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Yes, Academic Overtime is back thanks to Merrimack College.
Communications Manager Oriagna has lined up schedules for a team of Merrimack College volunteer tutors with eager student-athletes. So far, a dozen plus students (& growing) and 7 college volunteers are mutually benefiting from hour-long academic mentoring sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Also, based on popular demand, many are learning from multiple days of tutoring support. A recent parent note with her daughter's improved report card and math test that noted noticeable improvements keeps us motivated!
| |  | We’re all about working together to ensure more Lawrence kids benefit from sports, which often means bringing sports to where they are. Since the start of the school year, Soccer Director Chris, with long-tie former player & Coach Mentor Issandel (leadership-through-sports), has been hosting soccer and fitness activities for 5th-8th graders at the Arlington School on Thursdays and 7th-8th graders at the Guilmette School on Tuesdays. A highlight was learning that their efforts resulted in almost a dozen (& growing) students joining our wintertime after-school and weekend futsal leagues. | | | |
A post by The Women’s Fund!
In celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports, Beyond Soccer Director, Stephanie McArdle shares that “positive change is only possible with a network of aligned people and partners, like The Women’s Fund.”
“While we have over 1,000 youth and teens involved in soccer programs year-round, the number of girls is far too low, matching national trends. To address that unfortunate trend The Fund, has provided us a 3-yr Resilient Girls grant. We were able to onboard the Center for Healing & Justice through Sports to develop curricula...Read More
| | | What are we looking forward to this spring? The re-launch of Fuel-for-Performance ("FFP") into our Gr. 6-12 spring travel team curriculum. FFP is being refined thanks to our partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital and its dedicated fit kit team. Plus, the return of one of our past health & wellness staffers, who's #allin for fueling the body for play, hydrating, and pairing up those snacks to maximize energy, will make this more impactful, including training for our coach mentors. Maximizing our HealthKicks teaching kitchen is also a must. | | | |
What made our winter programs better & more sustainable?
Its partner, MassHire MV Workforce Board, and its YouthWorks program, which, for the first time, expanded its summer hiring program into the winter months. It’s been a #gamechanger for groups like us, depending on teens and young adults to lead our busy schedule of activities. For Soccer Director Chris, that means the 300+ young people playing, moving, and learning weekly through Beyond Soccer get more support and guidance from young people who grew up in their own schools and neighborhoods and were also part of our program.
| | | This winter, it will mean a total of 750 hours of paid program help through March. It’s an incredible partnership that elevates our #leadershipthroughsports game, allowing more people who grew up with us to lead the next generation of players – and get compensated while doing it. What a #winwin. Unfortunately, Angel and Osvin are missing from the group pic to the left. | | With far too many girls still not playing sports, National Girls & Women in Sports Day (#NGWSD) reminds us of the importance of our work! | | With the Center for Justice and Healing through Sport at the helm, we’ve been refining our first 10-week female-focused curriculum that launched last fall. Soon we will have updated weekly lesson plans for Grade 5&6 travel team players, and our first curriculum that’s high-school specific. Player and coach mentor feedback, plus a report prepared by research scientists at Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College after pre and post-surveys last fall, are helping us ensure we do a better job supporting players’ positive mentor and peer relationships (connection), provide positive community connections (contribution), increase confidence, and build resilience. | | | | | | Chris, our Director of Soccer Development, has taken full advantage of our indoor Beyond Fit space this off-season! All winter, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays players in Grades 1 - 12 have benefited from technical skill work and indoor fitness. Yes, he makes foot skills and fitness fun -- educational, too! The term "tekker" is used in the "football" world to describe a player's skill, technique, control, and touch with the ball. It can refer to the ability to do something well. There have been a lot of "tekker-in-progress" sessions, and Chris, with his dedicated crew of Coach Mentors, looks forward to seeing how the weekly training and play translates outside this spring. | | |
