Building a Legacy Bigger Than Soccer
A conversation with Boston SCORES Students
We spent time at the Boston SCORES Field at Salesian Heights in East Boston with around 60 Boston Public School students, from 4th through 12th grade, who came together after school to be among the very first to meet Boston Legacy FC.
No big stage, no formal program—just a box of hats, a soccer field, and a group of students who were about to find out that they belong in the story of this team.
"Legacy is leaving something behind that is more important than you."
Boston SCORES is a nonprofit that combines soccer, poetry, and service-learning to help young people build confidence, community, and a sense of purpose. Their programming goes way beyond the field—it’s about giving kids a platform to express themselves, be leaders, and dream big. And it showed. These students were thoughtful and ready to engage—even after a long day of school.
On that field, we engaged in conversation and asked questions like:
Why do you play soccer?
Who are some of your favorite soccer players to watch?
What does legacy mean to you?
Their answers were honest and even quite poetic at times.
One student said, “I play soccer to be with my friends, to be in community.”
Others shared, “It was passed down in my family—sitting in the living room watching games together” and “I play soccer to keep my mind off things, to give me an escape”.
When we asked what legacy means, one student gave an answer I’ll never forget:
“Legacy is leaving something behind that is more important than you.”
Another quote we shared together was:
"Legacy means something really special—like a person or thing that changed history in a big way. We picked 'Legacy' for our Women’s Football Team because girls and women have done so much for the history of fútbol."
That moment stuck. You could feel the sincerity and poise in the student’s voice—the weight of being included in something that matters.
At the end of our conversation—and right before they rushed back onto their school buses—they all ran over and reached into the box like it was full of candy. Yes, because we told them we had a gift for them. But also because they wanted a piece of this moment. A symbol of something bigger they now belonged to. Each student walked away with a Boston Legacy FC hat—and maybe something even more lasting: the feeling that they’re part of a legacy that’s just getting started.
I left the field feeling hopeful, grounded and inspired for what’s to come. These kids reminded me that legacy isn’t about what you build for people, it’s what you build with them. And on that field, with those hats and those voices, it was already happening.
This is what it looks like to start something right. To plant roots. To make sure that the future of women’s sports in Boston doesn’t just land here—but grows from here.
Boston Legacy FC isn’t just arriving. It’s being built — with them. With all of us.
Written by Jammy Torres Millet, Boston Legacy FC’s Manager of Fan Experience and passionate about advancing equity through sport.
Boston Scores inspires youth to lead healthy lives, be engaged students and have the confidence and character to make a difference in the world. You can check out their mission statement and programming at their site.
