Community leaders partner with ESPN to open soccer, basketball court in Flint's Dewey Park

Flint, MI—Soccer balls soared on the north side of Flint, Mich. as young athletes broke in a combined soccer and basketball court in Dewey Park.

The brand new court was built through the shared efforts of the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, city officials, ESPN and an international soccer advocacy organization called love.futbol.

But those organizations didn’t do it alone. Dozens of volunteers showed up on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, to help beautify Dewey Park and put together a steel fence that surrounds the new court. The fence was then covered in murals, and the existing basketball court atop which the new one is built was resurfaced.

Players from the Flint Area United Soccer Club took to the new, blue surface for a 6-on-6 scrimmage on Monday, Oct. 10, marking the first-ever game played on the combined court.

Check it out for yourself in the photos below:

Drew Chafetz, founder and CEO of Love Futbol, speaks to a crowd gathered at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. to celebrate the opening of the new soccer and basketball pitch on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. Officials said the basketball hoops for the court would be installed soon. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Volunteer Saphire Carter, who works as a social work intern at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, clips overgrown tree branches from a fence next to the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Carter and dozens more community members volunteered their time to beautify Dewey Park and help build the new sports pitch. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

A player from the Flint Area United Soccer Club cuts a rubbon during the opening celebration for the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

From left to right, Flint Area United Soccer Club players Mila Rose Villarreal, Jaquelyn Munoz Garcia and Yoselinn Aquino Marcos pose for a portrait at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on the opening day of the new soccer and basketball pitch, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Players from the Flint Area United Soccer Club cheer on their teammates as they play the first-ever game on the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

A player from the Flint Area United Soccer Club tends the goal during the first-ever game on the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Linnell Jones-McKenney, the community outreach director at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, poses for a portrait while she works to beautify Dewey Park and install the new soccer and basketball pitch in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Tina Murphy, sister of Flint City Council’s 3rd Ward representative Quincy Murphy, clears dirt from a sidewalk in Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Volunteers Steve Panko (left) and Ellen Yope (right), both from Genesee County’s Habitat for Humanity, drill holes in the ground to secure the steel fence surrounding the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Gabby and Isabella toss sand at each other on the baseball diamond at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Kendall lays on the ground while her friends spin around on a carousel at the playground in Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Orlando performs a backflip on the baseball diamond at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Players from the Flint Area United Soccer Club play the first-ever game on the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Maryum Rasool, executive director of the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, speaks to a crowd gathered at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. to celebrate the opening of the new soccer and basketball pitch on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Volunteer Kyle Rife, who works as an admissions representative at National Heritage Academies, poses for a portrait while clearing overgrown tree branches from a fence next to the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Volunteer Casey Shuck hoists Elliot Shuck on his shoulders to grab overgrown tree branches next to the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Quincy Murphy, Flint City Council’s 3rd Ward representative, speaks to a crowd gathered at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. to celebrate the opening of the new soccer and basketball pitch on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Lee Graham, executive director of the Operating Engineers 324 union, poses for a portrait in a forklift during the construction of the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. In addition to Graham, several members of Operating Engineers 324 volunteered their time to help build the pitch. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Volunteers Francisco Vasquez and Boris Porras, both from the nonprofit Motivational Edge, drill holes in the ground to secure the steel fence surrounding the new soccer and basketball pitch at Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)

Jujuan Thorn, general manager of the Antidote Studio, music producing facility based in the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, poses for a portrait with his son Jaxon Thorn in Dewey Park in Flint, Mich. on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (Michael Indriolo | Flint Beat)