NB3 Foundation

News

SAN FELIPE SOCCER FIELD & COMMUNITY PARK GRAND OPENING POSTPONED
Statement issued by the San Felipe Pueblo Tribal Administration: "The Pueblo of San Felipe is unavailable on August 21. We are excited about the partnership with NB3 and look forward to announcing a new date for the grand opening of the San Felipe Pueblo Soccer Field and Community Park."  Although the San Felipe Soccer Field & Community Park Grand Opening celebration has been postponed, the park will be ready for use & enjoyment this Monday, August 23rd! We are so excited to have completed this project and cannot wait to see it in use!!!!

BUILDING CHANGE: SAN FELIPE FIELD OF DREAMS & COMMUNITY PARK

In partnership with tribal nations, professional golfers and community residents, the NB3 Foundation and members of the Pueblo of San Felipe built a $785,000 soccer field and community park on the reservation, the first of its kind in the community.

“The support for the construction of San Felipe’s soccer field and park is an example of how the proceeds of the NB3 Foundation Challenge and the work of the foundation are seeking to create access and opportunities for Native American youth and their families by helping them be more physically active and healthy,” said foundation founder Notah Begay III.  “This field of dreams, which the Pueblo has waited nearly 10 years for, will also help to bolster NB3 Foundation’s efforts through the San Felipe Soccer Club and increase the numbers of San Felipe youth and parent volunteers who participate in the soccer program.”

The NB3 Foundation awarded a $535,000 grant to the Pueblo of San Felipe which was used to build the synthetic-turf soccer field and community park.  The park will serve as the Pueblo’s first recreational facility in its history.  The Pueblo committed $250,000 of its own tribal funds toward the project.

The new field and park also will be the future home for the San Felipe Soccer Club, a program that the NB3 Foundation has operated since 2005 for 200-plus Pueblo youth.  The club is the only regular after school program in existence in the Pueblo.  The soccer club has plans to host soccer tournaments, camps and events to promote soccer and good health to neighboring Pueblos. The park will include walking paths.

This construction project aids the NB3 Foundation in its mission of preventing obesity and diabetes, and advancing the lives of Native American youth through sports programming.  
“Our hope is that the facility will encourage both adults and youth alike to make use of the field and walking trails in order to increase their physical activity,” said Begay.

The NB3 Foundation’s $500,000 grant to San Felipe was made possible in part through the proceeds of the 2009 NB3 Challenge and the generous support of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians of California and the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. Additional grant funding support came from an anonymous donor, as well as two professional golfers, Canadian golfer Mike Weir and Jeev Milkha Singh.

“The way that we were able to build diverse and strategic partnerships for the project has been incredible,” Begay said.  “Through our joint efforts, we have accomplished a great deal in terms of providing the Pueblo with a premier facility and we are now starting a project that the Pueblo may have never been able to start without the support of these various partners.”