Soccer in the Streets Recognized for Introducing Foreign Languages to Youth Soccer in the Streets honored for its promotion and education of foreign languages and various cultures.
BigNews.Biz - Feb 25,2009 - ATLANTA – February 25, 2009 – Soccer in the Streets (SITS), an organization that teaches less advantaged kids how to make positive choices and be successful in life through soccer, today announced that it will be recognized by the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) for its efforts to introduce youth to foreign languages.
SCOLT will present Soccer in the Streets with the “SCOLT Friend of World Languages Award” at their annual conference jointly with the Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG) and the Southeast Association of Language Learning Technology (SEALLT). The award will be presented during the opening assembly held in Atlanta at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel on March 6, 2009.
SCOLT recognizes individuals and organizations that encourage, highlight and promote world language learning and teaching. Soccer in the Streets is being recognized this year for its German Street Soccer Cup. SITS is partnering with the German Consulates to create pickup games in two multicultural cities: Atlanta, April 26 and Miami, May 3. Attendance is free to these events.
“We are thrilled to be honored with this prestigious award,” said Jill Robbins, executive Director for Soccer in the Streets. “We strive to create a comfortable learning environment for children of different cultures. Our program brings children of varying backgrounds and cultures together through positive physical activity to help them overcome their differences. We’re looking forward to the German Street Soccer Cup and expect it to be a fun and exciting learning experience.”
The German Street Soccer Cup will require kids from different backgrounds to form a team and work together. Each team is required to have a Spanish and German speaker. The games are intended to be fun, and to bridge cultural gaps while teaching another language.
Players who qualify as all-stars will travel to Germany to compete. The tournament also recognizes the student with the best cultural experience or tournament blog posting. The winner will receive the “Todo Alemán Young Journalist Award” and travel to Germany with the all-star team as a reporter for Todo Alemán, a blog highlighting the German culture around the world.
“We are recognizing Soccer in the Streets for providing leadership opportunities for youths to gain important life skills through the game of soccer and for its efforts to promote the Spanish and German languages using soccer as a conduit,” said Lynne McClendon, executive director for SCOLT. “We applaud the organization’s appreciation for language diversity and foresight in exposing youth to a variety of communication so that they may be encouraged to pursue language studies.”
About the Southern Conference on Language Teaching
Organized in 1965, the Southern Conference on Language Teaching is one of five regional affiliates of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The fourteen affiliates in the SCOLT region are as follows: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some of these states, because of their physical proximity to other regional organizations, are “shared” with
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