Etihad Airways New York City Soccer Initiative celebrates 30 city-wide mini-pitches

Yesterday, Vincent Frascogna, Etihad Airways Vice President of the Americas, joined the First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray, along with partners and community members to unveil the newest group of mini soccer pitches across the city. This is part of the New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI) celebrating the vibrant soccer culture of NYC. An official ribbon-cutting took place in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Etihad is committed to serving a global audience of soccer fans and aims to expand free soccer programming to an additional 10,000 young New Yorkers by 2021. This year, marks the third consecutive year Etihad has contributed to the New York City Soccer Initiative and pledged a total investment of $750,000 over 5 years to complete 50 mini-soccer fields in underdeveloped neighborhoods across all 5 boroughs.

“As a leading global airline, Etihad celebrates soccer’s power to unify and connect communities, both locally and globally. We are excited to grow our relationship with the NYC Soccer Initiative. This partnership aligns with our key values, and we believe giving back is important. New York has been a hub for Etihad for 14 years, and we are proud to give back to the city that has given us so much. We look forward to continuing opening new fields across the 5 boroughs and bringing free soccer programming to young New Yorkers,” said Vincent Frascogna, Etihad Airways Vice President of the Americas.

This year’s event was headlined by a photo exhibition featuring the street soccer culture of NYC as captured by young people from around the city. Other soccer fans should enjoy great work like this, and Etihad will be taking this exhibition on a tour of its global offices around the world. As a token of thanks to the local community, Etihad is proud to extend a total of 120 tickets to all NYCSI participants and 2 guests of their choosing for the upcoming first playoff match.