CLEVELAND — It’s a project that brought a diverse community of sports lovers together.

Re:source Cleveland just celebrated the opening of a mini-pitch, a safe space for kids across Cleveland to take part in a variety of activities.

What You Need To Know

  • Noah Toumert has dedicated the last few years to opening a safe space for kids to play sports in Cleveland
  • A mini-pitch is an artificial turf area surrounded by a gate or a rebound board system

  • In a survey completed by about 550 residents in Cleveland, half of them said parks and recreational facilities across the city are not well maintained

Noah Toumert has dedicated the last few years to opening a safe space for kids to play sports in Cleveland.

“Our goal is to make this open and accessible for anyone to use,” he said.

A mini pitch is an artificial turf area surrounded by a gate or a rebound board system with integrated goals. Inside could be a soccer field and a basketball court.

“Everybody understands that sports programming is super important for kids with their development, keeping them out of trouble, but a fundamental part of that is having a home for programming to run,” he said.

The pitch sits on the Urban Community School campus, something Toumert said will provide opportunities for kids to use it.

In a survey completed by about 550 residents in Cleveland, half said parks and recreational facilities across the city are not well maintained and 38% said they felt uncomfortable at certain parks.

“It’s a big intention of ours to open it up, for like three days of play or for programming that different communities want to be handling, whether it’s basketball, soccer, pickleball, volleyball or they just want a place to come run around,” he said.

The mini pitch is already being used by kids like Jeanne Sifa, who showed up on opening day.

“I really like it because I play basketball here basketball with my friends. You can play soccer here, but basketball is my main one and I’m really happy they made it,” she said.

Sifa is from Uganda and said this is the first time she's seen a mini-pitch like this, and she plans on coming as much as she can.

For Toumert, he said this facility will impact kids for years to come.

“For these kids who have really struggled to get into safe, accessible facilities to play sports, to have a place they can call home, I think it means everything because when you’re looking into the future, saying what does this program look like in five, 10, or 15 years, and where do these kids call home when they just want to kick a ball? Having a place that they are confident in that they can go and be the priority, that’s life-changing,” he said.