New Austin park – providing the community free access to soccer and specialized programming and services – will be the second Street Soccer Park and Learning Center to carry the Scripps name, following the Adam R. Scripps Street Soccer Park in San Diego
Austin, TX — As the world returns to business-as-usual following a thrilling and historic FIFA Men’s World Cup, Street Soccer USA (SSUSA) and the Adam R. Scripps Foundation today announced plans to open a second Adam R. Scripps Street Soccer Park and Learning Center in Austin, Texas, this October – a milestone in the two organizations’ partnership and in SSUSA’s national “Where Goals Begin: 26 for 2026” campaign to build twenty-six permanent Street Soccer Parks across the country, allowing for free play among youth. In addition to dedicating two named Parks and Learning Centers in Adam R. Scripps’ name, the Foundation has supported SSUSA’s capacity to strengthen communities through soccer across its entire national footprint, backing the infrastructure and programming behind every park in the campaign, not just the two that bear his name.
The announcement caps a defining month for the movement. So far, SSUSA has raised $16 million in commitments toward the campaign and already deployed more than $11 million into communities through park construction and programming. The organization has completed 19 Street Soccer Parks, with its 20th slated to open in Miami in late summer, and seven additional parks funded and under construction ahead of a planned completion by the end of 2026. Across the country, SSUSA Parks have welcomed more than 75,000 guests this year alone through World Cup watch parties and day-to-day programming in every U.S. host city, as well as in Nashville, Denver, San Diego, and Austin.
The Austin park will be the Foundation’s second contribution to that footprint. The first, the Adam R. Scripps Street Soccer Park, opened earlier this year at a Horace Mann Middle School site in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, funded and made possible by the Adam R. Scripps Foundation, with the Alex Morgan Foundation also providing support for girls’ programming at the site. That park was among the parks built as part of SSUSA’s nationwide Where Goals Begin: 26 for 2026 campaign, joining sister sites in cities including San Francisco, Denver, and Kansas City. Alongside the Adam R. Scripps Foundation, the campaign’s national partners include Visa, Bank of America, and UNIQLO.
“Every Street Soccer Park we open carries a name and a story, and Adam’s is now woven into two of them. Austin will give us the chance to bring that same promise – a safe place to play, learn, and belong – to another community that needs it, as the eyes of the world remain fixated on this sport after this incredible summer,” said Lawrence Cann, Founder & CEO of Street Soccer USA.
“Adam believed in showing up for communities that don’t always get the spotlight, and Austin is exactly that kind of place. This Foundation exists to help communities build lasting change, and opening this park in his honor means more kids get a safe field to play on and a place to grow. That is exactly the kind of impact he cared about.” said Alex Bakkum, Chief Philanthropy Officer of Adam R. Scripps Foundation.
Media Contact:
Street Soccer USA
Cam Robinson
cam@streetsoccerusa.org
Adam R Scripps Foundation
Lee Gatts
Lee.Gatts@arsfound.org
About the “Where Goals Begin: 26 for 2026” Campaign
Street Soccer USA launched the Where Goals Begin: 26 for 2026 campaign to build 26 street soccer parks and learning centers across the country, an effort conceived to place Street Soccer Parks in the 11 U.S. cities hosting World Cup games as well as nine additional cities, for 20 cities total. Each park pairs professional-grade turf fields with an on-site learning center, at an average build cost of roughly $1 million per park, split between construction and programming. The campaign is supported by a growing coalition of national partners, including the Adam R. Scripps Foundation, Visa, Bank of America, UNIQLO, and the Laurie Tisch Illumination Fund.
About Street Soccer USA
Street Soccer USA was founded in 2009 by two brothers out of a homeless soup kitchen. Street Soccer USA is a leading sports-based national nonprofit that fights poverty and strengthens communities through the unifying power of soccer by providing free, community-based programs, mentorship and supportive services that help marginalized youth and their families build life skills, confidence, and leadership. SSUSA delivers specialized outreach and inclusive programming designed to empower participants, helping them discover their strengths, achieve their goals, and expand opportunities. For more information about Street Soccer USA, visit www.streetsoccerusa.org.
About the Adam R. Scripps Foundation
The Adam R. Scripps Foundation was founded in 2023 to honor the legacy of Adam Scripps, and values helping communities create lasting change through grants that provide support, create resources, and build pathways for transformation. All grant decisions are reviewed by a board of Adam’s siblings, nieces, and nephews to ensure the foundation stays true to his vision, benefiting causes that moved him during his life, across focus areas including Animal Welfare, Education, Health, Local Community, and Self-Sufficiency. In its first two years, the Foundation moved more than $65 million out the door, with an emphasis on organizations in Central and South Texas, while also making grants to organizations outside Texas engaging in work that reflects Adam’s interests.
Leave a Reply