If you’ve ever been to a football game at Heinz Field; if you’ve ever stepped inside a South Side bar; if you’ve ever uttered the word “Brown” while in a conversation with a die-hard Steelers fan – even if its just to describe the burnt bits of potato skin on your fries at Primanti Brothers – you understand perfectly what football means to this city.

Globally, though, the bone-crunching, trash-talking game of American football is less popular than the sport we in the U.S. call “soccer.” When it comes to going down in sports history as The Best, winning a World Cup tournament is it.

The point is, like American football, soccer is more than just a sport. It’s a hobby, a team-builder, an art, a universal language and a way of life.

For local non-profit organization, Pittsburgh Soccer in the Community (PSIC), soccer is all of the above and then some. PSIC aims to provide high-quality soccer coaching and healthy, positive lifestyle skills for youth in underprivileged Pittsburgh communities. The Bayer USA Foundation donated $3,000 to the PSIC this summer, enabling the organization to hold a soccer camp for over 40 children at Lawrenceville’s Arsenal Field. Players from the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Professional Soccer Club coached the kids on their footwork and ball handling, hung out with them and scrimmaged with them.

The camp has proven successful since its inception three years ago – just last year the Lawrenceville Police reported that juvenile crime went down 100% over the summer, which they attributed to the program.

PSIC founder James Meara was among the first in the region to use soccer as a platform for building discipline and teamwork. Meara, who is originally from England, grew up playing the sport and knows how important it is for kids to be a part of something they’re proud of.

“A lot of these kids are Somalian refugees, brought to Pittsburgh from Kenya by Catholic Charities. Soccer is huge over there. It comes naturally to them,” said Meara during a camp session on Monday, August 3. “You can see their love of this sport in the way they play. Some of them have better moves than the Riverhounds players!”

Bayer USA Foundation’s donation also provided an opportunity for the PSIC campers to share an evening with the Riverhounds at their season-closing game against Baltimore on Saturday, August 15, at Chartiers Valley High School. Each child was given tickets the game, Lenzner bus transportation to and from the game, a t-shirt with the Bayer USA Foundation, PSIC and Riverhounds logos on it, and food and drink. For several of them, it was the first professional soccer game they ever attended – the first stadium they had ever been in.

But the biggest thrill for the kids was when the Riverhounds players partnered up with them and walked onto the field together for recognition before a crowd of over 1,000, prior to the start of the game.

The children left an impression on one player in particular: mid-fielder Jay Kutney. “It is so amazing to make a positive impact on the lives of others - seeing those kids smile and eat and enjoy their time at the game (and on the bus, which I understand got many surprised ‘wows’ out of the kids) makes all the hard work and energy worthwhile. When organizations like the Bayer USA Foundation step up to support such ventures, it makes it all the more special,” said Kutney.

For more information about the Bayer USA Foundation, visit http://www.bayerus.com/Foundation/Foundation_Home.aspx

For more information about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, visit www.riverhounds.com

For more information about Pittsburgh Soccer in the Community, visit www.pittsburghsoccer.org. Victorious World Cup teams hold their title for four glorious years. Even more important is the respect they earn of their competitors and the worldwide honor they bring to their home country. And if you think Steelers fans went crazy in 2006 when they won their first Super Bowl since 1980, multiply the excitement by ten and you’ll get what happened in Italy when Team Italia became Campione del Mondo (World Champions) that same year.