Our Founding

The America SCORES model was developed in 1994 in Washington, D.C. by Julie Kennedy, a teacher who recognized that her students lacked safe after-school options. She used her own experience as an athlete and began to teach her class soccer after school. In inclement weather, she turned to her other passion, teaching her students to write and perform poetry. The model was quickly replicated throughout D.C., and five years later America SCORES became a national organization. In 2002, America SCORES Seattle was founded, serving 120 students in its first year and thousands of students since. Today, more than 360 youth in Seattle and more than 12,000 youth in urban public-school districts in North America are positively impacted by SCORES programming annually.'

Our Model

SOCCER engages poet-athletes with their peers, forging meaning relationships that stay with them long after they graduate from the program. By playing soccer students learn the values of teamwork, sportsmanship, and discipline. SCORES creates neighborhood soccer teams that become lifelong communities.

POETRY promotes creative thinking and gives poet-athletes an outlet to express their emotions. By raising their voices on the issues they care about most, poet-athletes improve their social and emotional health and become champions for their neighborhoods and wider communities.

SERVICE LEARNING instills a sense of compassion, social responsibility, and personal worth. By working together on something that matters to them, poet-athletes form deep connections to their neighborhoods and become young leaders for positive change in their city.

POET-ATHLETE is someone who nurtures their mind, body, and community through poetry, soccer, and service. SCORES provides safe spaces for children to find their voice, empowering them to grow into a physically and emotionally healthy adult.

Our Present

Working with K-5th grade students in multiple districts in the greater Seattle Area, the America SCORES program targets social-emotional learning by uniquely combining literary arts, athletics, and civic engagement. We utilize soccer, poetry, and service-learning as tools to encourage holistic, positive youth development of the mind, body, and soul. Teachers, poetry artists, and local individuals serve as our soccer and writing coaches, building stronger student-teacher and community relationships beyond the school day. Through participation in our school year and summer programs, more than 360 at-risk youth (called poet-athletes), from Seattle to Des Moines, are able to gain self-confidence, learn to communicate more effectively, develop healthy habits, and cultivate skills that help them realize their potentials. The SCORES program is free to students and their families, and we provide transportation, healthy snacks, and all necessary supplies to eliminate barriers to participation.

To learn more about what we do, visit our website at www.americascoresseattle.org.

Hear from Our Poet-Athletes

Watch the video below to hear how poet-athletes benefit from SCORES in their own words.

America SCORES Seattle Holiday Breakfast

Come kick off your holiday giving at by attending our exciting panel discussion about Equity in Sports