Atlanta United Community Fund’s Latest GA 100 Grants Bring the Game to More Communities

With 53 mini-pitches now completed or in development, the GA 100 initiative continues to lower barriers and widen access to soccer across Georgia.

As Atlanta moves closer to the global spotlight of 2026, one of the most important questions around the sport is not just how big the moment will be. It is who gets access to the game.

The Atlanta United Community Fund announced Wednesday that it has awarded $1.15 million in new GA 100 grants to create or refurbish 12 mini-pitches across Georgia. The latest round pushes the statewide initiative to 53 mini-pitches either completed or in development, moving the program past the halfway point toward its goal of building up to 100 fields in under-resourced communities.

Alexey Miranchuk with the kids at Chapel Hill Middle School last fall.

That milestone matters because the impact goes beyond a number on a map. Every new mini-pitch creates another point of entry into the sport. It creates another place for kids to play, for families to gather, and for communities to build a connection to soccer that feels local, visible, and real.

There is no doubt about the growth of the game in Georgia. However, access is what gives that growth meaning. Access means safe places to play. It means bringing soccer closer to neighborhoods that have too often had fewer resources. It means making sure the sport is not reserved for a select few, but opened up to more people across the state.

That is what makes the GA 100 initiative significant. The Atlanta United Community Fund’s latest round of grants is not only an investment in infrastructure. It is an investment in lowering barriers to entry and widening the circle of who gets to participate in the game in Georgia.

“As Atlanta prepares to take the global stage in 2026, it’s more important than ever that the growth of soccer is felt not just in our stadium, but in neighborhoods across Georgia,” Atlanta United Chief Business Officer Skate Noftsinger said in the release. “Through the GA 100 program, the Atlanta United Community Fund is ensuring that the excitement of a historic year for the sport translates into lasting community impact by creating safe, accessible places to play.”

The 12 latest grant recipients are A.W. Mathews Boys and Girls Club in Mableton, Atrium Health Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Atrium Health in Rome, Atrium Health in Summerville, Bay Creek Middle School in Grayson, Berkmar Middle School in Lilburn, Boys and Girls Club of Valdosta in Statenville, Dacula Middle School in Dacula, Duluth Middle School in Duluth, Henderson Mill Elementary School in Atlanta, John Hope Community Center in Atlanta, and New City Church: UPPER90 in Lawrenceville.

Since launching in 2020, the GA 100 program has funded nearly $4.5 million in soccer pitches across Georgia. The initiative began with a major investment through the Atlanta United Community Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corporation, with additional expansion designed to continue through 2026.

Three more pitches are also scheduled to open before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, continuing the buildout of the program’s statewide footprint.

Last fall's grand opening of the mini-pitch at Alexander Park in McDonough.

That statewide footprint is an important part of the story. This is not only about Atlanta. It is about what soccer can look like in Rome, Cedartown, Summerville, Lawrenceville, Mableton, and beyond. If the sport is going to keep growing across Georgia, that growth has to be felt outside the biggest venues and beyond the highest-profile events.

The value of a program like GA 100 is not only in how many pitches get built. It is in what those spaces make possible. A mini-pitch can be a first training ground, a school resource, a neighborhood gathering place, or the first place a young player falls in love with the game.

If 2026 is about the soccer world coming to Atlanta, initiatives like GA 100 are about making sure the game reaches more of Georgia. The real legacy of 2026 for Georgia will be creating more access points into the game for more people across the state.

Growing the game only means something if more people can actually get into it. GA 100’s latest round of grants is another step in that direction, creating more places where soccer can be played, shared, and made part of everyday life across Georgia.