This summer, students from the Pleasant Grove community will step onto one of the biggest stages in sports as part of the FIFA World Cup 26™ Player Escort Program. Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports announced that 38 students from eight local elementary schools were selected through a series of free soccer clinics held earlier this year at W.W. Samuell High School. The students were chosen not only for their soccer skills, but also for their leadership, positive attitude, attendance, teamwork, and participation in nutrition and wellness activities connected to the program.
As part of the experience, the students will walk onto the field alongside some of the world’s top soccer players during FIFA World Cup 26™ matches taking place in North Texas. Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports was one of only three Dallas nonprofit organizations selected for the Player Escort Program. The other participating groups include Puede Network and Jubilee Park & Community Center.
“This is about much more than soccer,” said Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports director Steve Davis. “Opportunities like this are generally more accessible to well-connected communities and organizations. We are so proud that young people from working class Pleasant Grove, an area often overlooked in Dallas, will have the chance to stand on the World Cup stage. It’s so cool that the Pleasant Grove community is being seen!”
The program is supported by The Quaker Oats Company and Common Goal as part of a nationwide effort to connect youth from underserved communities to FIFA World Cup 26™ experiences. Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports is a nonprofit organization that provides free and low-cost soccer camps, clinics, coaching education, equipment support, and wellness programs for children in the Pleasant Grove area.
Through its work, the nonprofit aims to help create happier, healthier young people while expanding access to soccer opportunities in the underserved Pleasant Grove community.