Jamboree Ends Spring Season on a High Note!

The sun shone on Jamboree last Saturday, drawing over 750 people to our annual end-of-spring soccer and community service event at Columbia University's beautiful Baker Athletics Complex. This day represents the culmination of the America SCORES New York spring season and gives our poet-athletes the chance to celebrate soccer and service-learning with their families, friends, and their dedicated coaches!

A huge thank you to our photographers for the day, Luis Fonseca, Sam Katz, Samantha Schiff, Robert Evans, and all of the staff and volunteers who spotted a wonderful picture in the making! To see all their incredible shots from the day, check out our Facebook albums:

Best of Jamboree 2018

Jamboree! 2018 SHOUT/ Service-Learning

Jamboree! 2018 Team Photos

Jamboree! 2018 Action Shots

After some resounding "America SCORES" chants, all teams were escorted to their respective fields to discuss their service-learning projects. This year, our poet-athletes worked on a number of important issues ranging from stopping gun violence, to beautifying their communities, to raising awareness about homelessness and organizing community wide food drives.

Program Director Zach Gomes holds this portion of the day in high regard. "All of the these projects are student lead," he pointed out. "They exemplify the amazing impact youth are capable of having within their communities and the world at large."

The boards were hung around the field throughout the day so we were constantly reminded of our poet-athlete's commitment to service!

The next item on our agenda was, of course, soccer! Each school had the opportunity to play at least 3 games, and they took advantage of every second! They left it all out on the field, but made sure never to forget the ASNY values of Teamwork, Leadership, Commitment, and Sportsmanship.

Jamboree is one of our most loved events, by kids and staff alike, and it's obvious why.

"Being the only day of the year where every school was united in one place at the same time, the Jamboree was filled with anticipation, excitement, and an energy unmatched by any other single day of the year," said Soccer Program Manager Chloe Wheeler,

"Any bystander catching a glimpse or a moment from the day would have been able to see the impact of our program, in the smiles and anticipation spread across every poet-athlete’s face."

This was our biggest Jamboree yet, and we could not have done it without the incredible team of volunteers, staff, and coaches who joined us on Saturday. Goldman Sachs' Community Teamworks recruited 20 incredible volunteers who exceeded every expectation. Members of our Board of Directors and Junior Board also joined for the day and had a blast! Thank you again to all of our volunteers. We could not be more grateful!

All of our poet-athletes have worked tirelessly throughout the year; in the fall, they started strong with soccer and ended the up with incredible poems which lit up the 2017 Poetry SLAM!, and in the spring, they kept spirits high during game days (rain or shine!) and produced service-learning projects for their communities.

"I'm inspired by the way that the NYC community came together on Saturday," said Executive Director Shannon Schneeman.

"We have an amazing staff team who work tirelessly to make sure Jamboree is something the kids remember forever. Talented volunteers from Goldman Sachs come back for their second Jamboree to literally put it together, from goal set-up to refereeing, lunch distribution and clean-up.

"Columbia University provided in-kind support with its facilities, equipment and staff. And families and friends traveled from as far as Flatbush, Brooklyn to celebrate their students' year-long commitment to America SCORES. It was the perfect way to end an amazing year of growth."