See It, Be It is an Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer initiative aimed at giving kids - particularly those in under-resourced communities - exposure to individuals and environments that inspire and motivate them.
Through partnerships with college soccer programs, youth get an opportunity to connect with student coaches who volunteer at local rec centers, after school programs and community-based programs during the fall and spring to deliver soccer programming to the youth who attend.
“See It! Be It! College Sports Day” is a culminating event of the season where youth players are invited to enjoy a day of soccer at the colleges attended by their respective coaches. The youth are transported to the college, enjoy a campus tour, food on campus and a soccer game.
"It’s an opportunity for youth soccer players to see what their future can hold. If they work hard on the field, and academically, it's important for the kids to have people to look up to and to see all that's attainable for them.” -Amanda Bezner, Alvernia Women’s Soccer Head Coach
“The energy that they bring to the field to the game is so different than what we bring; they just get so into it, they're so excited. They were running around the track before the game and were just so hype you can't help but smile.” -Liv Malone, Alvernia Women’s Soccer Player
"It is our job to help soccer expose youth to things that are good for their future. Having a chance to walk on a college campus, on the field and see the possibilities that can come from playing this game can make a huge impact. ‘See it, Be It’ is specially designed for that. We hope more colleges and universities reach out to help create these experiences for youth." -JT Dorsey, Grassroots Soccer Manager for Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer
“We always have families with younger siblings at our games and I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old but when you hear a collective group both last year and this year of kids screaming the players names because they work with them on a weekly basis is something that is really powerful.” -Amy Hough, Elizabethtown Women’s Soccer Head Coach
“With them being there, it gave us one more reason to work, one more reason to want to go to playoffs, one more reason to make that run. I think it drove us even more and maybe even powered us through moments where I felt like we couldn't do it. So as much as we were playing for us, we were playing for them.” -Ava Lammersen, Elizabethtown Women’s Soccer Player
For more information on See It, Be It and other Grow the Game initiatives, contact JT Dorsey at jtdorsey@epysa.org.