With the UEFA Foundation · weekly since February 2026
Soccer as a development tool — weekly clinics at two La Academia campuses in Puerto Rico.
The program
In partnership with the UEFA Foundation, Fields of Hope brings soccer as a development tool to two La Academia campuses: weekly clinics facilitated by José Zuñiga of Soccer Lab — Fridays with the young men at Campus Villalba (DCR) and Mondays with the girls at Campus Las Margaritas (Boys & Girls Club).
The weekly consistency has produced visible results: improvements in discipline, emotional regulation, teamwork, and personal confidence. In Villalba, soccer functions as a therapeutic complement; at Las Margaritas, the girls have found in the sport a space for empowerment — in communities where organized athletic opportunities, particularly for girls, have historically been limited.
Fields of Hope lives inside La Academia's enrichment ecosystem, alongside music, art, and other learning tracks. It rests on a simple conviction: structured sport, sustained over time and delivered with professional methodology, is a powerful tool for transformation.
Founding partner
UEFA Foundation for Children
Delivered by
Soccer Lab · José Zuñiga, lead facilitator
Where it lives
Inside La Academia, across two campuses
Launched
February 2026
One methodology, adapted to who is on the field
Sessions take place inside the DCR Social Treatment Center in Villalba, where soccer works as a therapeutic complement to the rest of the campus's programming: a weekly hour with structure, rules, and a team.
With the Departamento de Corrección y Rehabilitación
At the Boys & Girls Club in Las Margaritas, the sessions are a space for physical and social empowerment for girls — 15 of them took part in the program's first month, in a community where organized athletic opportunities for girls have historically been limited.
With the Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico
A weekly rhythm, sustained over time
Campuses
Sessions every week
Girls at Las Margaritas
(as of February 2026)
Areas of reported growth
What facilitators report after months of weekly sessions
A fixed day, a fixed hour, a shared routine. The weekly cadence is itself part of the method.
Competing, losing, and starting again in a safe setting — with adults who accompany the process.
Roles, positions, and shared responsibility: the group learns to depend on one another.
Visible progress in skill turns into something bigger: the certainty of being capable.
From the first session to a stable weekly rhythm
June 2025 · Before Fields of Hope
Soccer Lab visits Campus Villalba for a one-off clinic. Many of the youth experience the sport for the first time. That afternoon became the origin of what would later grow into a sustained program.
February 17, 2026
Fields of Hope begins with the girls at Campus Las Margaritas, at the Boys & Girls Club.
February 20, 2026
The young men at Campus Villalba start their own weekly clinics inside the DCR Social Treatment Center.
February 23, 2026
A parent meeting facilitated by Soccer Lab and José Carlos Figueroa brings families into the program from the outset.
March 2026
Both campuses settle into a steady weekly rhythm, with a standout session at Las Margaritas on March 30.
April 2026
Fridays at Villalba, Mondays at Las Margaritas: the calendar becomes fixed and predictable for participants and staff alike.
May 2026
Two sessions a week, sustained. Facilitators report significant advances in the participants' skills.
Month by month coverage of Fields of Hope
February 20, 2026
Fields of Hope exists because four organizations show up every week
The UEFA Foundation for Children makes the program possible: soccer as a development tool, sustained week after week.
Soccer Lab
Methodology and facilitation
DCR
Campus Villalba
Boys & Girls Clubs
Campus Las Margaritas
Fundación Rimas
Program design and operation
Two campuses today. With the right partners, many more tomorrow.
Your organization can power a named program — designed, measured, and told together with us, just as the UEFA Foundation does with Fields of Hope.
Start a ConversationQuestions about the program, its methodology, or how to replicate it in your community? Our team will get back to you.
info@fundacionrimas.org