The Pure Game is an after-school soccer program designed to mentor children through social-emotional learning and development of self-esteem.
I had the chance to speak to Cristina Velasquez, the Director of Development for The Pure Game. She tells me the program sparked her interest because she grew up with mentors herself.
She reflects on her time on the field with The Pure Game, “The coach interacted with the kids that weren’t touching the soccer ball, and he was telling the other kids, if you were your friend, what would you do to include them in the game? It was always about being inclusive and life lessons.”
Below is a 2:00 minute story I produced from my interview with Cristina.
The Pure Game is based in Orange County, California. They serve children from 2nd to 12th grade, and target children who may be at risk or underserved. I asked Cristina about this demographic, and she explained to me that “any child can be at risk, it doesn’t matter where they live.”
For children from high-income and low-income backgrounds, it’s possible they may not have a parent, guardian or caretaker after school because they may be at work. The Pure Game guides children through mentorship, sport and curriculum.
What separates The Pure Game from other soccer or sport programs, is their social-emotional and mental health lessons built into every game. Program leaders will teach new concepts like respect, responsibility, compassion, and more. They ask students to reflect on these lessons and provide examples of how they integrate compassion into the game, and in their personal and school lives.
Above all, they want children to have fun, try new things and develop healthy self-esteem and relationships. Coaches are not worried about competition or performance, but rather everyone gets a chance to play and learn something new.
The Pure Game provides surveys for the students to reflect on their experience, and after soccer camps they feel like they’ve gained social-emotional skills from their time at camp.
Remote Recess Zoom screenshot provided by The Pure Game
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted students across the world, but The Pure Game was determined to reach children during a time they needed activity, mentors and social-emotional learning the most. They created “Remote Recess” and have maintained an immersive program through distance learning.
I asked Cristina if their goals as an organization have changed since COVID-19, and she said, “I think what COVID taught us is now we have an extra tool of online: zoom and videos. Our program will continue to be the same and the goal would be to impact more students. Students are eager to be on the field and playing, honestly.”
They’ve worked hard to establish their online presence since school closures, below is a video montage they created to show what virtual programs look like.
Below is an example of an activity, Basket Toss Game from their Youtube channel. In this game, they teach reflection on responsibility and relationship skills. They pose the questions,
“Are you bringing your friends down or are you helping each other be better?”
“How can I improve my relationship with my friends and family members?”
“Think of things that make you happy and try and do them.”
For more information on volunteer opportunities, donations and more, please visit their website Pure Game (thepuregame.org)