{"id":547344,"date":"2026-03-19T19:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/547344\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T19:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:03:08","slug":"b-c-opens-applications-for-20-fifa-world-cup-legacy-mini-soccer-pitches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/547344\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. opens applications for 20 FIFA World Cup &#8216;legacy&#8217; mini soccer pitches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kids in 20 B.C. communities will be given access to kid-sized soccer pitches as part of a $13-million investment in celebration of the FIFA World Cup coming to Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>At a media event Thursday, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Anne Kang announced a partnership between the province, viaSport, and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC to build the new pitches.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry says B.C. communities are welcome to apply in spring, and the football club will select 20 to receive a \u201cstate-of-the-art\u201d pitch, described as \u201cmodular multi-sport surface ideal for rural and urban settings, schools and community spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It says the initiative delivers on the provincial government\u2019s promise to \u201charness social and economic benefits\u201d of the FIFA World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the World Cup coming to our province, we must create a lasting legacy that benefits children throughout B.C.,\u201d said Vancouver Whitecaps FC CEO Axel Schuster.<\/p>\n<p>Kang says the legacy will be helping more young people become more active.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach mini pitch will feature a 60-by-120-foot playing surface designed to support multiple sports and year-round playing. But these pitches will be much more than just places to play. They will bring the whole community together and be a focal point for sports and celebrations, generating community pride and spirit,\u201d said Kang.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"579\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260319-vancouver-whitecaps-fc-mini-pitch.jpg\" alt=\"A Vancouver Whitecaps FC branded mini soccer pitch\" class=\"wp-image-4407709\"  \/>(Courtesy Vancouver Whitecaps FC)<\/p>\n<p>She added that the pitches will be supported by continued programming organized by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, BC Soccer, and the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry says it will begin installing the pitches in September 2026 and complete the project in December 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Vancouver\u2019s BC Place will host seven FIFA World Cup matches starting on June 13. Team Canada will play on June 18 versus Qatar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kids in 20 B.C. communities will be given access to kid-sized soccer pitches as part of a $13-million&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-547344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}