Combining Community Service and Sports to Shape Future Leaders

Youth sports can teach lifelong skills, but they aren’t accessible to all communities.

SOL of the Cities is using team sports as a way to create future leaders of tomorrow. By putting community first, power couple and co-founders Sparkle and Mario Wimberly have stepped away from the pay-to-play model to create a new avenue for youth to freely engage in the game of competitive futsal (a version of soccer) while finding opportunities to give back.

“Our model is serve-to-play,” said Sparkle. “We typically like to push football and basketball, but futsal is like basketball with your feet.”

Futsal is a type of soccer that can be played indoors or outdoors on a smaller court. Through this style of game, Sparkle and Mario have been able to eliminate the financial component usually attached to soccer, bringing together urban and immigrant youth ages 6-18 to develop a positive sense of community.

For hours of play each week, SOL of the Cities also has youth participate in one hour of community service. Activities may include recycling, drain cleaning and tree planting, to name a few.

Along with community service and education, SOL of the Cities provides over 300 youth during the summer with healthy free meals. With this goal in mind, the organization works to make sure its youth are fully nourished through activities, food and service.

Watch our third episode of Corner Conversations with Chris Garner to learn more about what SOL of the Cities is doing to make an impact on youth in the community, and what you can do too.