B-roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Ahead of the World Cup, Governor Hochul Launches $6 Million NY Kicks Initiative to Expand Access to Soccer Across New York

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of NY Kicks: A World Cup Legacy Investment Fund through the 2026 Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) Initiative, aimed at building soccer fields in disadvantaged communities across each region of the state to strengthen neighborhoods and bring people together through a shared love of the game. First proposed in the Governor's 2026 State of the State and included in the FY27 Enacted Budget, the $5 million NY Kicks program will provide capital grants to support the creation, expansion and enhancement of community soccer fields for youth and players of all ages, capitalizing on the momentum of the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The FY27 Budget also includes $1 million in additional funding that will be administered by the State Office of Children and Family Services for a companion grant program for NY Kicks recipients to fund programming, equipment, training, and other operating costs that maximize use of these new facilities including uniforms, shin guards, soccer balls and coaches. The capital grant program will be administered by Empire State Development through the Consolidated Funding Application, with program guidelines and additional information.

B-ROLL of the Governor with youth soccer players can be found on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. Great to be here at this incredible school. We're delighted to be here and have them host us here at PS 94, the Henry Longfellow School. Also, we are at Ed Gilligan's Memorial Park. I want to thank his son for joining us here today. Let's give him a special acknowledgement for the Gilligan family. Shane Gilligan, thank you for making this possible, this beautiful, beautiful venue. Ziham Ascencio, the Program Director of the New York's Chapter, Street Soccer USA, thank you. We'll be hearing from you in a moment. Pronoy Nath, the Youth Coach from New York City Football Club as well. Thank you.

As well as our players. Christina Gonzalez, our Principal. Let's give a round of applause for our Principal. And Rafael Alvarez, the New York City Department of Education Superintendent for District 15.

We are here today, the day that the finals are being played. So there's a lot of excitement, a lot of energy to find out who will be the winners of this competition, because I believe that competition is so important for developing the skills of our young men and women.

So today, I want to talk about what we're going to do to continue to enhance this. And this field itself, it reminds me of what a place can be transformed into. This is literally only six months old, and it's become a community hub for the families and children to play here. And it's a simple testament of the power of giving young people a place to play.

You create the space, they will be here. And this is healthy, outdoor activity, and guess what? When they're playing here, they're not playing on their cell phones, and they're not distracted by digital devices, which you don't have in school anyhow, now, right? Not in school. Okay, you're following the rules, right? Glad to hear that.

So over the next month and a half, New Yorkers will experience the thrill, the incredible thrill of watching the World Cup soccer in our hometown here. You fired up for World Cup soccer, everybody? You fired up? Oh, no, you're more fired up than that, aren't you? Is this a big deal, World Cup soccer?

[...]

All right, all right. We think this is really fantastic. For many young kids, this is the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the game of soccer. You'll pick out your favorite players, your favorite teams, you'll wear their jerseys, pick up posters, and maybe someday, maybe, play the game professionally yourselves. You all trying to do that as well? Would that be fun?

[...]

All right, all right. Sure it would. But at any level, whether you want to dream to go pro or you just want to have some fun, you need a place to play. And today's kids are having a lot of fun because they're competing on this fantastic field, but a lot of communities do not have something like this. And this is deeply troubling to me, that every child should have access to a phenomenal facility like we're on right now, or like the ones that my kids used to play on. Yes, I am the proverbial soccer mom. I had two kids, played on the same team, my son and daughter, a year apart. Guess who the coach was? My husband.

So this is a family event, practices every night, games on the weekends. I brought the Kool-Aid - which was considered healthy at the time - we didn't know any better. But I was there at every single match, and I traveled with them as my son got better and played travel soccer. And I saw the enthusiasm and the excitement, and the ability of them to be able to play where they wanted to play on good fields.

I saw the power of soccer because it teaches young people the power of teamwork, what it's like to play and pass off to each other, and to set up an opportunity to score, not alone, but with others on a team. And those are life skills that are going to be with you the rest of your lives because it's all about building camaraderie and a sense of accomplishment together at the end of a big game.

And even with the losses, I think it's important for people to learn how to deal with loss and adversity and challenges, how to overcome them. And that is to me, is the story of soccer, that it teaches so many young people and why I believe in it. That's why I believe that every child from Brooklyn to Buffalo should have the same opportunity to experience the joy and camaraderie of youth soccer.

In my State of the State Address just a few months ago, I announced a program called "New York Kicks." It's not New York Knicks. We love the New York Knicks, but this is called "New York Kicks." I keep mixing it up. And the idea is this simple. At this moment in our history, to harness the excitement and energy surrounding the World Cup, I want to bring youth soccer to every corner of our state.

We fought and we got it done because what we had to do is secure $6 million in funding in this year's budget. $5 million will go toward building out new soccer fields in disadvantaged communities all around the State of New York. And today, I want to announce this today, that starting today, localities and public authorities and nonprofits that are interested in constructing a new field can apply for funding to cover upwards of 50 percent of the project cost. There's also an additional $1 million. Because in many communities, even the cost of getting the league fees or the uniforms or the balls, shin guards, cleats, all that costs something, and I don't want any child sidelined because their family could not afford the basic equipment or the league fees. So that money will be allocated for that as well.

I'm hopeful that in a few years from now, that young people who fall in love with the sport now because of the World Cup or because we created this opportunity, will carry on that joy with them for many, many years to go. And so I want to make sure we know that this is part of our larger effort to get young people offline and outside. Again, you're playing out here. You're not being bombarded with addictive algorithms on social media. You're not being bullied. You're not being bothered. You are actually being a kid again. And this is so exciting to me as we saw the recent results of our survey of taking cell phones out of schools, that 80 percent of our respondents, teachers all across the state, said they're seeing a dramatic improvement in our young people.

So I'm excited about doing anything I can to protect our kids. As a mom, as a grandma, this is what I am hardwired to do, to create wonderful, healthy opportunities for our children, starting here today. The World Cup lasts 39 days, but this, with our initiative, "New York Kicks," I want that joy and excitement to expand way beyond the final whistle.

And let's make that legacy continue from the pitch at MetLife Stadium to new youth fields all across New York. And I'm going to say this today, everybody, today. I want you to all say, "Go, World Cup soccer!" Okay? When I say three. One, two, three. Go, World Cup soccer! Happy to be the host. Yay, everybody.