Paul Jeffries Puts Up Points for the Youth of New York City

Paul Jeffries does not want this article to be just about him. “Hopefully, this is a reflection of all the people who have dedicated their time, lives, throughout the years to improve communities through sports. . . . It’s a lot of work.” It obviously wasn’t just Jeffries who has made a home for soccer in New York City, but he certainly has left his mark.

Jeffries, originally from Manchester, England, is the Executive Director of the City Football Group and Executive Director of New York City Football Club’s City in the Community Foundation. In a nutshell, Jeffries oversees NYCFC’s community-engagement efforts. That means he knows, runs, or has solidified community soccer programs, clinics, and camps and helped create youth and adult leagues throughout the city.

He has been in the business of strengthening communities through sports for around two decades, and much of that time has been spent in New York. “I love this city,” he said. “It’s a very special place. . . . This city tests you, and it makes you want to give your best.”

In 2013, Jeffries began his work in the city by spearheading an enclosed rooftop soccer pitch on a public school at 103rd Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem. He took notes from Manchester City F.C.’s youth program and worked alongside the United Arab Emirates consulate to make it happen. “It was the first of its kind, really,” he said. “It was to tackle this direct need,” the need being to make the game of soccer “more accessible” to kids.

Jeffries was an assistant coach at West Point and also coached a team in Italy. For him, the sport is a constant reminder of his “happiest days . . . the pure joy of playing the game in a playground, free play, with your friends,” as he puts it. All of his most important life lessons came from playing the game. He attributes those lessons to personal health, social skills, and teamwork. “It’s joy, so I want to bring that joy and opportunity for all kids, and at least have the chance of access to that.”

Previously, Jeffries helped build soccer programs in low-income areas and worked for organizations that brought free soccer training to inner-city youths. He even partnered with former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. in 2011 to create the now-widespread Saturday Night Lights program. The program, which organizes Saturday-night sports in gyms around the city, is dedicated to keeping kids off the street, and instilling responsibility and the concept of “youth citizenship” in participants.

Jeffries can point to some incredible numbers for his decades of effort in the community. Youths in city sports programs save $4.50 in health-related costs for every $1 invested in the programs. Ninety-six percent of youths who partake graduate from high school, and over 50 percent of Jeffries’s workforce is made up of prior participants.

Among the children and youths in the program, four have been finalists for the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, and two have won it.

“Doing this work has humbled me a lot,” Jeffries says. “I’ve given everything to this city. I’ve given everything I can.” But that is just his way. As he paraphrases Socrates, “Service to your fellow man is the greatest good.”