The off-season's biggest program focus for Lawrence youth -- of all ages -- to connect to our mission is futsal! Our players, ages 4-18, and their families are #Allin for the fast-paced alternative to soccer played in gym spaces with a heavier ball that teaches tactical awareness and ensures an abundance of ball touches. Who wouldn't like that? The players also love its high-scoring atmosphere, which means lots of high fives. Soccer Director Chris also ensures the season ends with playoffs (photo below of the Grade 6 winning team), which the players love. Parents, too, who flock to the sidelines (tie-in to Flamingos :) We've included a sample schedule with interesting, player-chosen team names, like the Flamingos and the Galácticos, which many had to look up. "Galáctico" is Spanish for "galactic" and describes footballers considered exceptional. The term was inspired by Real Madrid superstar players who played in the early 2000s! We've got some budding superstars in Lawrence and countless players who have fallen in love with the sport. | | | | |
Yes, we've shared about Issandel. But his involvement over the last 6 months has been next level, warranting a revisit and reminding us of the value of our leadership-through-sports priority (i.e., former players stepping into leadership roles!). Issandel has been responsible for in-school soccer enrichment at the Guilmette School on Tuesdays since the fall. That means he's been mentoring between 20-25, 7th & 8th graders weekly, whom he shared always greet him with smiles, high fives, and "yessss, coach is here!" Last fall, he led the Gr. 6 Rebels travel team and will once again step into that leadership role this April – while staying committed to his Guilmette group. | | | |
| | Also, for the last two weeks, he's contributed to important Foundation visits, sharing his story of involvement, which started over a decade ago. Now a sophomore at Southern New Hampshire University studying mechanical engineering, we look forward to our continued journey together. | | | | |
If you keep up with our social media, these two, pictured here, look familiar!
It's long-time Beyond Soccer players, now Northern Essex Community College students Angel Lopez and Michael Villaman. They're pictured here with the college's first-ever Region 21 and Northeast District Championship trophy. The team's historic season resulted in a 14-4 record, including a 14-game winning streak and a national ranking of 6! It also earned them their first appearance in the national tournament. We're super proud of these two, especially their ability to "juggle" a busy class schedule, their continued involvement in Beyond Soccer, plus other part-time work.
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Angel leads the Gr. 7 boys' Thunder team in the spring & fall and stays involved as a winter Coach Mentor. Michael and Angel, you make us proud and set excellent examples for the youth you mentor.
FUN FACT: Angel & Michael have been part of Beyond Soccer for a combined 15 years!
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ALUMS TAKE 2!
Long-time player and Summer Coach Mentor Eliany is chiming in from Oakland, CA. She was our 2nd Paul Lefty Wennik Outstanding Scholarship recipient. It was well deserved after a fantastic high school career, together with mentoring lots of little ones! Her first semester at Northeastern was a challenging adjustment, but she kept up and stayed focused. The result has been a fun & productive 2nd semester. Playing for the club soccer team also contributed to her positive adjustment although she still misses us :)
| | | | | Remember this #TeamworkThursday share that showcased the wonderful visit by 40+ New Balance Gives Back friends who helped us tackle some behind-the-scenes projects! It included an extensive apparel project where donated #NB staff gear was sorted and inventoried. Also, this organized hundreds of in-city and travel uniforms, and an attention-to-detail group probably saved one of our most dedicated parents (ever), Fifa, countless hours of work by meticulously prepping, cutting, and removing logos for rec league jerseys for winter and spring league play. Lastly, an essential cleat-organizing project was also fit in thanks to #GearUp leaders, who will be back involved this spring to assist players needing cleats and other must-have gear to play! | |
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We're giving a shout-out to two wonderful organizations that have supported us through thick & thin.
First, the Stevens Foundation! Since our start, it's helped advance our mission and ensure we followed through with our yearly objectives. As background, the Foundation trustees increased their focus on the city of Lawrence and surrounding communities in the 2000s. That meant actively facilitating conversations and collaboration among so many non-profit friends “to share resources and support innovation.” More recently, the trustees increased multi-year grants and we’re so grateful (& motivated) to be a recent beneficiary!!
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Also, the Second Congregational Church of Boxford has, for just as long, been rallying its church family to support efforts close to home. Recently, it made a gift, which, as shared below, came at a crucial time!
From its “Good News” newsletter share! “Did you know that your pastor received a personal call from the Executive Director of Beyond Soccer in Lawrence, Stephanie McArdle, to thank us for our Outreach support? Our 2025 donation arrived at a moment when Stephanie and Beyond Soccer needed a little boost. She needed to pick up the phone to thank us personally. That our generosity makes an impact in the lives of others is truly Good News!”
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