NPR News

In a rough Philly neighborhood, soccer offers kids hope and joy

NPR | By Brian Mann

Published July 6, 2026 at 4:17 AM EDT

Stephanie Santiago's daughter plays with the Kensington Soccer Club outside Philadelphia. The neighborhood has been troubled for decades by crime and street drugs, but Santiago says the club "provides a space where kids can some play safely."

PHILADELPHIA — Stephanie Santiago's 8-year-old daughter, Kaylanni Brooks, laughed and yelled as she chased a soccer ball on a recent day in a dusty field in Kensington, scrimmaging against boys and girls twice her size.

Kensington is one of this city's most hardscrabble neighborhoods, infamous for a street-drug market considered one of the most dangerous in the United States. Santiago, who has lived here her whole life, knows how people see her community. "People assume there's lots of gun violence, a lot of drugs," she said.

But there are also lots of regular families here, Santiago said, most struggling to make ends meet, many with young children like Kaylanni.

For the last 14 years, the neighborhood has been home to Kensington Soccer Club, a grant-funded program that serves roughly 2,000 kids a year.

"It provides a space where kids can come play safely," Santiago said. "It's a fraction of what we would pay if we went to a different club. Kensington Soccer Club makes it affordable."

On this roasting hot afternoon, the club had organized a World Cup watch party for kids and their families. Grown-ups sat in the shade on folding chairs around the big-screen TV while the children played.

Kensington Soccer Club was created by a local public school teacher, Jim Hardy, who started hearing from young people interested in the sport. He tried to help them find a team or club, without success.

Jim Hardy, who teaches at a public school called Kensington Health Sciences Academy, said he tried to find soccer clubs that would accept local kids, but they were too expensive. He created Kensington Soccer Club, which now serves up to 2,000 children a year.

"I looked everywhere, and the only thing I could find was half an hour away and cost $3,000," Hardy said. He started an after-school pickup game for high schoolers in 2010, and the program kept growing, funded mostly by donations.

More safe places for kids to play

According to Hardy, offering programs that families here can afford was one priority. He also organized the club so there are teams or pickup games available for children at all levels of skill and physical ability. "We embrace every kid who just wants to kick a ball and laugh," he said.

Hardy said one thing that weighs on him is the lack of staff and funding to reach all of Kensington's kids.

"It's so hard to provide them with even a small percentage of what many children take for granted in other neighborhoods and in suburban communities," he said.

Life in Kensington has improved in recent years, with drug overdose deaths and violent crime dropping significantly.

But parents say that on many blocks, they still don't feel it's safe for their children to play outside. Cash-strapped public schools have cut physical education classes and after-school programs.

Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood is widely recognized as one of the largest and most dangerous street-drug markets in the United States. But the neighborhood is also home to working-class families. Parents say their children often can't find safe places to play.

That's where Kensington Soccer Club comes in.

"It's one kid at a time. We have coaches who are able to pick them up and take them to practice and take them home," said Barbyose Noisette, the club's executive director.

"I know that this neighborhood has a bad reputation, even internationally, and that's fine. But there are families here that want for their kids to be able to get an education and play sports."

Barbyose Noisette is the executive director of Kensington Soccer Club, which now involves up to 2,000 kids a year in sports and after-school programs in a neighborhood known for crime and drugs. "It's one kid at a time," Noisette said. "We have coaches who are able to pick them up and take them to practice and take them home."

Kensington kids are now coaches

Many of the coaches who work for Kensington Soccer Club grew up in the neighborhood and played for the club's teams.

Brianna Banks, who's 27 years old, has played semiprofessional soccer, while also working as a therapist and mentor for the club. She said the programs help kids see themselves and their community differently.

"So many people are used to, 'Oh, Kensington, that's an epidemic of drugs,' but we're opening up the minds of young people to let them know there's much more," Banks said. "We are finding great players — we're developing them as much as we can."

Nagee Morrison started playing for the club when he was 14. Now 28, he works as a coach and mentor.

"This is my community — that's why I do it," he said. "We do our best around here to get the kids to come out to a better, open space, and they love it."

For Morrison, Kensington Soccer Club is also a source of pride. He said teams from his neighborhood now hold their own against many of Philadelphia's higher-priced soccer clubs.

"It took a minute for us to build up there, but I can say now we can go and crush a lot of those suburban teams," he said.

Nagee Morrison, 28, grew up playing for Kensington Soccer Club and now works as a coach in the program. "This is my community — that's why I do it. We do our best around here to get the kids to come out to a better, open space, and they love it," he said.