This spring has brought about a great deal of change for the UKSD family. When we normally would have been embarking on our yearly trip to Dominica, we had to postpone our travel plans not only for the safety of our participants but also for our friends on the island. Along with this is, there has been a shift in the way that we are able to interact with the kids we work with, as we are all social distancing to do our part to keep our community safe. Something we have always tried to teach here at UKSD is the importance of being a leader. The greatest leaders in the world have often come from their ability to find light in the darkest situations. Our youth leaders have fostered this belief for a long time and are now setting it into motion. ​

All too often, we see young girls in our communities who have yet to realize the strength they have as individuals and as members of a whole. This can be due to factors such as a lack of selfesteem, the negative influence social media can have, and the everyday adversities young women face.

As with each Fall, the team at UKSD is often very busy with high school soccer seasons. While some of our programming might seem to
slow down, this is the time of year when final planning and preparations are underway for the exciting programs we will see between the winter and summer months. Mark our words, the turning of the decade will be a year to remember for us at UKSD.

​Like many people, we are attempting to hold onto the final days of summer. As we reflect on all of the wonderful programming we were able to hold this year, we find our greatest takeaway was how many incredible kids we were able to work with from all across the Cape and beyond. We learned about new cultures, shared stories, laughed ( a lot), and found ourselves feeling so grateful to be able to do the work that we do.

​To say that our first ever street soccer cage event- filled weekend was a success would be an understatement. Thanks to our friends at Mettle Sports and Massachusetts Youth Soccer, we were able to host a 3 vs. 3 street soccer Food Donation tournament for high schoolers, free pickup games for anyone interested, and a full youth clinic for children ranging in ages 3-10. The weekend was a whirlwind. However, when the dust settled, we could not believe all we learned and all we took away. We have tried to condense our findings into four points, but it has been hard to fully capture all that came from this special opportunity. Here is what you need to know about why our community needs a permanent street soccer cage now more than ever. 

​This Spring, our Community Empowerment and Leadership Club hosted an event in collaboration with the Cape Cod WE CAN ( Women’s Empowerment Through Cape Area Networking) organization. The focus was to open up multigenerational discussions about what it means to be an empowered woman and girl within our communities and within society as a whole. The world we live in today is complicated, to say the least. It is our wish to help young women come to know the power of their voice and to instill in them the belief that they are capable of enacting great change. This event was a stepping stone to the greater work which is ahead.

“There is no tool more effective for development than the empowerment of women”. Kofi Annan

There is something simultaneously exhilarating and humbling about being a presenter. Crafting a talk which engages just as much as it educates is something which takes trial and error. Here at UKSD, we have recently tried our hand with this type of work.

Hello! Our names are Alexis and Phoebe Papavasiliou, and we are here to share our experience with UKSD! We started UKSD when we were 5 and 7 years old in a run down gym in Osterville, Massachusetts. There were about 4 other kids in the class, who are now very close friends. He introduced himself to us as “Doc”, and that is still what we call him to this day. We have not stopped participating in his clinics and community service projects since. Through this program, we have made many friends and valuable memories. We also met many young women, that we admire and look up to, including Megan Fligg and Maddie Brennan. They would run clinics, and we would hear about their inspiring trips to Dominica, Ohio, Jordan, Kibera, and Florida, hoping one day we too could be apart of such a journey. Now we are happy to say we have come full circle, and we are going on the next trip to Dominica in April.