Friday, Oct 30 at the Great Neck Pitch

Thank You for Glowing

Our first Halloween Glow Night lit up the Great Neck Pitch. 35 kids played, with adults and volunteers jumping in too. We rotated through street soccer, the air pitch, and the big grass field, and gave away 4 glow balls, an FTP Puma bag, and a glow-in-the-dark ring toss. Just ask anyone who came.

  • 35kids played
  • 3ways to play
  • 4glow balls given away
  • 1stnight on the air pitch

The night

What Glow Night looked like.

The whole Glow Night crew: players, volunteers, and coaches in front of the FTP air pitch The Glow Night banner on the fence, with kids playing on the air pitch behind it Kids warming up on the Great Neck Pitch before sunset, with FTP staff on the field FTP volunteers in staff shirts setting up the glow lights before the night Kids in pinnies playing on the air pitch after dark Kids crowding around the glow ring toss at Glow Night Players gathered under the field lights at Glow Night Air pitch games at sunset on the Great Neck Pitch

From our founder

The real glow.

Christin Golich with one of the volunteers who helped run Glow Night

Yes, the soccer was incredible, and so were the lights. But what I kept watching was the kids. Kids who met at pickup over the summer finding each other again. New kids, nervous and unsure about something they'd never tried, taking a chance anyway. And everyone around them cheering them on, asking their names, asking them to play. That's real community.

JP, one of our community members who has been such a huge help, told me it's hard to find people like us: people who work, have kids, and still love to give back. He asked me if there are more people like us out there. I looked around the field and thought, they're all right here.

For the Players isn't just pickup soccer. Soccer is the vehicle, but what brings us together is wanting to give back. Our volunteers give their own time, some driving 45 minutes or more to be here. Kids of every age and skill level play together and help each other get better. You don't have to know soccer. Walk up for the first time and you'll feel welcome, and you'll be part of something.

We're not a random group of people. We're a family that grows every week, every time someone new shows up to pickup or a night like this one. We're bringing people together to leave this world better than we found it. We just happen to love soccer.

Christin Golich Christin Golich
Founder, For the Players Foundation

Thank you

It took a lot of people.

Setting up the FTP air pitch before Glow Night

Special thanks

  • Japhet, John, Graham, and Brody for running the games and keeping the teams rotating
  • Howard, Mason, Ignacio, Caio, and D'Andru for setting up, cleaning up, running drills and games on the street soccer, and playing with the kids all night
  • Faith and Noah for hanging with the little ones on the air pitch, building glow necklaces, and drawing with glow-in-the-dark chalk
  • JP for the lighting expertise and keeping the fields lit
  • Mike and Cathy Meador for making the goodie bags every player took home
  • Scott for running check-in, chatting with families all night, and supporting our mission

And to everyone who came

  • Every family who brought their kids out, in costume or not
  • The adults who jumped in and played
  • Great Neck Baptist Church, for sharing their field with us
  • Everyone who gave toward the night, and everyone who covered a kid's spot

What's next

Keep playing with us.