ESPN and several local and national organizations, including love.futbol, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, and the College Football Playoff Foundation, cut the ribbon on a new flag football field at the John Hope EnVision Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. The field will also double as a soccer pitch following further renovations, according to organizers of the event. The John Hope EnVision Center serves local kids, and having the fields on site will offer more opportunities for them to learn and play sports.
But there’s much more to the field than sports, said one of the organization heads involved in the project. “We believe sport is fundamental for a positive and productive life,” said love.futbol co-founder and CEO Drew Chafetz. “This is a space that’s not just a place to play, but to dream.”
Atlanta-based Soccer in the Streets notified love.futbol about the space and the possibilities were endless once Chafetz and love.futbol, who has been working with ESPN for over a decade teamed up on the project. The College Football Playoff Foundation, with the championship game between The Ohio State University and Notre Dame University taking place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday, Jan. 20, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. topped the project off.
Folding chairs were set up in front of a stage near the edge of the field with two dozen school-aged children sitting in them when William Oliver, Executive Director of the John Hope EnVision Center, stepped on stage. Oliver, who took over as executive director in January 2021, took a few moments to thank ESPN reps and love.futbol staffers, but also thanked the community for making the EnVision Center home for so many years.
“When you say a true community project, that’s the thing that really made this happen,” Oliver said. “It’s truly a group project.”
ESPN television personality LaChina Robinson hosted the event and kids were allowed to play flag football on the field afterwards.
Following the ceremony, College Football Playoff Foundation Executive Director Britton Banowsky handed Oliver a game ball from Monday’s college football championship game. Banowsky told Oliver he admired what he was doing for the community.
“I’m so proud to help give back to the Atlanta community,” said Angela Woods, Senior Director, Corporate Citizenship with ESPN.
Kevin Martinez, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship ESPN echoed Woods’s statements. “It’s important that this field is here because if you look where we are, it’s in the center of where it needs to be,” Martinez said.
A native of Hawaii, Martinez said sports helped him evolve as a child. Tennis was his game. “We just don’t build it, we program it, and we fund it,” he said of the flag football field.
“This is just the beginning of this community space,” said Martinez, who explained that he lived in Atlanta’s Cabbagetown for four years and understands the city’s connection to sports. “What I learned about Atlanta is that you have to listen to the community about what they need, and not what you want them to have.”
During the ceremony, Woods handed a pair of $1,000 checks to the head coaches of Booker T. Washington High School football and flag football teams. Booker T. Washington High School is the alma mater of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both coaches were also awarded tickets to Monday’s game and an opportunity to step onto the field during the first TV timeout.
The connection between this flag football field and the city of Atlanta is much bigger than sports. The field sits on the original site of the former John Hope Homes housing projects.
“We always wanted to have safe spaces where kids can play,” Oliver said.
