Our friends at Southern New Hampshire University set out on a mission during the 2016 MLS season. That mission was to help make a difference in local communities while having fun with local soccer players and fans.
SNHU connected with local MLS communities in San Jose, New York, LA and Dallas to raise funds and help “kick-start” local Soccer for Success chapters. Soccer for Success, run by the U.S. Soccer Foundation, is a free after-school program that helps kids cultivate health habits and critical life skills through coach-mentors and safe places to play.
The concept behind KickStart was simple and fun…
When you juggle a ball, you help! For every juggle SNHU donated $1 to Soccer for Success.
Launched in July as part of the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Week in San Jose, KickStart bounced across the country and back making stops out east in NY for two weeks with the New York Red Bulls, back west for more fun in California with the LA Galaxy and wrapping up all the juggling excitement in Texas with FC Dallas.
Each stop included juggling fun in the local community events as well as a stop at partner club MLS games and the 2016 All-Star Game. Excitement followed at every stop with fans juggling for a great cause. KickStart saw some soccer players juggle upwards of 3,000 times in a row and fans who had never played juggling just a few times to help SNHU reach their goal. No matter how many juggles a participant could do – every juggle counted!
Here is a quick look at KickStart in San Jose during All-Star week:
All totaled fans tallied 100,000 juggles generating a $100,000 donation from SNHU to Soccer for Success. Thanks to the fans who participated and congrats to our friends at SNHU and to all the local Soccer for Success communities that benefitted from this great program.
Categories: Client Relations, Event Marketing, Major League Soccer, SNHU