CARSON, Calif. – Whether it was building safe places for local children to play or volunteer efforts that encouraged beautification of the community, the LA Galaxy Foundation is doing what they can to ensure that soccer is accessible across Los Angeles.
During the 2017 season, the LA Galaxy Foundation, led by director Lauren Nowinski set out to create a positive impact in the community through the lens of soccer.
“We were able to hone our focus on inclusion, education, and volunteerism," Nowinski said. "In 2018, we will continue to build upon that. Under each of those pillars, a lot of our main programs fall and being able to limit what we are doing to those key initiatives helps us make a bigger impact in those areas.
“The inclusion piece is really big for us. That allows us to spread soccer to everybody, depending on their ability or their income demographic. No matter their mental or physical abilities, they have the opportunity to play soccer. It’s the same idea with putting in our fields, if it’s a neighborhood where there is no safe place to play, we allow all those youth to be included in the sport too.
“It’s hopefully building the next generations of people we will see playing in the main stadium, giving those opportunities for kids that might not have that space or desire to have a shiny new field.”
Perhaps the most visible growth came from the expansion of the Special Olympics Unified program, which saw the Galaxy’s squad playing three matches. The team finished the season 3-0-0 with striker Logan Jones even winning the 2017 LA Galaxy Goal of the Year honor.
But, that wasn’t the only success that the foundation enjoyed.
“This year, we were able to start our own Cali Clásico with the Special Olympics Unified Team, so moving forward we will hopefully play San Jose every year no matter who we play. So, that was the biggest visible growth— the addition of a third game for the team,” she said. “Aside from that, partnering our athletes with players on the first team was huge for both the teams."
This year, the Galaxy Foundation will transition their “Foundation Fridays” initiative into “Galaxy Giving” weeks. These events will allow staff, players, alumni, academy teams, alliance groups, supporter groups, and all Galaxy fans to volunteer with various organizations around Los Angeles.
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“Some foundations have a lot of funding and can financially support a lot of projects. We have the impact of our staff and players who can be hands-on with volunteer opportunities,” Nowinski said. “We had great success installing soccer fields, and I think we will continue to grow on that and to expand our leadership series. It’s such an on-time agenda we focus on, especially with our Girls' Academy here having its full first season.
As the Galaxy Foundation prepares to kick off its season of Galaxy Giving, Nowinski encourages all to volunteer.
“There are always various opportunities— just reach out.”
