The Hearts of Pine Foundation is celebrating a powerful year of community impact through the Portland Soccer Project, a free youth development afterschool program using soccer as a vehicle to build confidence, leadership, belonging, and life skills for students across Portland.
During the 2025–26 school year, the Portland Soccer Project served 70 student-athletes through programming at East End Community School and Talbot Community School, delivering 101 sessions and more than 215 hours of programming. Along the way, students explored weekly life skills, from teamwork and conflict resolution to leadership and taking ownership of their sessions.
The program reflects the Foundation’s belief that soccer can be much more than a game. It can be a bridge across culture and class, a source of joy and health, and a space where young people feel seen, supported, and connected.
This year’s participants represented the beautiful diversity of Portland. Sixty-seven percent of students speak multiple languages, 76 percent identify as BIPOC, and the program maintained an 81 percent attendance rate throughout the school year. Students also had the chance to connect directly with the club, attending three Hearts of Pine matches and experiencing the energy of Fort Fitzy firsthand.
At East End Community School, the Foundation delivered 83 sessions, meeting three afternoons per week with programming led by Hearts of Pine Foundation staff and volunteers. At Talbot Community School, the program delivered 18 sessions, meeting two afternoons per week with sessions co-led by Foundation staff and Talbot teachers.
“The Portland Soccer Project doesn’t just teach the game; it invests in our students’ potential, providing them with the support and space they need to practice becoming the leaders of tomorrow,” said Kelly Thornhill, Assistant Principal at East End Community School.
That focus on growth beyond the field is at the heart of the program.
“What makes this program truly special is that while it may be based around the game of soccer, it is not about teaching soccer skills,” said Noah Kerrigan, 5th Grade Teacher at Talbot Community School. “It’s built around life lessons that students can carry with them long after they leave the pitch.”
For the Hearts of Pine Foundation, the impact of the Portland Soccer Project is a reflection of what this club was built to do: bring people together, create opportunity, and use soccer as a force for good across Maine.
The 2025–26 school year marked an important step forward, but it is also just the beginning. As the Foundation continues to grow, so too will its commitment to building spaces where young people can learn, lead, play, and belong.