South Bronx United says soccer-based academic programs keep youth on track; academy serves about 200 students
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Summary
South Bronx United described a soccer-centered model linking athletics and academics: roughly 1,900 participants across programs and an SBU Academy of about 200 middle and high school students who must attend academics to play; workforce development keeps youth engaged up to 12 hours weekly.
South Bronx United representatives told Bronx Talk the nonprofit uses soccer to deliver academic support, mentorship and workforce development to Bronx youth.
A representative described a broad set of programs—recreational and competitive soccer, college-prep and mentorship—and said the SBU Academy includes roughly 200 middle- and high-school students who participate in academics to remain on competitive teams. "So in that program, it's about 200 middle and high school students... both boys and girls teams... they come after school for academic support, homework help, high school application prep, college prep," the representative said.
The organization said its programming reaches children starting as young as 2 and offers workforce-development programming up to age 24, and that dedicated participants may spend up to 12 hours a week in SBU activities. The broadcast presented program descriptions and participant anecdotes but did not cite a budget, funding sources, or third-party evaluation data.
Why it matters: South Bronx United's integrated sports-and-education model reflects a community-based strategy to improve school engagement and career pathways. The program's requirement that athletes attend academics to play ties recreational participation to educational outcomes.
Limits: Numbers were given in the program as approximations; no independent outcome data or funding breakdowns were presented in the segment.