NEWS BRIEF: Soccer in the Streets opens another field in metro Atlanta
A network of five teams now playing
The free sports venture known as Soccer in the Streets opened its first playing field in DeKalb County over the weekend on the grounds of the Kensington MARTA station in Avondale Estates. It’s the program’s fifth location, and connects immigrant and refugee youngsters in nearby Clarkston to a network of teams in Five Points, Lindbergh, West End, and East Point.
The man behind the concept is soccer fanatic Sanjay Patel, who in 2021 was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medal for “services to Social Mobility, the promotion of Prosperity and to Education in Atlanta through Football.” His pitches are constructed in unused sections of the transit stops. “I thought, well, what if we build a network of soccer fields at stations and build a league, whereby our kids could represent their stations — that would be their club — and they would play other stations,” Patel said. “And … why not cut out the transportation barrier via MARTA?” Details: wabe.org