Playing for Keeps and America SCORES Bay Area Partner to Reduce 'Play Deserts' Across San Francisco

14 school field projects will help expand access to quality places to play for more than 4,000 students each year

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Playing for Keeps Foundation and America SCORES Bay Area (ASBA) today announced a partnership to create or upgrade 14 synthetic turf fields at San Francisco public schools, expanding access to quality play spaces for children in under-resourced communities.

Together, the 14-project portfolio represents approximately $1.9 million in investment in San Francisco school play spaces and will benefit more than 4,000 students annually over the next decade. Together, the fields will cover more than 100,000 square feet—the equivalent of two full-size football fields. Funding for the work includes support from the Herbst Foundation and Airbnb.

"A play desert is a community where children have little or no access to quality places to play, often leaving asphalt and concrete as their primary options," said Dr. Mimi Nartey, President of Playing for Keeps Foundation. "A quality field is not a luxury. It is part of the infrastructure of childhood—a place to move, compete, make friends and discover what you can do. A child's ZIP code should never determine whether they get that chance."

Playing for Keeps Foundation works to expand access to high-quality, sustainable play spaces in communities where children lack dependable places to play, particularly where maintaining natural grass is not practical. The Foundation brings together philanthropy, industry, schools and youth-serving organizations to help fund play infrastructure and ensure that those spaces continue serving children through sports, programming and community use.

The partnership builds on more than a decade of work by America SCORES Bay Area to transform aging asphalt schoolyards into welcoming sports fields. Through its Field of Dreams program, ASBA has mobilized corporate, government and philanthropic support to complete 35 asphalt-to-turf transformations across the Bay Area.

"America SCORES has been doing this work successfully in the Bay Area for years," Nartey said. "Playing for Keeps can help bring more resources to the table so we can do more of it—more fields, in more communities, serving more kids."

America SCORES Bay Area is part of the SCORES Network, a 32-year-old network of nonprofits across North America. SCORES provides free after-school programming that combines soccer, poetry and community service for children in under-resourced schools.

"We know what happens when you replace asphalt with a field kids can actually use," said Colin Schmidt, CEO and Executive Director of America SCORES Bay Area. "For years, we have moved this work forward school by school. Our partnership with Playing for Keeps gives us a chance to think bigger, with thousands of students and a model built to grow."

Six of the San Francisco projects have already converted asphalt schoolyards into new sports fields and are serving students today. Eight additional projects—one new field and seven turf replacements—are planned or underway through 2027. The projects are being provided at no cost to the schools.

The projects use or will use TenCate Pivot^® Performance Turf, selected for durability, consistent playing conditions, lower routine maintenance and environmental attributes. The system does not use crumb-rubber infill, is made without PFAS and is eligible for TenCate's Turf Recycling Program at the end of its useful life.

For schools with limited maintenance budgets and play spaces that experience heavy daily use, durable fields can provide students with more consistent access to outdoor play and sports throughout the school year.

The 14 schools receiving new or upgraded fields are:

• Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy — 4235 19th St., San Francisco 94114 — new field, completed
• New Traditions Creative Arts Elementary School — 2049 Grove St., San Francisco 94117 — new field, completed
• Monroe Elementary School — 260 Madrid St., San Francisco 94112 — new field, completed
• Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School — 2055 Silver Avenue, San Francisco — new field, completed
• Malcolm X Academy Elementary School — 350 Harbor Rd., San Francisco 94124 — new field, completed
• Sherman Elementary School — 1651 Union St., San Francisco 94123 — new field, completed
• Sanchez Elementary School — 325 Sanchez St., San Francisco 94114 — replacement field, scheduled for this year
• Hillcrest Elementary School — 810 Silver Ave., San Francisco 94134 — replacement field, scheduled for this year
• Tenderloin Community Elementary School — 627 Turk St., San Francisco 94102 — replacement field, scheduled for this year
• E.R. Taylor Elementary School — 423 Burrows St., San Francisco 94134 — replacement field, timeline to be determined
• Marshall Elementary School — 1575 15th St., San Francisco 94103 — replacement field, scheduled for 2027
• Bret Harte Elementary School — 1035 Gilman Ave., San Francisco 94124 — replacement field, scheduled for 2027
• Paul Revere (PreK-8) School — 555 Tompkins Ave., San Francisco 94110 — replacement field, scheduled for 2027
• Additional San Francisco middle school — new field, site and timeline to be announced.

The San Francisco partnership is part of Playing for Keeps Foundation's growing work in the Bay Area. Earlier this year, the Foundation partnered with Vincent Country on a new turf field at Burckhalter Elementary School in Oakland. The project transformed an aging asphalt play area, giving students a better space for sports and recreation and helping bring summer programming back to the school. 

For Nartey, the mission is deeply personal. A former professional soccer player and coach, she earned a silver medal at the 2002 African Women's Cup of Nations and represented Ghana at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. She later studied environmental biology and climate change at Columbia University, earned a doctorate in public health, and built a career spanning education, youth development and environmental sustainability.

"Sport changed the trajectory of my life because I had access to a field and an opportunity to play," Nartey said. "There are children with just as much potential who have never had that opportunity. That is what this work is about. We want fewer play deserts and more fields filled with kids and more communities where every child has a real place to play."

About Playing for Keeps Foundation
Playing for Keeps Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to expand access to high-quality, sustainable play spaces in under-resourced communities. The Foundation brings together philanthropy, industry, schools and community partners to fund and develop play infrastructure and support programming that keeps those spaces active and accessible. Its work is centered on play equity: the belief that a child's school, neighborhood or ZIP code should not determine whether they have a dependable place to play. Learn more at playing4keeps.org.

About America SCORES Bay Area
Founded in 2001, America SCORES Bay Area is a nonprofit youth-development organization that combines soccer, poetry and service to help young people build confidence, teamwork and leadership. America SCORES Bay Area serves students across Bay Area school and community sites, with programming provided free to participating children and families. Learn more at americascoresbayarea.org.

Media Contact
Mark Pankowski
[email protected]
301-260-9250

SOURCE Playing for Keeps