CHICAGO(Aug. 31, 2016) – The Chicago Fire Foundation will kick off the fall session of its award-winning P.L.A.Y.S. (Participate, Learn, Achieve, Youth, Soccer) Program on Monday, Sept. 19. Over 360 Chicago Public School third through fifth grade students will participate.
Created in 2013 in partnership with World Sport Chicago, the program integrates soccer with social and emotional learning (SEL) to not only help kids learn and enjoy soccer, but also strengthen academic performance.
P.L.A.Y.S. integrates soccer and a curriculum focused on instilling grit as a means to grow SEL skills of youth. Research into grit has shown that kids with a high degree of emotional control, goal setting and attainment, cooperation, respect, communication and teamwork are able to more effectively handle adversity and perform well in school.
Since its creation, P.L.A.Y.S. has organized with more than 90,000 hours of soccer for underserved youth in Chicagoland. The students participating in the program engage in 10 weeks of instruction via five out-of-school hours each week, plus an additional four game days.
Chicago Fire named to shortlist for 2016 Beyond Sport award
The P.L.A.Y.S. Program has been an important element to the Fire’s community outreach efforts, and is a significant reason the club has been nominated to Beyond Sport’s Team of the Year for a second-consecutive year. Unveiled last week, this year’s shortlist also includes: Arsenal FC, Detroit Pistons, FC Barcelona, and San Francisco Giants.
The Beyond Sport Awards support and reward the best projects across the globe that are using sport for positive social change. Since 2009, Beyond Sport has had over 2150 entries into the awards from 145 countries. Beyond Sport has awarded over 160 projects for their innovations and social impact through sport.
This year’s summit will be held at East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from Oct. 18-20. The winners in each of the 11 categories – this year focusing on the theme “Beyond Innovation” - will receive funding from the Beyond Sport Foundation, courtesy of Comic Relief.
