Boston Scores and Sport dans la Ville are thrilled to announce the first round of delegation selection for Festival 26. Festival 26 is an international youth festival that will be held in Boston from July 5-13, bringing together 400 youth from around the world for cultural exchange, a fair play football tournament, and football for good workshops.

In total, 48 delegations from around the world will come together for a transformative week. Delegations will include six youth aged 14-17, one young leader aged 18-25 and one delegation leader aged 25+. Coming from all continents and regions, delegations represent organizations who use football as a tool for youth empowerment, community health, social inclusion, girls’ empowerment, economic mobility and more. Through a competitive application process, the first delegations selected include:

International delegations

• ASA Foundation (Indonesia)
• CFK Africa (Kenya)
• Fair Play Point (Czech Republic)
• Football United – Creating Chances (Australia)
• Fundación GOLEES (Costa Rica)
• Generation Amazing (Qatar)
• Rêves Passion Montréal (Canada)
• Saudi Sport for All (Saudi Arabia)
• Sport Against Racism Ireland (Ireland)
• Sport2Be ASBL (Belgium)
• The WE United Project (Nepal)
• Tibu Africa (Morocco)
• Youth Sport Uganda (Uganda)

From the United States

• America SCORES Cleveland
• America SCORES Milwaukee / Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club / Hidalgo 
• America SCORES Seattle 
• American Amputee Soccer Association 
• Beyond Soccer, Inc.
• Cerebral Palsy Soccer 
• City Parks Foundation 
• DC SCORES 
• DREAM
• Kumasi Soccer FC 
• New York SCORES 
• Open Field 
• Project GOAL Inc 
• Safe-Hub Philadelphia 
• Soccer Unity Project 
• Soccer Without Borders Maryland 
• Soccer Without Borders Massachusetts 
• South Bronx United 
• Urban Initiatives 
• YMCA of Greater Boston 

A second round of decisions will take place in fall 2025 to complete the delegation selection process. 

“It’s a great honor to help organize Festival 26,” said Pascale Remy, Head of Global Partnerships with Sport dans la Ville. “The mission of this formidable event is to offer a unique and transforming experience to delegation from all over the world. It will be an exceptional moment of sharing and fraternity.” 

“We are excited to welcome these incredible delegations to Boston next summer,” said Festival 26 Director Kathryn Fenneman. “All of these organizations are doing important and impactful work, and we are thrilled to be able to bring people together around football for good. The connections, skills and experiences that festival participants gain will have a lasting legacy on the individuals, their organizations and their communities.” 

Many thanks to the Festival 26 sponsors: Advent International, Boston Scores Board of Directors, Generation Amazing, and Sanofi (confirmed sponsors to date).

About Boston Scores: Boston Scores is one of the largest afterschool programs in Boston, providing free soccer, poetry and service learning programs to nearly 2,000 students in grades K-12 each year. Through our holistic program model, Boston Scores supports youth in developing essential life skills that help to build strong individuals and strong communities. For more information, please visit www.bostonscores.org 

About Sport dans la Ville: Sport dans la Ville is France’s leading non-profit serving underserved youth through sports and job readiness training. Founded in 1998, Sport dans la Ville today operates in 80 urban neighborhoods. Through sports activities, Sport dans la Ville imparts the values of self-confidence, teamwork, dedication, leadership, entrepreneurship and hard work leading young people on the path towards a brighter future. More than 12,000 young people aged from 6 to 25 are currently involved in the programs. For more information, please visit www.sportdanslaville.com/en 

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East Boston FC Powered by Boston Scores officially launches for the spring 2025 season. East Boston FC (EBFC) is a recreational soccer club for youth in grades PreK-12.  Providing multiple levels of soccer programming, EBFC is proud to be part of the Mayor’s efforts to expand neighborhood-based soccer leagues across the city.

Registration for spring season is now open, and placement tryouts for travel teams will take place February 1. Practices for both grassroots and travel teams will start at the end of March with games beginning in April. The spring season will conclude in June.

EBFC is a volunteer-driven and neighborhood-based program that is governed by an Advisory Board. Local nonprofit Boston Scores, who offers free afterschool soccer programs to over 1,800 youth across the city, provides backbone support for EBFC. EBFC practices and games will take place at the Boston Scores Field at Salesian Heights and field access is supported by the Salesian Boys & Girls Club.

“East Boston is a soccer community and our youth and families are excited to see East Boston FC launch,” said Tommy Welch, EBFC Vice President and Boston Scores Board member. “Families had been driving to other towns for soccer clubs, and now we are able to stay in East Boston and build a community hub right here.”

EBFC and its coaches emphasize holistic player development that focuses on character building, skill development, and community building. The grassroots program is a recreational in-house league for kids of all skill levels that focuses on soccer fundamentals. The travel teams provide a more competitive level of play and will compete in the Boston Area Youth Soccer (BAYS) league. In the inaugural season, there will be a travel team option for 3rd and 4th graders with plans to expand to additional grade levels in fall 2025.

