FOX Sports Returns to Where It Started: How the 1994 World Cup Created the SCORES Network

Ahead of the 2026 World Cup Draw, FOX Sports broadcaster and U.S. soccer legend Alexi Lalas returned to Marie Reed Elementary, where he and his mother, Anne Harding Woodworth, helped launch the Poet-Athlete Movement that now serves 15,000 kids across 13 cities in the U.S. and Canada, including eight World Cup host cities.

Poet-athletes filled the gymnasium, reciting original World Cup-themed poems about identity, teamwork, and the beautiful game. Lalas and FOX Sports lead studio host Rob Stone later joined the students on the field for drills with brand-new FIFA World Cup-branded soccer balls brought for the event. 

When Alexi Lalas walked into Marie Reed a few days before the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw, he came as World Cup veteran, Hall of Famer, and FOX Sports lead soccer analyst preparing for his fifth World Cup broadcast. Most importantly, he was returning to the place where he and his mom, D.C. poet Anne Harding Woodworth, helped a young teacher named Julie Kennedy grow her new organization, DC SCORES, into a youth development powerhouse. Lalas and Woodworth represented both sides of the poet-athlete, and believed in the power of soccer and poetry to change young lives. 

Poet-athletes gathered in small circles and rehearsed their World Cup–themed verses. The gym filled with lines about the beautiful game and the unity it brings transcending countries and identities. One poem performed by poet-athletes from Houston Elementary, captured the spirit of the day.

“In 2026, the world gathers from Nigeria to DC. From Nicaragua to La República Dominicana, bringing stories, colors, and dreams to one field. Different flags fly. Different chants rise. Different rhythms run through the stands. But when that whistle blows, we all speak one language, the language of soccer!”

After the poetry performances, the energy shifted from the stage to the court. Lalas and FOX Sports’ sportscaster Rob Stone assisted with skill-building drills with the new FIFA World Cup–branded soccer balls brought in and gifted to poet-athletes for the event. Poet-athletes dribbled, passed, and showed off their moves while the two broadcasters encouraged and played alongside them.

Lalas’ mom Anne became DC SCORES’ founding board chair in 1994, and she introduced her literary network to more and more supporters, even as Alexi recruited his World Cup teammates to show up for early soccer events. The impact and legacy of that early work was evident all around him as he and Stone addressed the poet-athletes at the end of the clinic.  

“Mom can’t be here, but she made sure to tell me to say hello to everybody and to thank everybody, because as much as my mom worked when it came to SCORES, she got back so much more,” Lalas said. “She remains, to this day at 82 years young, incredibly proud — not just of DC SCORES as a family, but of the individuals who make up that family, whether they are young or old. Now we have multiple generations of people who have been impacted positively because of SCORES, and I know she’s incredibly proud of that.”

The 1994 World Cup Moment that Sparked a Poet-Athlete Movement

The SCORES Network, formerly known as America SCORES, traces its roots to 1994, when the FIFA World Cup came to the United States for the first time and Alexi Lalas emerged as one of the faces of the tournament. That same year, 21-year-old Teach For America fellow Julie Kennedy began teaching at Marie Reed Elementary School in Washington, D.C. After seeing that her students had limited free after-school options, she used what she knew best, soccer and poetry, to give young people a place to grow, express themselves, and belong. 

Kennedy then was introduced to Lalas’ mother, Anne Woodworth, a professional poet who would become one of the program’s earliest champions. As co-founding board chair, Woodworth helped guide the early structure and supported the development of what would grow into the SCORES model. In 1997, DC SCORES, the founding chapter of the SCORES Network, received the first-ever grant awarded by the U.S. Soccer Foundation, created after the 1994 World Cup to support under-resourced communities through soccer. 

“One of the things that I love about this program [DC SCORES] are two things that are so important to me and to my family, and puts them together. That’s soccer and poetry,” Lalas reflected. “My mom is a lifelong poet which is why this program is so close to her heart. She is an old-school soccer mom but also an old-school poet.”

Mother and son, each in their own way, helped create legacies from the same 1994 World Cup tournament. Lalas inspired a generation of young soccer players. Woodworth helped turn the inspiration that came from her son’s tournament into national recognition and the birth of a Poet-Athlete Movement.

Serving Poet-Athletes in Eight World Cup Host Cities

Now, as North America prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the largest in history, with 48 teams, 104 matches, and three host nations, the SCORES Network finds itself uniquely positioned. Of the 16 host cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, eight have SCORES affiliates actively serving poet-athletes:

United States:

• New York SCORES 
• Miami SCORES 
• Boston SCORES 
• LA SCORES
• America SCORES Bay Area (San Francisco Bay Area)
• Seattle SCORES

Canada:

• Vancouver SCORES 
• Toronto SCORES 

“SCORES has been in Washington, DC for over 30 years, and it’s where it all started. Hosting this event during lead up to the 2026 World Cup is an incredible opportunity. As a native of New York, I know how much soccer shaped my life and how important it is to have mentors who guide students both on the field and in the classroom. Programs like SCORES give kids a safe space to learn, create, and grow, both as athletes and as poets, and we’re proud of the opportunities they provide to our students,” said Peter Panagiotis Meliotis, Principal of Marie Reed Elementary.

For the SCORES poet-athletes, representing dozens of countries of origin, the tournament offers a chance to see themselves reflected on the world’s biggest sporting stage. In each SCORES city, poet-athletes will write about what the World Cup means to them, and participate in soccer clinics and poetry slams that celebrate the intersection of sport and art. 

The World Cup tournament that inspired a movement in 1994 returns in 2026, and poet-athletes across all SCORES cities will be ready to share their voices with the world.