LOS ANGELES -- More than 200 participants gathered for the kick-off of the "Grow the Game of Soccer" clinic series hosted by the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, in collaboration with the Play Equity Fund and community members, at the Los Angeles Community College soccer field on Saturday morning. The energy was high as groups of youth coaches and leaders heard from community members, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Inglewood Mayor James Butts Jr.

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Michelle Chavez- The Sporting Tribune

Dec 6, 2025; Coaches, community members, and participants of the "Grow the Game of Soccer" inaugural clinic kick-off event at Los Angeles Community College Soccer Field.

"Long after the whistle of the final match at SoFi Stadium next summer, the impact of the World Cup will be manifest and live on in our local communities. The training these clinics provide to our coaches and players will impart skills to help our youth excel on the field and in life," said Mayor Butts during opening remarks.

"Sports have a tremendous power to inspire community building... the Grow the Game Soccer initiative gets us off to a great start as one of several legacy programs."

The initiative is a community legacy program of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee in collaboration with the Play Equity Fund, meant to shine a spotlight, develop, and inspire the next generation of soccer players, coaches, and referees. Saturday's free coaching clinic is the first of three scheduled for the months leading up to the 2026 World Cup this summer. Eight of the tournament matches are set to take place at SoFi Stadium, including the opening match for the U.S. Men's National Team.

The coaching clinic brings together community stakeholders, including the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC)'s Foundational Partner Kaiser Permanente, as well as Los Angeles' three professional soccer clubs: LA Galaxy, Los Angeles Football Club, and Angel City Football Club.

The importance of the World Cup and the impact of coaches on the youth were underscored throughout the morning. Kevin Hartman, former professional soccer player and current assistant coach for the LA Galaxy, spoke during the kick-off. "We're not just preparing players for tournaments or seasons, we're preparing them for a wave of inspiration that's coming to our country. My path in soccer was shaped because this country made a commitment to growing the game," he said.

"The 2026 World Cup is coming, and the opportunity is enormous. Some of the young players we're coaching today might be the ones who say years from now, "that World Cup changed me," and some might fall in love with the game that shapes them as they become better people."

In collaboration with the LA84 Foundation, community nonprofits Cal South Soccer and the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport are implementing a new coaching curriculum to promote wellness, emotional growth, and physical and mental development. Community members emphasized the significance of ensuring access to proper training.

"I work for the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sports, so we are the brain coaches for the day. I've actually been in conversation with LA84 for two years now about how we can build something successful for coaches, while also being impactful for the youth they serve in LA. With partnerships like Cal South, we're able to bring their knowledge of the game, our knowledge of brain science, together to give coaches a higher understanding of not only what they do on the field, but also the impact they have on the kids off the field," Chris Reed, Director of National Partnerships for CHJS, told The Sporting Tribune.

The initiative focuses on removing barriers to coaching education and increasing access to soccer for learning and play. With more than 640,000 youth in Los Angeles County reported to have played soccer in 2024, according to a 2024 Play Equity Fund report, the need for practical, holistic training is increasing.

"I think a couple of barriers are the pay-to-play system that is currently in this country, particularly with soccer. And I do think a lot of the available facilities are nonexistent. Not only are we trying to encourage people to play, but we also need the facilities to let them play...I think that U.S. soccer and Cal staff now regularly offer coaching courses to try to entice coaches to come in and learn. It's more about the holistic approach, how to really understand these kids on a different level, rather than just on a sporting level. I think that's another barrier as well," said Chris Stone, a coach at Cal South Soccer.

The report details that while exposure to youth sports and activities is high, nearly one-third (30%) of youth have stopped playing a sport or participating in a sport in the last two years due to barriers, including total cost, loss of interest, time commitments, and a decline in fun associated with playing. This clinic series aims to reduce these barriers through training specifically for youth coaches, referees, and players.

The clinics had more than 150 coaches registered, representing 26 regions of Southern California and serving about 10,000 youth. 33% of Saturday's participants have no formal certification in youth coaching, and about 12% have just the basic certification, according to Renata Simril, President of the PlayEquity Fund and President & CEO of the LA84 Foundation.

"You know, I was getting some coffee earlier today, and a coach stopped me to say thank you for the remarks because this is about shining a light on them. They're the ones who show up every day in communities to support kids' skills and their youth development. He said, 'Thank you for your remarks. I'm a parent volunteer coach. And he says, I can't, you know, find free coaching certification. You know, it's just this is such an extraordinary opportunity. Thank you for providing me with the skills to be a better coach and a better parent.' To me, I can't think of anything deeper than—more of a deep legacy than that. And we're using the World Cup platform to drive change in neighborhoods across Southern California," Simril told The Sporting Tribune.

The clinic features four stations, each designed to specifically target a central component of coaching with an emphasis on emotional wellness. Saturday's curriculum is a brand-new one for coaches to implement, intending to become standardized throughout the region by the U.S. Soccer Federation. Coaching programs are certified through the USSF; however, Cal South provides coaching to other soccer organizations.

"We're about system change at the Play Equity Fund. We're creating a new curriculum. We're working with Cal South and the U.S. Soccer Federation to make this part of the Level G coaching certification for coaches in the Cal South territory. We're working to embed this particular curriculum that we've created for this program to be embedded in the certification program so that any coach who goes through the Level G coaching certification for soccer will have the youth development component tied to the skills and drills," says Simril.

"That's another powerful impact of this program: it will have permanence in terms of how all coaches are trained, and then it becomes a continuous learning effort. What are the new things that we're learning through our research, through our conversations with coaches, and how do we make sure that we're keeping the coaching curriculum updated to meet the needs of young people across the Southern California region? We're creating a ripple effect from this coaching program."

With the World Cup 200 days away, the goal is to continue providing training to staff and players of all sports with the proper knowledge and resources to create healthy, sustainable environments for youth sports.

"This event actually is the first of three for the World Cup. So this is just a kickoff. We're hoping that after these three events, we can build a coaching cohort that will last for a few years, that we can continue to do training and continue to upgrade and support them over time. This is a base layer model for what we can do impact-wise for coaches," says Reed.

Two more clinics are expected to be held in early 2026, with information on how to register forthcoming.

Editors Note: A previous version of the article referred to Kaiser Permanente as a sponsor rather than an official Foundational Partner of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. A previous version of the article had misspelled Kaiser's president in the photo caption. The correct spelling for the name is Michelle Gaskill-Hames. The article has been updated to reflect these changes.

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