Soccer for Success® is a free after-school program that is proven to help kids establish healthy habits and develop critical life skills through caring coach-mentors and family engagement. The YMCA in partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Campbell’s Soup Company, and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey has provided Soccer for Success® in Camden City for almost a decade with over 2,000 kids participating in the after-school based program.

Through this program, we work with school officials, parents, and our communities to create a safe environment where kids can be active, engage with coach mentors, learn about nutrition, and more.

Let's Play

Special thanks to our partners!

Kids aged 11 to 14 participate in riding and learning events designed to teach them how different factors affect the watershed and ecosystem, and consequently, their own lives. In the summer, the program transforms into a day camp, with rides increasing in length from their after-school counterparts.

Purposeful trails and destinations in Camden County are ridden to in a group and environmental learning continues off the bike at those destinations.  Environmental resources along the Cooper River, as well as from Camden County Open Space programs will help provide a more structured environmental education to the youth.

This program seeks to create concrete associations between communities and the waterways among them. By using trails along the greenways that are part of the watershed, this program gives access to waterways, from which a greater understanding of the effects we have on the water can be understood. 

Get Involved

Our Watershed Education by Bike (WEB) program offers a Sustainability Youth Advisory Council for middle and high school students from the Greater Philadelphia area who are passionate and excited to work together to oversee and implement changes in their communities, design service projects, and educate others relating to environmental sustainability.

As a part of the Sustainability Youth Advisory Council, students meet virtually and in-person to participate in bike rides, learn about water testing and aquatic animals, and complete service projects, like installing rain barrels and building rain gardens.

Join the Council

This FREE 5-week camp provides kids going into 5-8th grades with the opportunity to participate in Watershed Education by Bike and other traditional camp activities including: cycling bike trails, environmental science lessons, sports, crafts, group games, and presentations. Bikes and helmets are provided. Participants who live locally are welcome to walk/ride their bikes to & from camp with parent permission.

The YMCA Safe Places to Play program staffs several parks with trained counselors who keep youth engaged, safe, and active after school and throughout the summer with structured activities and sports.

Grant funding currently allows the Y to continue to lead the charge in ‘taking back’ the public parks in the City of Camden by offering this great program at no-cost to Camden residents. Children have access to fun playground equipment, as well as group games and sports led by Y staff.

This ground-breaking community initiative is possible because of partnerships and generous funding including: JAWS Youth Playbook, Kresge Foundation partner Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit partner, Camden Lutheran Housing, Wells Fargo Regional Foundation partner St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society, and the City of Camden.