Earlier this month, President Obama welcomed Sporting Kansas City, the 2013 Major League Soccer champions, to the White House. During their visit, Sporting KC held a soccer clinic on the South Lawn with DC SCORES youth. The DC SCORES program works with low-income youth to develop after school teams that cultivate a love for self-expression, physical fitness and community through involvement in poetry, soccer, and service-learning year-round. Active in 47 schools, DC SCORES reaches 1,500 youth across Washington, DC.

During the clinic, the youth joined the Sporting KC assistant coach and players, taking advantage of a unique opportunity to learn and build their soccer skills. Matt Besler, Defender for Sporting KC, shared his lessons learned about the importance of healthy eating and leading an active lifestyle:

“I know firsthand being an athlete how important exercise is. Healthy eating – without that I wouldn’t be able to perform. We try to pass that along as much as we can with the messages that we give the kids.”