Articles by Ed Foster-Simeon

About Ed Foster-Simeon

Ed Foster-Simeon has served as President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation since 2008 and has more than two decades of experience at the local, state, and national level of the game.

Getting Kids Outside to Play: Easier Said Than Done

Research shows that children living in underserved communities are more than four times as likely to lack recreational facilities. This is significant when you consider that 71 percent of youth don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity, and that one in five school-aged children has obesity. The lack of safe places to play is an added barrier to living a healthy lifestyle for these children.

At the U.S Soccer Foundation we aim to bring quality soccer programming and play spaces to more kids. To further expand our after-school soccer program, Soccer for Success, we knew we needed more quality spaces to play the game, especially in urban areas.