Chicago Balompié

Chicago Balompié is a free to play pick-up soccer group looking to host games in the center and south side of the city. We take inspiration from other pick-up groups who are hosting games for free, but also from local pizza makers who instead of selling their excellent pizzas, exchange them for donations to a charity.

Any game we host will always be free of cost for anyone to participate in. If participants would like to, they can make a donation to the group after each game. Like those charitable Chicago pizza makers, we won't keep any of the donations received; instead, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to a charity. Donation totals will be posted to Instagram after each game, and since we don't know if people will attend or if participants will contribute, the donations will be pooled and donated to a different charity at the end of each month.

Since we don’t have any funding to rent out fields and since we want to donate all of the proceeds, games will be hosted on open turf fields available. Goals and pinnies will be provided for us to have a two team, 90-ish minute game per session – the game could be less time depending on the number of people per team and our energy level. A maximum of 20 people will be allowed to participate per game with a minimum of 10. We wanted to host games without a sign-up sheet but we realize that if more than 20 people show up to play, not everyone will be able to participate based on the limited number of spots. In order to keep track of spots and to not have people go to a park to potentially not play, a sign-up form will be provided. The form will be free to complete and it will be available a day or two before each pick-up game.

We hope to provide a welcoming, fun environment for everyone to enjoy the game, and to make a positive impact on our wonderful city and as many communities within it as possible!