With our partnership, Providence Swedish and Seattle Sounders FC expand access to safe play spaces

A new soccer mini-pitch in Renton gives children and families safe, accessible places for free play close to school and home. The spaces provide opportunities for physical activity and community connection with support for young people’s mental well-being.

Providence Swedish, Seattle Sounders FC and RAVE Foundation recently celebrated the opening of a soccer mini-pitch at a Maplewood Elementary School in Renton — the eighth created within the last three years through our partnership with the Renton School District.

The shared goal is to connect opportunities for physical activity and community connection with support for young people’s mental well-being.

The new mini-pitch builds on earlier openings serving Renton Park, Sierra Heights, Benson Hill and Lakeridge elementary schools, as well as locations adjacent to Highlands and Tiffany Park elementary schools, and Renton Legacy Square in downtown Renton. 

Connect with classmates and get moving 

Students use the mini-pitches during recess, but their reach extends beyond the school day. The spaces give children and families safe, accessible places for free play close to school and home.The play areas are also open to families and the broader community year-round, including evenings, weekends and summer breaks.

Alongside creating places to play, Providence Swedish works with the Renton School District to support students’ whole-person wellness through mental health awareness and education, programming to reduce stigma, and free virtual counseling resources. 

_{Captions: Students at the Maplewood celebration, which included interactive activities, soccer and storytelling, received a free soccer ball and a drawstring backpack. Bottom image: The soccer mini-pitch at a Maplewood Elementary School in Renton.}

About Providence Swedish 

Providence Swedish has served the Puget Sound region since the first Providence hospital opened in Seattle in 1877 and the first Swedish hospital opened in 1910. The two organizations affiliated in 2012 and today comprise the largest health care delivery system in Western Washington, with 24,000 caregivers, eight hospitals and 244 clinics throughout Western Washington – from Everett to Centralia. A not-for-profit family of organizations, Providence Swedish provides more than $545 million in community benefit in the Puget Sound region each year. The health system offers a comprehensive range of services and specialty and subspecialty care in a number of clinical areas, including cancer, cardiovascular health, neurosciences, orthopedics, digestive health and women’s and children’s care. For more information, visit providence.org/swedish.