USL North Carolina FC

NCFC Youth, North Carolina Football Club, and the Bucy Foundation Team up to Build 5 Mini-Pitches

Published on August 26, 2020 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
North Carolina FC News Release


Raleigh, NC - NCFC Youth, North Carolina Football Club, and The Bucy Foundation today jointly announce a commitment to create five soccer mini-pitches in communities across the Triangle over the next two years. The mini-pitches will be dedicated to free play, pick-up soccer, and community engagement.

"We know that access to fields is one of the biggest barriers to playing soccer. Space that does exist is a commodity and is often limited due to geographic access, field rentals, public use restrictions, and programming - including our own," said Gary Buete, CEO of NCFC Youth. "By offering an open space with few restrictions, we want to offer families a safe and accessible place to play, and as a byproduct, we hope these fields attract kids to the game who would otherwise not have the opportunity to play."

Developing mini-pitches, which are hard court mini-fields, in local communities has proven successful in making the game of soccer more accessible and improving overall community health and safety. On a national level, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has committed to creating 1,000 new mini-pitches by 2026. To date, the Foundation has installed more than 300 mini-pitches. According to surveys conducted by the U.S Soccer Foundation, community partners report that mini-pitches have a positive impact on their communities:

- 98% say people in their community are more active

- 98% say the community feels safer

- 93% say the mini-pitch serves as a community hub

"Our goal is to create a space that brings people together and, through play, provides a safe space for young people to develop important life skills," said Ashlie Bucy, Director of the Bucy Foundation. "We have seen in our own lives, and in the lives of our children, just how effective sports can be in helping to teach young people how to develop a strong work ethic, cope with failure, build resiliency and learn to interact with people from different backgrounds. Every child should have access to these types of learning environments that set the stage for success later in life."

NCFC Youth, the North Carolina Football Club, and The Bucy Foundation are seeking other community stakeholders to join in on this landmark collaboration. With the help of local partners, the group will identify areas where there is limited access to safe playing environments or where there are existing, high traffic venues that attract a diverse population from across our community. The mini-pitches, which will be about the size of a basketball court, are ideal in urban areas with limited green space, and the surface requires little maintenance.

"The North Carolina Football Club is excited to be a partner in this transformative community project building environments that will benefit youth, encourage play and grow the sport," said Steve Malik, Owner and Chairman of the North Carolina Football Club. "As we work towards developing Downtown South and our home stadium, creating these mini-pitches will be an ideal addition to the district and provide further opportunities for community partnerships. Until then, we look forward to working alongside NCFC Youth and The Bucy Foundation to identify other locations and support this effort."

This collaboration and initiative showcase our collective effort to improve access to safe spaces to play and to give all youth the opportunity to learn and grow through playing soccer.

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