DC SCORES, the Washington Spirit, and District Sports Host Train Like A Pro Clinic with Ashley Hatch

All proceeds from the star-studded clinic will help fund DC SCORES’ transportation costs. Photo: Washington Spirit

Last week, D.C. soccer fans got a glimpse of the work that goes into becoming a top-flight player when they attended Train Like A Pro With Ashley Hatch, an adult soccer clinic fundraiser for DC SCORES.

The March 13 clinic was organized by Washington Spirit star and DC SCORES board member Ashley Hatch. Hatch also joined forces with District Sports and many of her Spirit teammates to put participants through their paces in dribbling, passing, and shooting drills that mimicked those used in Spirit training sessions.

Train Like A Pro With Ashley Hatch was open to players of all skill levels and soccer backgrounds. Photo: Washington Spirit

All proceeds from clinic registrations and fundraising during the event will support DC SCORES’ transportation costs, which has been a major focus for Hatch since joining the nonprofit’s board in 2022. Almost daily throughout its season, DC SCORES buses thousands of its poet-athletes around the city to attend gamedays, poetry events, and Spirit and D.C. United matchdays at Audi Field. The service means that all young people can participate in the DC SCORES program, regardless of their own ability to access transportation.

During the 2023 NWSL season, Hatch raised $15,000 for DC SCORES bus costs through clinics, social media funding, and $5,000 match funding from Amazon and Reston Limousines, DC SCORES’ transportation partner.

At the March 13 clinic, Hatch was joined by Spirit technical staff, and fellow players Brittany Ratcliffe, Civanna Kuhlmann, Anna Heilferty, Kate Wiesner, Courtney Brown, Hal Hershfelt, and Heather Stainbrook, to lead more than 40 participants through drills and scrimmages.

DC SCORES coaches Claire Shanahan (left) and Laura Kennedy (right)from Ida B. Wells Middle School with Zoe Wulff, community impact manager at the Washington Spirit. Spirit staff have spent the past two seasons working closely with the DC SCORES girls’ team at Ida B. Wells.

The clinic was inclusive for players of all skill levels, with participants self-selecting for beginner, intermediate, or advanced sessions based on their soccer experience. Hatch also opened the clinic to DC SCORES coaches free of charge so that they could implement the premier training techniques in sessions with their own poet-athletes.

“Through our partnership with the Spirit, DC SCORES poet-athletes have regular opportunities to meet their soccer heroes. It was wonderful to see the joy and excitement we so often see on our kids’ faces reflected in those of the adult participants when they saw how many of their favorite players would be coaching them,” says Tony Francavilla, chief development officer at DC SCORES. “Together with District Sports, Ashley and her teammates created the perfect event: a night where we celebrated our love of soccer while supporting thousands of kids in our city. I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening as a soccer fan in D.C.”

Attendees also had the opportunity to pose for photos and get autographs from players. Photo: Washington Spirit.