Hat Trick Alert! Soccer Charities Send Youth to Football for Hope Festival 2010 in South Africa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) April 1, 2010 -- Atlanta, GA – April 1, 2010 – Soccer in the Streets, Starfinder Foundation and the Urban Soccer Collaborative, organizations dedicated to represent the United States (Team USA) at the Football for Hope Festival 2010 June 28 – July 10 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event is a celebration of the power of soccer and is an official element of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM. This two week festival of education, culture and soccer is organized by FIFA, streetfootballworld, the Organizing Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the City of Johannesburg.

"At the Football for Hope Festival you will see a fast-paced football tournament but behind each kick is a young person whose life has been changed through the power of soccer,” said managing director, Jürgen Griesbeck, streetfootballworld. “We are honored to welcome so many inspiring young leaders who have all overcome tremendous challenges and today are role models in their communities. These are the champions we are celebrating at the Football for Hope Festival, which stands proud as an official event of the FIFA World Cup as of 2010. This is the time to show the world what soccer can do for social change."

Meet Team U.S.A.
The festival will bring together 32 teams of young people from disadvantaged communities around the world. Each player was selected based on their dedication and contributions to helping their own community. Teams will interact on and off the field learning valuable cultural lessons. Players from the U.S. delegation include:

• Mustapha Alpha, Philadelphia, PA – Starfinder Foundation
• Nury Ortiz, Philadelphia, PA – Starfinder Foundation
• Malaika Nicholas, Washington, DC – Urban Soccer Collaborative

• Sean Howie, Harrisburg, PA – Urban Soccer Collaborative
• Max Watson, New York, NY – Urban Soccer Collaborative
• Isaac Fonseca, Atlanta, GA – Soccer in the Streets
• Katelyn Longino, College Park, GA – Soccer in the Streets
• Darnell Gresham, Jonesboro, GA – Soccer in the Streets

Each team member needs your support. If you’re interested in donating, please visit the organizations’ websites listed below. Full bios for the kids are available upon request. For more information about Football for Hope and the festival please go to www.FIFA.com/csr and www.streetfootballworld.org.

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About Soccer in the Streets

Soccer in the Streets, a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, GA, creates sustainable youth development programs in underserved communities that will cultivate change, progress, and positive opportunities. Founded in 1989, the organization links life skills with soccer skills and helps at-risk kids thrive at school and at home through out-of-school programs, mentoring relationships, academic support and hands on experience. Our programs develop the next generation of community leaders who will eventually “own and operate” the program, provide vital infrastructure and sustain partnerships. For more information, please visit http://www.soccerstreets.org

About Starfinder Foundation

Starfinder Foundation , a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia, PA, seeks to enhance the personal growth of underserved youth ages 6 to 18 through soccer and learning experiences that engage, inspire, and motivate. Founded in 2002, Starfinder engages 800-1,000 youth annually in the Greater Philadelphia region in a wide range of activities that integrate opportunities for leadership, teamwork, decision-making, creativity, and self-expression. Starfinder provides supervised, structured, and safe environments in which young people can thrive while developing their soccer talents and life skills. For more information, please visit http://www.starfinderfoundation.org

About The Urban Soccer Collaborative

The Urban Soccer Collaborative (USC) is a national 501(c)(3) member organization that believes soccer when combined with quality youth development programming has the power to transform a child’s life. USC members use this combination of youth development programming and soccer, to decrease gang-activity, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and school dropout rates among at-risk youth in vulnerable communities. Through these organizations, thousands of kids are developing leadership skills, engaging in positive out-or school behavior and disengaging in high-risk behaviors. The USC exists to provide strategies, practices, programming and quality standards that will allow our member organizations to yield measurable sustainable results. For more information, please visit www.ussoccerfoundation.org/urbansoccer