The World Cup highlights the impact of soccer on Miami-Dade’s children | Opinion
Every four years, the Men’s FIFA World Cup captures the world’s attention through moments of brilliance, teamwork and national pride. For children, the World Cup and soccer itself offer something even more meaningful than trophies or highlights. It instills lessons in kids that can help shape their lives.
When children watch soccer stars like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo compete on the sport’s biggest stage, they are witnessing far more than goals and championships.
The game fosters teamwork, discipline, resilience, leadership and a sense of belonging. Those lessons extend well beyond the field and into classrooms, friendships, careers and communities.
For more than 30 years, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has worked to bring the “beautiful game” and the social and physical skills it teaches to underserved communities. The organization is committed to expanding access to innovative play spaces and evidence-based soccer programs that instill hope, foster well-being and help youth achieve their fullest potential. But just as no player succeeds alone, no organization can achieve meaningful impact without strong teammates and trusted community partners.
That belief has guided the partnership between the U.S. Soccer Foundation and The Children’s Trust since 2017. Together, we have worked to bring Soccer for Success — an evidence-based youth development program — to thousands of children across Miami-Dade County. Designed for youth ages 6 to 11, the program combines physical activity with mentorship, nutrition education and personal health and well-being education through free after-school programming in underserved communities.
Mini-pitches make a huge impact
Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the partnership between The Trust and the U.S. Soccer Foundation evolved even further. In early 2023, The Trust increased funding to expand its collaboration with the Foundation including support for the Just Ball League, a free neighborhood-based soccer program. The league is designed for middle and high schoolers and emphasizes mentorship, creativity, teamwork, leadership and healthy competition in under-resourced communities.
That same year, The Trust joined the Miami-Dade Soccer Initiative, an ambitious effort generously supported by Ken Griffin and Griffin Catalyst to create a lasting World Cup legacy by dramatically expanding access to safe places to play and free youth soccer programming throughout the county.
The initiative brings together The Trust, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and other key community partners to help install 50 mini-soccer pitches across our community. The initiative focuses on increasing access to soccer and improving the health and well-being of at least 36,000 children by 2030.
Recently, Miami-Dade County Public Schools joined the initiative to host 25 of those mini-pitches, helping bring safe, accessible soccer spaces directly into neighborhoods where organized sports opportunities are often financially out of reach.
These mini-pitches are about far more than just a place to play. They are places where children gather after school, stay active, develop friendships and feel connected to their communities. To date, over 39,000 youth from communities across Miami-Dade County have been engaged through Soccer for Success and Just Ball with the support of more than 600 trained coach-mentors.
The momentum started by this initiative continues to spur other investments. A partnership between The Trust, FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Host committee and Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is expanding adaptive soccer programming for blind and visually impaired youth across Miami-Dade County, reinforcing a shared commitment to accessibility, inclusion and long-term community development through sport.
Long after the final whistle blows and the global spotlight moves on, children throughout Miami-Dade will still be gathering on mini-pitches and in these programs. They will still be building confidence, friendships, discipline, and resilience through soccer.
That is the enduring power of the beautiful game. And together, it is a legacy that we are proud to help the children and families of Miami-Dade County.
James R. Haj is president and CEO of The Children’s Trust, a voter-established, dedicated revenue source improving the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County. A champion of soccer as a vehicle for youth development and social change, Ed Foster-Simeon was named president and CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation in May 2008.