Streets of Atlanta get FIFA World Cup soccer treatment ahead of tournament

Just weeks away from the FIFA World Cup tournament coming to Atlanta, soccer is coming to the city streets.

>Channel 2’s Lori Wilson hit the pitch to see how the Boys and Girls Club is celebrating the game.

>At the pitch on Wednesday, about 100 young people were getting ready for the World Cup, and they did it in a way that only soccer in the streets can.

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>There were musicians, jerseys, flags flying and kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of metro Atlanta, all coming together for their own pre-World Cup celebration.

>“I like seeing other people enjoy things, and just seeing people having fun,” Ayden Arnold said.

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Oops! Atlanta lands in Uber’s Top 10 Most Forgetful Cities • >Metro Atlanta teacher charged with sexually assaulting student multiple times • >Road rage shooting victim drives into Roswell after being shot in Cobb County, police sayThe Soccer and STEM Clinic kicked off with a welcome from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, plus a major $260,000 investment from Amazon, and the mayor’s Youth Scholarship Program, for Atlanta’s “Soccer in the Streets” program.

>The initiative installs soccer pitches in unused public spaces.

>“We think those same things that make you a good athlete will help you become the engineers and builders of tomorrow,” Brian Huseman, Amazon Vice President of Public Policy, Community Engagement, said.

>The event was full of fun, from kicking running and competition to learning.

>For business and city leaders, the Soccer and STEM event was about setting and scoring goals for the future.

>“We’re making sure that soccer is available to kids all over the metro area,” Dickens told Channel 2 Action News. “Like the Soccer in the Streets program. They learn teamwork, they learn conflict resolution, they learn how to problem solve and just enjoy life.”

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