Support Materials for PTSSD Proposal June 2021

Community Letters of Support

You can click on each letter for a larger view.

Below the letters is the supplemental information about

expansion that was requested after the initial presentation.

Information Demonstrating That an Expansion of our Programming is Needed

As requested, we’ve compiled the following supplemental information.

Note: Many of the letters above also testify as to the need for expansion.

Kearny Elementary

At Kearny, we previously only had capacity for 18 children in just 3rd and 4th grades before the pandemic. Now, we'd like to add another cohort that's 1st and 2nd graders. Here are the registration forms from the last in-person year at Kearny showing the full team of 18 children all in grades 3 and 4 to demonstrate that we filled all the program spots previously. I covered their last name, contact, info, and DOB for privacy reasons. You can click on each image to see a bigger version.

I confess that soccer is not as popular at Kearny as it is in the other schools. However, the need for after-school programming is much greater at Kearny and that’s why we’d like to expand our programs there. Our understanding is that there are almost no after-school programs at Kearny compared to other schools that have more programs because of parent ability to pay or fundraise. Parents there are thrilled to have something safe and enriching for their children after school even if soccer might not be their first choice of sport for many of them. Our experience is that once given a chance to play, the children always want to continue playing and parents are happy with our programs. To add a second cohort and therefore provide a pathway for children to play from grades 1 to 4 at Kearny would mean that those children have the time to get the full benefits of learning a sport while also benefiting from all the additional youth-development aspects of our program.

Moffet Elementary and Al Aqsa

At Moffet, they have a small every-day after-school program run by NSCA and during all our years of programs there pre-pandemic, we ran soccer for the 10-12 children in that program using their very small gym which can’t accommodate more children at a time.

When we did sign-ups for virtual soccer at Moffet this year, we opened it to the whole school and we had 103 students sign up for soccer and come pick up their equipment out of 260 students in the school. Here’s the list of registrations. Then during fun day at the end of the year when we went to do soccer activities with the Moffet students in person, we found there were dozens more who hadn’t signed up for virtual soccer, but who wanted to spend the day playing and were excited to take home soccer balls.

In order to meet that tremendous demand, we plan to partner directly with the school instead of partnering with NSCA so any child can sign up. Then we’ll run the program in the fall and spring so we can use the outdoor schoolyard instead of the small gym. That will enable us to have two cohorts of 15-20 children each playing soccer twice a week after school. Even with that, we won’t be able to meet the demand at Moffet due to lack of space, which is part of the reason we approached Al Aqsa Academy. Many of the Moffet children attend Al Aqsa Mosque so when we talked with the principal of Al Aqsa Academy about after-school soccer, we agreed that they would start their program slightly later in the afternoon and would welcome students from the neighborhood who don’t necessarily attend Al Aqsa Academy.

Hackett Elementary

At Hackett, we’ve always had very high demand. From the first year, we’ve had to limit it to only 2nd grade students and still have had to turn away many students. We coordinate sign-ups with the school and they only send us the registration forms from the waitlist when spots open up so I don’t have that list available. I do have this email screenshot to demonstrate how that operates and that there is a waitlist every year.

At Hackett, we could expand by either filling up two cohorts of just 2nd graders or by adding a 3rd grade cohort so children can play two years in a row.

Penn Treaty Middle School

Our previous program at Penn Treaty only lasted one year back in the first year we received PTSSD funds. But the reason had nothing to do with student interest. It stalled because their PE teacher retired and they got a new Athletic Director who wanted to focus his energies on starting a football team. Now they have a new PE teacher who is a former Temple University player and long-time soccer coach and who has volunteered for KSC in the past. There is also another new AD and this one is excited to work with us again. With that new staff in place, it will once again be easy to coordinate student registration and use of facilities to bring back that successful program.

Adaire or St. Peter the Apostle Schools

We have many Adaire children in our evening and weekend recreational and competitive teams and their parents have asked us if we can start an after-school program there like we have at other schools. The only reason we haven’t done it yet is because they do already have a Soccer Shots program for the youngest children there. There is still definitely a need at Adaire because Soccer Shots is very expensive and not every family in Fishtown has the income to be able to afford it. The challenge for us is to find a way to make sure we’re serving the children who need it the most and we haven’t figured out the best way to do that yet at Adaire. We’re in discussions with several parent leaders there to try to solve that problem.

At St. Peter the Apostle school, we also have many children who play in our evening and weekend programs. Their parents have been telling us that many of their children’s school friends are dying to play soccer but don’t have evening and weekend transportation to make that happen. Upon seeing the request from the PTSSD board yesterday for more information demonstrating need for expansion, we reached out to our parent contacts there and asked them to post a survey on the school parent Facebook group to gauge interest. They posted the survey this morning and we already have 16 families with 23 children expressing strong interest. Here’s a screenshot showing that interest.

TipTop Playground

The background for KSC wanting to start an evening soccer program at TipTop is different than the other sites. There, it’s more about a desire to turn a somewhat neglected public space into a more vibrant space that brings people together to enjoy recreation and community. The location of TipTop makes it perfect for bringing people together since it’s accessible to children from Fishtown, Northern Liberties, and South Kensington as well as some who might come from farther via the el.

After-School Tournaments

This item of our proposal is also new and represents a significant portion of the increase in our request. The reason we believe it’s important is because many of the after-school children don’t have the ability to participate in our Saturday programs and frequently beg for the chance to play in a “real soccer game” where they play against someone other than their classmates. That element of competition is very useful in helping the children develop healthy habits for dealing with conflict and cooperation while learning how to win and lose as a team and keep it all in perspective. It also helps them feel included because every child knows that it’s “normal” for children to have opportunities to play in games against other teams. By organizing inter-school competitions during the after-school hours, we’re able to make that happen by taking children from school to the competition and back again.

NOTE: All other aspects of our proposal are equally important as the ones described above, but they represent a budget request that is similar to our previous proposals so I’m not focusing on them here. We have been expanding those programs and will continue to expand them again next year to the benefit of the children of the PTSSD, but that expansion is coming thanks to other funding that we have secured, so it’s not part of this proposal.