Exclusive: NYCFC partners with Rikers Island to teach incarcerated men life skills through soccer
NEW YORK -- There's a new program on Rikers Island aimed at transforming inmates' lives through sports.
The Twinning Project has teamed up the NYC Football Club to teach incarcerated men soccer and life skills.
With every kick, the inmates-turned-teammates are learning life lessons they will use beyond the barbed wire fences.
"Soccer is a team sport, and learning through soccer will actually empower those on the course with characteristics they potentially never had pre-serving a custodial sentence. Things like anger management, team building, leadership," Twinning Project CEO Hilton Freund said.
The program, called the Twinning Project, started in the United Kingdom and was brought to the United States on Rikers Island in March.
CBS New York cameras exclusively captured training Wednesday.
"They develop skills that can show how they can bring value back to their community. Particularly, really powerfully, is to help young people in coaching and delivering some of the skills that they've learned here today," NYCFC Executive Director Paul Jeffries said.
"When they are here, it keeps the violence down. It makes them be like a family," Department of Correction Assistant Commissioner Sonya Harvey said.
The inmates have to be nearing release, low-risk offenders and interested in sports. Once selected, they receive 35 hours of guarded training and education in an eight-week period.
"A lot of them when they first walked in here had never kicked a ball before in their lives, you know. So we watched them progress from day one," NYCFC and Twinning Project coach Lee Mather said.
Thirty-five-year old Akeem Hines is one of the 16 incarcerated men on the team this season.
"Basically, we are here to learn how to be better people in society, learning the rules of the game, the fundamentals," he said. "It helps me teach my kids in society, my son."
The goal for participants in program to teach patience, discipline, team building, sportsmanship, confidence and improve both their physical and mental health.
"One of the things that's missing for people who are incarcerated is hope. Hope that when they get out of here, and even while they are in here, that there is going to be opportunities for them upon release," Freund said.
Hines says it will also help him be a better member of society when he returns home.
"It helped me learn how to be patient, how to be a team player, how to work well with others," he said. "It made us have a better bond together. We're like a family now."
The Department of Correction says once the men leave Rikers Island, they'll continue their sports journey with NYCFC for more education, training and employment.