By Josh Green
Seven years after it launched as the world’s first soccer field built inside a transit station, the StationSoccer program is gearing up to kick off its sixth youth-focused facility across Atlanta’s rail transit network.
MARTA has scheduled a grand opening Friday afternoon for StationSoccer at its East Lake rail station, an eastside transit hub located where Decatur meets Atlanta neighborhoods Lake Claire and Kirkwood.
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is expected to attend the unveiling at the facility’s north parking lot.
According to MARTA CEO and general manager Collie Greenwood, the East Lake pitch is intended to be a community focal point that specifically provides a social gathering place and competition venue for students from Decatur Housing Authority, the Global Village Project, and Villages of East Lake.
The Soccer in the Streets organization, City of Atlanta, Georgia Power, Atlanta United Community Fund, Amazon, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are all considered partners in the project.
The StationSoccer initiative launched in 2016 at MARTA’s Five Points station downtown. Subsequent soccer pitches have popped up at stations in West End (2018), East Point (2019), Lindbergh (2020), and Kensington (2022) near Avondale Estates.
“We’re excited to expand StationSoccer… on the East/West Line in DeKalb County and continue building on this incredible program that supports youth education and development,” Greenwood said in a prepared statement.
Friday’s kick-off event at the East Lake station (2260 College Avenue) is inexplicably scheduled for precisely 4:20 p.m.
Expect food trucks, music, games, a youth soccer tournament, and remarks from Ossoff, Greenwood, and other dignitaries.
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