A message from our friends at OPI

Greetings, fam!

Well, if 2020 was the deep freeze for our work in the local soccer and fustal community, then 2021 was the start of the thaw. We didn't achieve 100% of our pre-pandemic speed, but we got some good stuff done.

We brought two crews of volunteers into Portland parks during the summer, visiting (actually, in both cases, revisiting) Ed Benedict Park in SE and Knott Park in NE. And we got back to work on Project Blacktop by installing permanent futsal courts in the schoolyards at Peninsula Elementary in North Portland and Capitol Hill Elementary in Southwest. In total, that makes 13 blacktop futsal courts that we've built in parks and schoolyards in Portland and Beaverton.

For 2022, expect a similar slate of volunteer days, a similar round of Project Blacktop works, and a restart of Fields For All, our collaboration with the Stand Together initiative of the Timbers and Thorns.

And keep an eye open for announcements of a fundraising event sometime in the spring: a special screening of a footy film with a strong local component that could turn into something very positive for a community new to our projects.

Onward!