It’s a rainy August evening at Madison Elementary School in Everett, and roughly 50 children between the ages of 4 and 6 are running from station to station in the school’s grassy field, being schooled on the basics of soccer. This is one of the Everett Youth Soccer Club’s Micro Fun Nights, where on Wednesday evenings those enrolled in the club’s Micro program get the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming fall season.
And among those children are a handful of foster kids who are now getting a chance to play youth soccer for free.
The Everett Youth Soccer Club (EYSC) recently instituted its Foster Kids Play Free program, in which foster kids are allowed to play recreational soccer free of charge.
“Taking in foster kids, it’s such a special thing,” EYSC community engagement coordinator Kelsey Baker said. “Most of us don’t have the ability to open our homes to do it. So if we can touch those kids’ lives in some way, we wanted to do that.”
Foster kids are minors who are placed by the state in temporary homes, where they can receive adequate caretaking when their birth parents are unable to provide it.
The EYSC, which incorporates the section of Everett north of Casino Road, targeted foster kids for free inclusion because foster kids often find themselves in situations where they need a sense of community, and foster parents aren’t always in a position to be able to provide financially for an activity such as recreational soccer.
“We’re really excited about the program,” EYSC board president Josh Baker said. “We want kids to have an opportunity to play, not at the expense of not being able to afford it. For something like this, it’s just the right thing to do. We truly want to be an inclusive club. If they’re here to play for a week and have the best time of their life, awesome. If they’re here all season, fantastic. They’re playing for free either way.”
The idea for Foster Kids Play Free originated during the summer when it was proposed by members of the club’s board of directors. It was quickly approved by a unanimous vote.
“It’s good for (the foster kids),” said board member Traci Harris, who is a foster parent herself. “A lot of time they’ve never been in any kind of group setting or play setting, so it’s good socialization for them being around peers their age. And for foster families, they may not have the resources to pay for multiple children of their own plus having the foster children play as well. It just takes that financial stress out of figuring out how to support one more kid playing a sport.”
The program is also strictly anonymous for the kids — none of the club officials at Micro Fun Nights would have been able to identify which players on the field were foster kids. The club has also made it so that foster parents aren’t required to fill out a lot of paperwork.
The Foster Kids Play Free program is available for EYSC’s Micro (ages 4-6) and Mod (ages 7-18) recreational programs. The registration fee for the club’s fall season, which begins this week, is $99 for Micro and $149 for Mod.
However, when the Foster Kids Play Free program was instituted in late July, registration had already closed for the fall season. Because the EYSC is part of the North County Youth Soccer Association Recreational League, Mod teams play against teams from other clubs. Therefore, to maintain an even competitive playing field, the EYSC was unable to re-open Mod registration for foster kids to take advantage of the program.
However, the Micro program is strictly in house, meaning there were no concerns about creating competitive disadvantage. Registration re-opened, and Kelsey Baker said there are currently three foster kids enrolled — with a lot more interest from foster parents of Mod-aged kids.
”We’ve had a huge response to the foster kids stuff,” Kelsey Baker said. “It’s really promising. We’re super excited for the spring and going forward.”
The next window for Mod soccer players to take advantage of the Foster Kids Play Free program is for the spring season, which begins in March. Registration for the spring season is scheduled to open in late January.
The program is not open to EYSC’s select teams. However, the club does provide scholarships for select players on a case-by-case basis, and Kelsey Baker stressed that foster kids may be able to receive full scholarships for the select program.
If you have an idea for a community sports story, email Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.
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