Programs
The summer programming was especially critical for Kensington’s youth, a majority who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and live amidst the height of rising violence in Philadelphia. KSC was able to provide kids with activities in safe and educational environments outside of the school year when spikes in crime tend to grow, seeing out the Club’s mission of violence prevention through soccer and personal development.
Community Recreational Soccer
We were proud to offer evening soccer training to youth in Kensington through our Summer Nights Recreational Soccer program, sponsored by the DEA Educational Foundation with additional support from Impact Services, The School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and Fab Youth Philly. The program was held once a week at each site: Mondays at Eric Casiano Field, Tuesdays at Hunting Park, Wednesdays at Harrowgate Park, and Thursdays at Hissey Playground.
Additionally, we held soccer each weekday at McPherson Square, with support from the staff at McPherson Square Library.
Summer Camps and Clinics
We had the honor to host a full-day, month-long summer camp this year at William Cramp School, with funding from The School District of Philadelphia and food provided by The Sunday Love Project. We had over 75 campers across 29 Philadelphia-area schools participate in our camp, engaging in a wide variety of activities including soccer training, exercise activity, art classes, swimming, and field trips.
Kensington Soccer Club also continued its longstanding two-week camp at Hissey Playground, which has run since 2014 alongside Philadelphia’s 24th Police District.
In addition to our own summer camps, we had the privilege to be invited to nine other summer camps, hosted by community partners, to lead soccer clinics. These sites include:
Cione Playground and Towey Playground (Philadelphia Parks and Recreation),
Hunter Elementary School, McKinley William School, John Moffet School (Norris Square Community Alliance)
McVeigh Recreation Center (Street Soccer USA - Philadelphia)
“The Village That Heals Youth” Summer Camp (NKCDC)
A WorkReady teen leads a warmup session with kids at the Community Center at Visitation, one of KSC’s Soccer Clinic sites./Photo: Gene Kim, Kensington Soccer Club
Soccer Programs and Community Events
We had various opportunities for youth and adults to play soccer with us. For casual and relaxed soccer, we offered four pickup locations: Hackett School, TipTop Playground, Eric Casiano Field, and Phield House Sports Complex. Pickup at each site was free to every community member. Pickup soccer at the Phield House is part of an ongoing program (Friday Night Lights) to focus on building community, promoting peace, and connecting people with resources. It is supported by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Violence Prevention and their Targeted Community Investment Grant, with aims on our end to increase participation amongst older players in our community.
On the competitive front, we ran soccer development practices for youth ages 14-19 at Eric Casiano Field and Cione Playground, as well as competitive games. We had four different teams sign up to compete in the Sean Daily Tournament at Cohocksink Recreation Center, where our U19 girls finished second.
Kensington Soccer Club Men’s and Women’s teams participated in the 2023 Icarus Cup. In their respective divisions, Men came in second and the Women finished fourth. They also participated in CASA Soccer Philadelphia leagues and tournaments, where they finished as champions in the following:
Men’s 11v11
Women’s and Non-Binary 7v7 Segunda Division
Kicking Out Transphobia Tournament (Men and Women)
Yancarlo Corredor, a youth player and coach, fights for the ball against a Vidas United player in the Icarus Cup Division 3 final./Photo: Club Eleven
Community Enrichment
This summer, we continued building out our Youth Leadership Council and Girls Empowerment Initiative. Through these enrichment programs, we’re able to provide younger kids a chance to come together and find ways to help their community with engaging activities that develop their career-readiness skills. One example of the successful execution of these activities was our Senior Prom at HACE’s Casa Indiana. The youth, with guidance from KSC Staff, helped coordinate a prom night for the senior residents at Casa Indiana, complete with food and dancing, as well as a photo booth and free clothes, courtesy of Esperanza Health Center and Circle Thrift respectively. From setup to teardown and all the fun in between, the youth were able to take this experience with them to realize that they do have the power to inspire others and ignite happiness in their community.
Kensington Soccer Club was also able to bring on 36 teens to join the team as WorkReady’s, a program by Philadelphia Youth Network Inc. that provides youth the opportunity to begin career exploration through work-based experiences. With the WorkReady’s on the team, KSC was able to expand its capacity to see out programs.
WorkReady’s sit together to debrief following a personal development workshop./Photo: Gene Kim, Kensington Soccer Club
The teens took on a number of work responsibilities, such as leading training sessions, mediating engagement circles, overseeing youth participation in activities, and handling other day-to-day tasks. In addition, the WorkReady’s were required to attend weekly personal development sessions, guided by respected community leaders.
The 36 teens managed to put in a combined total of 3,406 work hours across various summer programs, demonstrating their dedication to go out into the community and serve as positive role models for younger kids.
One of the WorkReady’s was given the chance to speak with NBC10 Philadelphia, talking highly about what makes Kensington Soccer Club special in a feature the news station was doing on the summer camp at William Cramp School (funded by the School District of Philadelphia with additional support from The Sunday Love Project).
Other summer highlights include:
Kensington Soccer Club officially moved into its new clubhouse at J-centrel after eight years at its previous location.
Kensington Soccer Club raised $1,541 in its 50/50 fundraiser, with funds being invested into KSC’s Girls Empowerment Initiative.
Jaws Youth Playbook (Ron Jaworski's Foundation) visited the summer camp at Cramp. They provided the funds that The Sunday Love Project used for the camp.
Kensington Soccer Club raised $400 on National Nonprofit Day (August 17) via a social media campaign.
Jaws Youth Playbook visited the summer camp at William Cramp school to see their $2,500 donation to The Sunday Love Project in action./Photo: Gene Kim, Kensington Soccer Club
The summer was a busy, yet exciting time for KSC, seeing programs reach hundreds of kids as the Club rides an upward trend of growth and support at all levels. As preparations for the upcoming season begin, the Club is confident in its ability to continue its momentum and make a profound impact on thousands of families during the fall.
Through the many ups and occasional downs, Summer 2022 was a successful season and will surely be one to remember for the Club.