The U.S. Soccer Foundation and Discovery Education announced a new partnership to bring soccer-based learning experiences into middle school classrooms.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / June 8, 2026 / As the world's biggest sporting event prepares to descend on North America this summer, Lenovo Foundation is working to ensure the moment translates into something lasting for students far beyond the stadium.
The U.S. Soccer Foundation and Discovery Education announced a new multi-year partnership, with support from Lenovo Foundation, to bring soccer-based learning experiences into middle school classrooms nationwide through Soccer for Success: Goals for Life.
The collaboration pairs the U.S. Soccer Foundation's three decades of youth development expertise with Discovery Education's standards-aligned digital instruction, which reaches more than 45% of U.S. K-12 schools, delivering free, ready-to-use resources that build durable skills, deepen STEM engagement, and connect classroom learning to real-world careers.
"We view sports as a catalyst for inclusion and education," shares Calvin J. Crosslin, Lenovo Foundation President and Chief Inclusion Officer of Lenovo. "We are thrilled with the opportunity to support the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the Virtual Field Trip and its free access to educators on the Discovery Education platform. Sport is a proven global democratizer and will enable greater engagement and skilling for students - in STEM areas and in life."
A virtual field trip to Soccer City USA
The partnership launches with "Beyond the Goal: A Virtual Field Trip to Soccer City USA", designed for grades 6-8 and filmed on location at Providence Park, home of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, and at Parkrose Middle School in Portland, Oregon.
Students go behind the scenes of professional soccer to explore communication, leadership, resilience, decision-making, and engineering in action, hearing directly from players, coaches, and experts in nutrition and sports analytics. The experience connects the game they love to academic concepts and future career paths they may not have considered.
"The U.S. Soccer Foundation has always believed that soccer is more than a game. It is a vehicle for youth development, community building, and expanding opportunity for young people," said Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO, U.S. Soccer Foundation. "This partnership with Discovery Education gives us a powerful new avenue to deliver on that mission, expand our reach in schools and provide students in classrooms across the country with content that is as inspiring as it is educational. At a time when the world's eyes are turning toward soccer in North America, we want every young person to have access to the learning and life skills that will help them thrive on and off the field."
The Virtual Field Trip is available now through the Discovery Education Experience platform and a free public microsite, alongside an Educator Guide and classroom materials developed to middle school Health, 3D Science, and ELA standards.
Sport as a catalyst for STEM and inclusion
For Lenovo Foundation, the partnership advances a core part of its mission: expanding access to technology and STEM education for the communities that need it most. It also builds on Lenovo's role as the Official FIFA Technology Partner of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and FIFA Women's World Cup 2027, extending the company's involvement in the tournament beyond the pitch and into the classrooms where the next generation of innovators, engineers, and leaders is being shaped.
"At Discovery Education, we help educators bring students' excitement about the world around them into instruction that matters, and soccer's biggest moment in North America gives us a powerful opportunity to do exactly that," said Catherine Dunlop, Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships, Discovery Education. "The U.S. Soccer Foundation shares our commitment to powering progress for young people, and together we're delivering high-quality, no-cost learning experiences that engage students with remarkable access behind the scenes of professional soccer."
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View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/industrial-and-manufacturing/beyond-the-tournament-lenovo-foundation-helps-build-a-lasting-stem-leg-1173867
