By Justin Forzano | CEO
The 2021 Pittsburgh Girls Programs for Open Field created new opportunities for girls from refugee communities living in Crafton Heights and Northview Heights to play soccer and build new relationships with girls and young women from different backgrounds. Conversations about social and emotional learning goals were included in each session and the fall season was focused solely on identifying and regulating emotions. Communication with parents near the end of the year increased participation, specifically in the field trip.Highlights include:
Coach Chloe shared an experience about how soccer is bridging the gaps between refugee girls from different backgrounds.
Last October when we had the initial Northview Heights vs Crafton Heights game, there was a lot of fighting. Since then, quite a few of the girls from Northview would always bring up how much they disliked the girls from Crafton. I would hear things like
"Next time we play them I'm gonna fight them!"
This past Sunday when we were picking up the girls in Northview for the RMU game I told them we were going to be picking up the girls from Crafton and again they were like "No we don't like them! They aren't allowed to come!" At the RMU game, when the girls could have sat anywhere and with whoever they wanted, one of the same Northview girls who would always make those kinds of comments was sitting with the girls from Crafton for most of the second half, getting along and having a good time.
Building relationships between coach mentors, both staff and volunteers, and participants is fundamental to the work that we do. Reflecting on 2021, this is the greatest outcome. Thank you for investing in these critical relationships that provide transformational experiences for our girls.
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