Amazon Donates $100K, Partners With Soccer in the Streets ahead of World Cup

As the world prepares to come to Atlanta, the city is bringing the world to its youth.

Amazon, Soccer in the Streets, and Mayor Andre Dickens welcomed more than 100 metro Atlanta youth to the East Lake MARTA Station Soccer Fields on Wednesday morning for a summer soccer and STEM clinic timed to the FIFA World Cup’s arrival in the city later this month.

Students from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and Awesome Team rotated through soccer drills and hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math activities,  divided into country-themed teams as a nod to the global tournament. 

Amazon Vice President of Public Policy and Community Engagement Brian Huseman announced a $100,000 donation to the Mayor’s Youth Scholarship Program, adding to more than $10 million the program has raised in recent years to support Atlanta students pursuing higher education. 

“We want them to be excited by athletics and trying out soccer, but we also want them to be excited by STEM education, and hopefully try both,” Huseman said.

Amazon also donated an additional $100,000 to Soccer in the Streets. 

The event featured Amazon’s Think Big Van alongside the STEAM Truck, which gave students access to robotics demonstrations and hands-on experimentation. Science ATL was also among the partners on-site.

Dickens, who studied chemical engineering, drew a direct line between athletic development and academic achievement, telling the students that the same qualities that make great athletes also shape great engineers, coders, and scientists.

“The last thing I want to say is that research is clear: kids who play sports do better in school and in life,” Dickens said. “It is clear that young people who participate in sports are more likely to succeed in school, to graduate, and to go on to have strong careers.”

The mayor also acknowledged Soccer in the Streets as an early priority of his administration. Dickens cited the organization receiving a $50,000 youth development grant in 2023 during Dickens’ Year of the Youth initiative, and has since grown its station soccer infrastructure across the Atlanta region.

Amazon has partnered with Soccer in the Streets for four years. Huseman said the approaching World Cup made the moment feel right to deepen that investment.

“We’ve been partnering with Soccer in the Streets for the past four years,” he said. “With the World Cup kind of coming, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to help.”

Kaseem Ladipo, executive director of Soccer in the Streets, said the organization’s existing infrastructure, tournaments, clinics, and league play are being enhanced to take advantage of the global spotlight. He said partnerships like the one with Amazon demonstrate what’s possible when institutions align around community benefit.

“When we have these types of events, like with Amazon, it’s really about coming together and showing the rest of the world what’s possible when you have cross-sector partnerships coming together for the benefit of the community,” Ladipo said.

City of Atlanta Senior Technology Advisor Donnie Beamer attended on behalf of Dickens’ office and pointed to the STEM programming as an extension of what competitive sports already teaches young people.

“The same skills that you build in sports,  grit and problem solving, and teamwork — they’re also incredibly important to STEM,” Beamer said. “You’re much more likely to be able to go pro as an engineer than as a soccer player.”

Beamer cited a First Robotics participant who went from passive observer to program president to SpaceX employee as an example of what access to hands-on technology can unlock.

Union City Mayor Vince R. Williams, alongside other regional elected officials. Dickens acknowledged the gathering as a reflection of the metro area’s growing diversity, noting the event’s country flags represented nationalities living across Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, Union City, and the surrounding region.

With FIFA World Cup matches scheduled to begin in Atlanta in less than two weeks, Ladipo said he hopes visitors will see Soccer in the Streets as a model for expanding access to the sport globally.

“Come check out what we’re doing at our station soccer sites, because if we’re trying to really grow the game and make sure there’s access to all kids, we’re the model for how you can make that happen,” Ladipo said.

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