“Our partnership with the Salesian Boys & Girls Club to build our new field complex was founded on the vision that it would allow us to improve our programs across the City and to build community-based programs to better serve the East Boston neighborhood,” says John Maconga, Executive Director of Boston Scores. “We are thrilled that EBFC is launching and giving more youth in our community the opportunity to play.”

To learn more about EBFC and to register a child, please visit www.eastbostonfc.org or www.bostonscores.org/ebfc

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Over 300 Boston Scores students from 14 Boston Public Schools performed at the annual Boston Scores Poetry Slam held on November 14 at the Strand Theatre.

Each school engaged with our Power of Poetry curriculum throughout the fall season, and as a team wrote and performed an original poem on the theme Empathy. At the end of the evening, teams were recognized for:

• Best Command of Stage
• Best Delivery
• Best Writing
• Best Ensemble
• Best Performance

Our judges for the evening included: 

• Jammy Millet Torres: Manager of Fan Experience with NWSL Boston and a spoken word poet
• Anshi Moreno Jimenez: Boston Mayor’s Office, Boston Scores Board Member, and Boston Scores Alum who represented us at the National Poetry Slam
• Erik Gomes: Boston Scores staff member and Boston Scores Alum

Each team also nominated two poet-athletes for the spring Poets’ Banquet, where individuals write and perform an original poem.

Videos of the performances can be found on our YouTube channel. 

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Over 200 Boston Scores students from 7 Boston Public Schools participated in an end-of-season tournament at the Boston Scores Field on November 9. 

After a season of hard work, each team was able to showcase their skills and growth during the tournament. During the regular season, game days are often constrained by school schedules or transportation, but the weekend tournament allows teams from across the city to play each other. 

Middle school sites who participate in our One Hen enrichment program also had mid-season check ins with Boston Scores staff about their projects and plans. 

During the day’s wrap up, students had the opportunity to come up to the mic and share their favorite part of the season. While some shared about specific games or scoring a goal, others took the opportunity to thank their coaches or to share about making friends. At the end of the day, each student-athlete was given their own soccer ball to take home to keep up their touches over the off season.

This was the first time we have been able to host a tournament at our field, and it was a truly monumental day to see our middle school teams come together in this space built for them! 

Photos from the day can be found here.

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For the first time, Boston Scores entered two East Boston teams into the Mayor’s Cup Soccer Tournament held at Moakley Park over Veterans Day weekend.

In their debut season, the Boston Scores East Boston co-ed 3rd/4th grade team won the division championship. The 5/6th grade team made a good run going undefeated through the semi-finals but lost in the final match. 

Overall, we are extremely proud of our debut teams and look forward to future Mayor’s Cup tournaments. A full write up and photos by the East Boston Times can be found here. 

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Boston Scores hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new recreation and education campus in East Boston on Tuesday, July 16. In partnership with the Salesian Boys & Girls Club, the project includes renovations to office and classroom space, installation of a mini pitch for soccer and basketball, and the construction of a multi-field soccer complex.

Members of the community, donors and supporters, elected officials and other partners joined the celebratory day. Chief of Human Services José Massó represented the City of Boston, speaking about the importance of investing in our youth and our communities. “This complex is not just a physical space. It is a launchpad for kids to start believing in themselves, growing their confidence and becoming leaders that can return and share the same vision and mission with the next generation of Scores students,” said Massó.

The program also featured Brian Bilello, President of the New England Revolution and Board member at Boston Scores. The Revolution have been longstanding partners and supporters of Boston Scores and the field allows for new ways to partner. “We have already started our first new program with the New England Revolution Academy running a session on the Boston Scores field this summer,” said Bilello. “This gives kids an opportunity to train at a bit of a higher level. We want to give the opportunity for those kids to dream big, starting right here on this field.”

Molly Santry, co-director of the New Balance Foundation, also spoke about New Balance and Boston Scores’ shared commitment to healthy kids and healthy communities. “New Balance and the New Balance Foundation believe in the transformative power of sport,” said Santry. “Boston Scores’ commitment to excellence and serving youth city-wide has compelled us to team up on this important opportunity because we know that the poet-athletes and all the young people who learn here are our future leaders.”

State Representative Adrian Madaro and Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata also presented Boston Scores and the Salesian Boys & Girls Club with a citation from the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The citation celebrated Boston Scores’ 25 years of providing free programs as well as the opening of the new facility.

To close out the event, 2024 Boston Scores Poet-Athlete of the Year Vincent Phan performed his original poem “Achievements.” After his poem, Vincent officially cut the ribbon and opened the field. Students in summer programs then took the field to play soccer and enjoy the festivities.

After a $17 million comprehensive campaign and nearly two years of construction, the field is officially open. The project supports Boston Scores’ work to expand access to free, high-quality afterschool programs by doubling the number of students served by 2026 when the World Cup and an NWSL team return to Boston. After many years of providing free programs across the city in partnership with schools, Boston Scores is excited about the new community-based programs that this field can support in East Boston.

“It’s a dream come true to provide neighborhood families with a space like this that will foster community, provide a home for youth soccer, and support students as they develop and pursue their dreams,” said John Maconga, Executive Director of Boston Scores.

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