America SCORES and Mitsubishi Motors North America Combine Soccer and Literacy Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate

L.A. Youth Score Big With Unique After School Program

LOS ANGELES, March 17 -- Today America SCORES and Mitsubishi Motors North America announced the launch of L.A. SCORES, an after-school program for public school children ages 8 to 12 that combines soccer and literacy to energize and inspire students. This season, the program will benefit 120 of the most deserving and at-risk local children: 60 girls and boys from both Palms and Charnock Road elementary schools.

The students L.A. SCORES serves (50% boys, 50% girls) live in some of the most socio-economically challenged communities in Los Angeles. Nearly 95% of scholar-athletes qualify for free or reduced lunch due to their family income falling below the poverty line. More than 95% of students are minorities who face the ongoing challenges of gangs, violence and drug abuse. They also face the challenge of adjusting to a new culture, with about 40% of the student body studying English as a second language.

L.A. SCORES provides soccer training and writing workshops on alternating afternoons every week of the fall and spring seasons. Every Wednesday, Mar Vista Recreation Center hosts four soccer matches that involve students from both schools. As part of the L.A. SCORES program, children use the teamwork they learn on the soccer field to support each other as poets and authors in the classroom. Kids become stars on and off the field through tournaments, poetry slams, community service projects and SCORES Scoop and Kicker!, local and national America SCORES' publications.

"Teaching kids to write is equivalent to teaching kids to think; giving kids the tools to write is giving them the resources to be successful in life," author Stephen King said about the program. "Combining all of this with soccer is like putting peanut butter with chocolate. I am surprised every public school hasn't adopted a SCORES program."

L.A. SCORES was piloted last fall season with remarkable results, 120 children participated in more than 5,000 collective hours of athletic and academic enrichment, creating hundreds of poems, stories and journal entries along with a full season of team soccer matches. They learned about teamwork, acquired a new confidence in their abilities and began to master new tools for self-expression.

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. is the founding sponsor of L.A. SCORES. "We believe L.A. SCORES will positively affect children's lives by keeping them off the streets and providing a safe haven within their team environments," said Bill Dabb, MMNA senior vice president of Field Operations and member of the L.A. SCORES Board of Directors. "Youth who participate in this unique program are free to learn and express themselves without fear of criticism."

In addition to Los Angeles, the program is impacting communities in Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. as part of America SCORES. America SCORES is the nation's only nonprofit organization that uses the world's most popular sport, soccer, to inspire literacy in urban, public schools. "Kids need to be motivated and after- school programs are crucial for achieving this goal," states Alex Soschin -- executive director of L.A. SCORES. "With 15 million children wandering city streets between the hours of 3-5 p.m., we need to prioritize their safety and well-being and do it in a way that builds on their strengths and abilities."

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc., (MMNA) is responsible for all of the North American operations of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. As a single company consolidated on Jan. 1, 2003, MMNA and its subsidiaries manufacture, distribute, finance and market Mitsubishi brand coupes, convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles through a network of nearly 700 dealers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Mitsubishi Motors sold its first vehicle in the U.S. in 1981, and began building cars here in 1988 at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Ill. For more information, call the Mitsubishi Motors News Bureau at (888) 560-6672.