love.fútbol Expands to North America With Two New Community Safe Spaces

November 1, 2019

This year’s Beyond Sport Global Award winners in the Sport for Sustainable Cities and Communities category, love.fútbol, have extended their global mission to North America with the opening of two new community sport spaces in partnership with the Pincus Family Foundation. 

With the completion of their first soccer pitches in the US, love.fútbol and The Pincus Family Foundation are more than halfway through their joint effort to leverage soccer to unite communities in reclaiming spaces that build neighborhood infrastructures where kids can play and learn life skills for generations to come. 

This past week, the two partners, in collaboration with the local communities and programming partner Street Soccer USA (SSUSA), unveiled newly revitalized spaces at the Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Schoolyard and James Finnegan Playground, located in north and southwest Philadelphia respectively.  

“Our first two US projects in Philadelphia demonstrate that people across our country are ready to mobilize, unite and work together to create and reclaim community sports spaces as positive, safe, inclusive and necessary for the health and well-being of their children and each other,” said Drew Chafetz, Co-Founder and CEO of award-winning love.fútbol. “We cannot thank The Pincus Family Foundation enough for their belief, shared values, guidance and support in making this opportunity possible.”

The week of community unveilings began at the Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Schoolyard on October 24, where after years of support from the local community and dedicated student advocates, a group of over 200 students and adults celebrated the official opening of the space’s first soccer pitch. 

Several local organizations played an instrumental part in the reclaiming of this famed sports space in collaboration with love.fútbol and The Pincus Family Foundation, including the Friends of Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey Committee, The Big SandBox, The School District of Philadelphia and the Fountain of Youth Preventive Health, Inc. along with a strong contingent of elected officials, funders and government supporters. 

The event also served as the official kickoff for Phase Two of an ongoing larger Redevelopment Project on the site which will be complete by the end of the year, bringing to the space two upgraded NBA size courts, an outdoor classroom area, a peace garden, new equipment and more.

“The Pincus Family Foundation is thrilled to have been the catalyst for love.fútbol making their way stateside. We are inspired by their ability to connect with and empower under resourced communities,” said Danielle Scott, Executive Director of Philadelphia-based Pincus Family Foundation. “The beautiful new multi-use soccer spaces at the Tanner Duckrey School and Finnegan Playground are now our template of what can happen here when a village of community leaders, residents, private and public entities come together. There are many more communities like ours that could also benefit from a dose of love.fútbol.”

Festivities continued on October 26 at the James Finnegan Playground where the dynamic heritage of the area was center stage through dance performances, poignant remarks from leaders of the community and Parks & Recreation, who partnered on the project and a local vendor fair - all culminating in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

The celebration was the culmination of months of planning, organizing and 1400 volunteer hours to redesign and transform the old hockey rink into a space for the community to play, learn and come together. The week prior to opening, more than 150 youth and adult volunteers participated in a “Build Day” organized by love.fútbol where they each had a hand in creating different parts of the space, from installing the soccer field and fixing spectator benching to painting murals and farmer’s market stalls.

Hosted by Rashiid Marcell, the pitch inauguration reflected the dynamic heritage of a community that remains committed to mobilizing efforts to improve the well-being of local residents. Festivities included cultural and musical performances from local groups, remarks on the importance of the space to Southwest Philadelphians and those who need it most – our leaders of tomorrow, a vendor fair and the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

SSUSA was also on hand throughout both events to showcase the soccer-based educational programming that will be ongoing in the spaces throughout the year. Philadelphia Program Manager King Saah led excited children and adults in play following the ceremony and he will be overseeing the programming going forward. These spaces will also connect Philadelphia to a national network of sport-based development programs. 

On November 17, love.fútbol and The Pincus Family Foundation will open their fourth site - following their first this past March in Xico, Mexico - in collaboration with local communities and programming partners in Juan Pablo Duarte in the Dominican Republic. The fifth and final space will be completed in early 2020, also in the Dominican Republic, all supported by a $1,135,000 grant provided by The Pincus Family Foundation.

Beyond Sport's sister company, thinkBeyond, proudly supports the implementation of the projects from love.fútbol and The Pincus Family Foundation around the world in partnership with

Photos: Playmakers Studio