The Soccer Field That Listens

• Ideal for community-based programs seeking to integrate mental wellness with sport.
• Useful for schools and clubs serving youth impacted by poverty, housing instability, or discrimination.
• Supports culturally relevant programming by centering kids' lived experiences.
• Offers replicable session ideas like jersey design, cultural storytelling, and celebration rituals.
• Serves as a model for organizations reimagining soccer beyond competition and performance.

The Sports Creative positions storytelling as a crucial factor in transforming the soccer field into a place of healing, identity, and trust. The approach honors cultural pride and emotional safety, showing how sport can be a tool for resilience, confidence, and connection. It’s a standout model of culturally grounded, child-first design.

• How might your sessions integrate storytelling and cultural expression alongside play?
• What staff training or community partnerships are needed to foster emotional safety on the field, and to respond appropriately if mental health concerns are disclosed?
• How will you adapt this trauma-informed model to reflect your community’s specific experiences?
• In what ways can you amplify youth voice in program design and delivery?
• What supports are in place for coaches to lead with empathy, reflection, and trust-building? 
• Resources and strategies like this can help coaches and other people working in soccer to support players with their mental health. It’s important to note that these approaches do not replace a need for professional treatment, care, and consultation.
• If you have a Safeguarding concern, please visit the USSF Safeguarding Hub for additional information about how to make a report. If you or someone you know is at an immediate risk, please contact your local emergency services.

The Sports Creative is a nonprofit that uses play and storytelling to help young people share their journeys, build confidence, and celebrate their culture. Creative Kicks is their program model, launched in partnership with a local school and women coaches in the South Bronx. To learn more visit thesportscreative.com.