WORCESTER – With some of the world's greatest soccer players playing above them on the big screen, the next generation took the field at Worcester Common during the city's World Cup watch party Tuesday afternoon, July 14.
Well, it wasn't exactly a field as much as a makeshift training ground, complete with drill areas, practice stations and a tiny pitch, as Worcester Common was transformed into the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Festival. The festival has been traveling to watch parties across the state to offer free games and instruction to youth players as a way to tie into the excitement of the World Cup with development of the world's most popular sport in Massachusetts.
"We want to bring awareness to youth soccer across the state," Tamie Endow, a Worcester resident and director of community engagement for Massachusetts Youth Soccer that produced the festival, said. "This summer we are getting out and doing a lot of traveling across the state."
The festival was in Pittsfield June 12 and will be in Leominster July 15 and July 19. Tuesday, July 14, local children were encouraged to participate in games set up by the organization including a small pitch that had been set up on the common.
"Showing up and getting kids together to have fun is the best way. We are so lucky to have such a great community that supports the youth in a way," Natalie Dellecese, a Holden mother who had two children playing on the pitch on Tuesday afternoon, July 14, said. "Soccer is probably the most accessible sport in terms of what you actually need. My boys play in the backyard barefoot with just a ball and making goals out of frisbees."
Well, it wasn't exactly a field as much as a makeshift training ground, complete with drill areas, practice stations and a tiny pitch, as Worcester Common was transformed into the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Festival. The festival has been traveling to watch parties across the state to offer free games and instruction to youth players as a way to tie into the excitement of the World Cup with development of the world's most popular sport in Massachusetts.
"We want to bring awareness to youth soccer across the state," Tamie Endow, a Worcester resident and director of community engagement for Massachusetts Youth Soccer that produced the festival, said. "This summer we are getting out and doing a lot of traveling across the state."
The festival was in Pittsfield June 12 and will be in Leominster July 15 and July 19. Tuesday, July 14, local children were encouraged to participate in games set up by the organization including a small pitch that had been set up on the common.
"Showing up and getting kids together to have fun is the best way. We are so lucky to have such a great community that supports the youth in a way," Natalie Dellecese, a Holden mother who had two children playing on the pitch on Tuesday afternoon, July 14, said. "Soccer is probably the most accessible sport in terms of what you actually need. My boys play in the backyard barefoot with just a ball and making goals out of frisbees."
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