Quarterly Newsletter

June 6th 2025 | Issue 2

Greetings, Get on the Bus Supporters!

I'm Brian Boussy and I wanted to personally reach out about two exciting developments with our Get On The Bus program right here in Howard County, MD.

As a proud HCPSS alum (Thunder Hill, OMMS, OMHS) and a recently retired HCPSS teacher (Howard High ‘93–2024), I’m passionate about giving back to the next generation. That’s why I’m leading the East Coast efforts for Get On The Bus, a program that provides kids with life skills, brand-new soccer gear, and experiences they might not otherwise have access to.

Get On The Bus (GOTB) was established in 2018 to help kids not only beat the “pay to play” model of youth soccer but to also remove the transportation barrier to play. The Aspen Institute State of Play Report has listed transportation as the biggest issue keeping kids from participating in sport. I always say “it doesn't matter if they can't afford the program if they can’t even get there”.

As we have grown, a new motto has arisen, "this is not a moment, it's a movement." Our goal is to reach 10,000 kids by WC 2026, but we are learning the "bus" doesn't stop there. We want you to come along for the ride.

Whether you are just getting to know about GOTB or have been with us from the beginning, we've created this newsletter as a means to keep you informed of successes in changing the scope of soccer in the US. Check out the highlights below!

How can you support our goal of reaching 10,000 kids by 2026 in the HOST Cities by the 2026 World Cup?

-Brian Boussy, Get on the Bus East Coast Director

Providing the Power of Play

Spring Chapters Set the bar high!

VERO BEACH, FL

GOTB connected with Indian River Soccer Academy and Fellsmere Elementary School to launch our first Florida chapter.

The students traveled to Indian River Soccer Academy (IRSA) for both practices and games and the players had a couple Friday Night Lights matches under the lights at the IRSA complex.

Kentucky

We were back in Warren County, KY with Sky Soccer Club in the Spring of 2025 where we returned for year three.

We have also started exploring local donors, sponsors, partners and grants to ensure the program remains sustainable well beyond the ITG grant funds expire. We have been able to serve almost 200 new soccer players.

Kentucky is the template for collaboration between the school system and Get on the Bus. We couldn't have done it without the school staff and county bus system!

RICHMOND, VA

Virginia welcomed its first GOTB chapter with our launch at Elizabeth Scott Elementary and First Touch Sports.

First Touch Sports founder, David Glass, shared his Mental Skills Program with us and our new after school curriculum is based on his ideas. David also brought several players from the high school where he is the coach to act as mentors for the GOTB students.

NASHVILLE, TN

WASHINGTON STATE LAUNCH

We have a partnership with Starfire Sports Complex who is excited about creating stronger ties within the community that they serve. Here is a link to the Starfire Sports Youth Program page: Starfire Sports. Within the Get on the Bus platform, Starfire would take the place of a Club, and act as the program provider. Students would be transported from local schools to Starfire for programming including the after school portion.

HOWARD COUNTY, MD

Before we are able to launch our teams we have to organize and pack a bag for each player. The bag contains cleats, shorts, shin guards, a jersey, shorts, and a ball. This is a time consuming process and this year we partnered with the women’s team at McDaniel College for help packing a record number of bags in a short time.

We launched our biggest year ever in Howard County where we will be running programs at eight elementary schools. We expanded to Guilford Elementary School and four of the eight schools we are supporting will be fielding two teams. Our expansion allows us to run a program made up entirely of GOTB teams.

We had several “El Classico” type events already where two teams from one school were playing two teams from another school on side-by-side fields. At the request of Howard County Public Schools we piloted a middle school program at Lake Elkhorn Middle School this year.

NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD, CT

With the help of Connecticut Juniors Soccer Association we will be back at the Moylan School in Hartford and expanding to Fair Haven School in New Haven. Our new players in Fair Haven will bus to a field for practices and participate in a league sponsored by the city of New Haven.

We are excited to partner with the men’s team at University of Hartford for coaching/mentoring assistance with our Hartford teams and with the women’s team from Southern Connecticut State University for similar assistance in New Haven.

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD

We will be welcoming back two of our “veteran” schools from BCPS this fall. Baltimore Highlands Elementary and Lansdowne Elementary will be making the trip to join us at Ellicott City Soccer Club for their rec league.

Howard County Gala Event

Howard County hosted its first gala/fundraising event this spring. The Homecoming Gala honored 17 local high school coaches who have won two or more state championships. Many of the honorees were in attendance coming from as far as CO, NV, and NC to spend an evening reminiscing and supporting our program. We had a great turnout for our inaugural event and look forward to hosting others in the future.

GOTB is international!

In a modern and globalized world, sports diplomacy has become one of the leading forms of engaging in multilateralism and collaboration. As an unparalleled tool in building international cooperation, Get on the Bus Soccer is working to bring together the North American community through the beautiful game.

Get On the Bus (GOTB) launched its first chapter in Mexico in October 2024, cooperating with influential organizations such as Love.Futbol and the US State Department. Brokering opportunities for all children to have access to the game, regardless of their socioeconomic means, remains the key objective of efforts. When GOTB began in 2018, the organization set its sights on a lofty but attainable goal of serving 10,000 children across the US, Mexico, and Canada, by World Cup 2026.

Today, the organization in partnership with Love.Futbol is launching its second and third chapters in Mexico at a time where sports diplomacy allows us to transcend borders and provide a mutual love of the game of soccer. The importance of efforts such as these remain at the forefront of cooperation. Yet, the most important impact is creating generational allyship via programming and a game that unites us all.

THANK YOU ATLAS FEMINIL!

Atlas Feminil, a women's football club in Guadalajara donated $20,000 USD to aid in the expansion of the GOTB Mexico project into Guadalajara. The support of the team and also the US Embassy and Consulate in MX allows the organization to serve hundreds of kids!

MENTAL SKILLS CURRICULUM

This spring we introduced a brand new Mental Skills curriculum to accompany our Life Skills curriculum. Because we understand that soccer is a vehicle to teach other life lessons we were extremely excited to team with David Glass and incorporate his eight important mental skills (respect, responsibility, self-control, focus, effort, determination, cooperation, and goal setting) into a curriculum that includes two lesson plans for each skill. Our coaches can choose between lesson plans designed for the classroom or lesson plans designed for the soccer field. Each of the lessons was designed for our 4th and 5th graders by our Regional Director, Brian Boussy, who taught for 30 years in the school system where we launched our first chapter.

Check it out here!

Mental Skills GOTB

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