Since 1995, the Foundation has awarded grants to more than 600 organizations in all 50 states. Our Grants support projects throughout the U.S. that focus on keeping children in vulnerable communities active, healthy and safe from the dangers of the streets. The Foundation awards grants to help pay for field development, uniforms, player equipment, travel costs, facility rental, registration costs, and training for players, coaches and referees.

Important Dates

• October 1, 2010 - Grant Application Opens
• October 29, 2010, 5:00 PM, Eastern Time - Grant Application Closes

Who is Eligible for a Grant?

To be eligible for consideration for a grant of any type, applicants must:

• Apply on behalf of a program or project operating in the United States
• Be a not-for-profit organization, school, municipality, college or university, public school, or sovereign tribal nation that meets the established focus for the 2011 Grant Cycle.
• Apply for a soccer-specific program or field building project.

To be eligible for consideration for a Field or Footprint Fields (Synthetic Field) Grant, applicants must:

• Own or have a minimum 10 year lease/land use agreement on the land where the field building project will take place.
• Have written authorization from the community where the field building project will take place to add lights to the field(s) (if applying for lights as part of the project).

The Foundation will not consider requests to fund:

• a program or project that discriminates by race, creed, color, sex, or national origin.
• a single individual.
• foreign projects or individuals.
• for-profit organizations.
• pass-through-grants, i.e., grants awarded to one organization for the purpose of granting to another.
• political campaigns.

Applicants must be a single entity. Applications submitted indicating “joint” or “co-applicants” will not be considered for funding.

Focus

For the 2011 Grants Cycle, the following focus will guide the Foundation's funding decisions:

The highest priority will be given to projects and programs that develop players, coaches, and referees in economically disadvantaged urban areas encompassing populations of 50,000 or more.

The Foundation is especially interested in organizations that incorporate a youth development element such as anti-violence, anti-drugs, healthy lifestyles, etc. into their soccer programs.

Grant Types

The Foundation's Annual Grants Cycle includes the following Grant types.

PROGRAM – Program Grants will be awarded for the following:

• Player and Team Equipment from Kwik Goal and Eurosport (shoes, shin guards, uniforms, traveling goals, balls, cones, etc.)
• Travel Costs for Games and Practice (excludes expenses for professional games)
• Facility Rental Costs
• Registration Costs
• Training Fees for Coaches
• Training Fees for Referees

This grant type does not include any project that contains a construction element. For the 2011 grant cycle, there is a $100,000 maximum request amount for Program Grants.

FIELD – Field Grants will be awarded for the following:

• Irrigation Products from Hunter Irrigation
• Sports Lighting from Musco Sports Lighting
• Field Maintenance Equipment from The Toro Company
• Modular Surfaces from Sport Court 

This grant type does not include upgrading an existing field with a synthetic grass surface; these fall within the parameters of the Footprint Fields (Synthetic Field) Grant type. For the 2011 grant cycle, there is a $100,000 maximum request amount for Field Grants.

FOOTPRINT FIELDS (SYNTHETIC FIELD) – Footprint Field grants will be awarded for the installation of a synthetic field surface from FieldTurf. This grant type includes both new field construction and the upgrading of existing fields with a synthetic field surface. For the 2011 grants cycle, there is a maximum $200,000 request amount for Synthetic Field Grants.

The Foundation does not award funding to assist with the purchase of land or to offset (or retire) an existing mortgage or note for land.

Additionally, the Foundation does not generally award funding for the construction of non-field specific elements such as concessions stands, restrooms, storage buildings, parking lots, and post-construction landscaping, etc., unless it can be demonstrated that funding for these elements will directly increase the number of soccer participants and fields.