“One of the things we believe in is that all kids have access to the game,” she said. “It’s typically a pay-to-play sport, some kids see it in gym class, other kids don’t, and we wanted to make sure it’s accessible. Mini pitches are a really important piece of that strategy for us, because not only can kids participate through program soccer, but we have it open for free play, and it’s just a safe place, a safe place for these kids to be.”
The mini pitch is a partnership among several organizations, including the Hamilton Community Foundation, the Booker T. Washington Center and the Hamilton City Schools, as well as donors like Carl and Martha Lindner and the Motz Group, which has been the general contractor for the mini pitch projects.
FC Cincinnati Foundation’s mini pitch program has been part of the organization from its start pledging to open 10 mini pitches in the Cincinnati area by 2024. That goal was reached by December 2023, and Solomon restated the foundation’s goal at that time before she pledged “to build 10 additional mini pitches.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Hamilton’s mini pitch is the first of that second group of 10. The city of Middletown also has a mini pitch.
The city of Hamilton Mayor Pat Moeller called the mini pitch a project “important to our Hamilton community.”
“Sports brings people together,” he said. “Whether that’s as a participant, as a spectator or a fan. No matter what race, gender or income. The sport of soccer is a prime example of sports as a community.“
Ebony Brock, the executive director of the Booker T. Washington Center, which is a community center within the Great Miami YMCA, said the project “is what intentionality looks like.”
“When you see the needs of what’s happening in your community and you bring the right people to the table to say, ‘Hey, we want to intentionally meet a need that’s happening in a growing and changing community,‘” she said. “I cannot wait to see this full of children from all places, from all backgrounds just to play soccer. Soccer is a global sport. It doesn’t belong to just one group of people, this is for everybody.”
Several of the donors to the project also made contributions through the Hamilton Community Foundation.
The mini pitch also represents another example of opportunities for young people, said Hamilton Community Foundation Director of Donor Services Jacob Stone Welch. He called the field another city asset that “is going to help our students in discovering a passion for soccer, and even inspire more than one to be future FC Cincinnati players.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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