RENTON, WASH. – RAVE Foundation, the official charitable arm of Sounders FC and Reign FC, today announced the 11 recipients of RAVE’s World Cup Legacy Grants, a three-year, $715,000 investment in young people and communities across Washington. Known as the “Starting XI,” the selected organizations will receive multi-year funding to grow free and low-cost soccer programming, so that FIFA World Cup 2026™ leaves a legacy in Washington that lasts beyond the tournament.
Built as a multi-year commitment, the grants follow a step-down model, with each organization receiving $26,000 in both 2026 and 2027, then $13,000 in 2028. The larger investments in the first two years give each organization the ability to build and develop its programs, deepen its impact in the community and sustain that work beyond the grant period.
“This investment reflects the true meaning of legacy,” said RAVE Foundation Executive Director and Sounders FC & Reign FC Chief Impact & Fan Engagement Officer Ashley Fosberg. “RAVE, Sounders FC and Reign FC made a promise to leave Washington with more access to soccer long after the world’s biggest tournament came to Seattle, by investing in the organizations that make it possible. Our commitment to these communities is how we keep that promise.”
RAVE created the World Cup Legacy Grants as FIFA World Cup 2026™ brought the world to Seattle, so that the tournament’s impact would reach communities across Washington for years to come. The grants invest directly in community-rooted organizations that advance access and equity through soccer every day.
WORLD CUP LEGACY GRANTS RECIPIENTS
The Starting XI represents communities across Washington, from grassroots, community-led programs to community centers, youth-serving nonprofits and public partners:
- 90+ Project (Spokane): Builds on free after-school soccer at every elementary school in its local district, deepening a curriculum that pairs small-sided play with character, leadership and mental wellness and opens a path into club and camp play.
- City of Burien: Transforms its school-based soccer program into a proven community model the city will carry forward, with fall and spring seasons, paid coaches, league games and tournaments that youth return to year after year.
- East African Community Services (Seattle): Makes EACS Soccer Weeks a returning home base for immigrant and refugee youth, with skills training, mentorship and paid assistant-coach roles that grow young players into the next generation of coaches.
- Hope Soccer 2026 (Spokane): Turns its free community mini-pitch program into a lasting operation, adding its first program coordinator and expanding into new neighborhoods, with dedicated programming for girls and youth with disabilities.
- Ilwaco Youth Sports (Ilwaco): Anchors youth sports in its rural coastal community, growing middle school soccer and youth leadership so generations of former players keep coming back as coaches.
- Intercity Soccer League (Seattle): Develops Intercity Legacy Seasons into a lasting neighborhood league where kids walk to practice, more girls take the field each year and former players step into paid coaching roles.
- Jubilee REACH (Bellevue): Expands free after-school soccer across its public school partnerships, adding coaches to shrink waitlists so more students find connection, mentorship and a team to belong to.
- Rainier Athletes (Bellevue): Deepens a model that pairs fully sponsored soccer with a dedicated mentor who walks alongside each student from elementary school through high school graduation and beyond.
- Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane (Spokane): Strengthens Kids Connect, a program running for nearly a decade where soccer is a shared language for refugee and immigrant youth, building belonging and resilience through weekly play and an annual soccer camp.
- Skagit Valley Family YMCA (Mount Vernon): Opens its indoor youth soccer program to every child who wants to play, with full scholarships, expanded outreach and support that keeps families coming back season after season.
- Somali Bantu Rising (Seattle): Grows Soccer-to-Scholar into a permanent, community-owned program that links soccer to tutoring and college prep, trains Somali Bantu youth as coaches and mentors and builds its annual Labor Day Classic into a lasting tradition.
Each organization offers free or low-cost soccer that opens the game to more young people, designs programs with intention where there are barriers to access and invests in youth off the field through academic support, leadership, mentorship and life skills. Together, their work reflects RAVE’s mission to use soccer as a vehicle to inspire youth, strengthen communities and bring health, learning and joy to every child who plays.
COMMUNITY GRANTS
Organizations across Washington can also apply for RAVE’s Community Grants, which will award $100,000 in total, up to $7,500 per organization, to groups using soccer as a vehicle to inspire youth and strengthen communities. Applications are open through Monday, November 9. Organizations can learn more and apply HERE.
ABOUT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Born in 1974 and a member of Major League Soccer since 2009, Seattle Sounders FC is one of North America’s leading professional soccer organizations. The club has captured nine major trophies since its inaugural MLS season, and following its Leagues Cup victory in 2025, Seattle became the first team in U.S. soccer history to win every major competition (Concacaf Champions Cup, MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup). Since the club’s MLS debut, Sounders fans have set the standard for soccer support in North America, leading the league in attendance for eight consecutive seasons (2009-2016), routinely ranking in the global top 30 among all professional clubs and never finishing outside of MLS’ top three.
ABOUT RAVE FOUNDATION
RAVE Foundation, the official charitable arm of Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, uses soccer as a vehicle to inspire youth and strengthen communities throughout Washington state. Through investments in free-play spaces, soccer programming and more, RAVE works to ensure that every child has the opportunity to play. After achieving its goal of opening 52 mini-pitches by 2026, RAVE is continuing its commitment to building community through soccer with a new goal of opening 100 fields by 2031, the year the FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to North America. Along the way, RAVE is working to ensure more girls have access to soccer and the health supports that keep them playing.
