Begay Foundation Opens Soccer Field and Community Park in San Felipe Pueblo

The San Felipe Pueblo in New Mexico has a new community park and soccer field, thanks in large part to a $535,000 grant from the Notah Begay III Foundation, an organization founded by Notah Begay III, the only full-blooded Native American on the PGA Tour.

The $785,000 park and soccer field are a first for the pueblo. With its walking paths, the park provides an outlet for community members to become more physically fit. The centerpiece, though, is the synthetic turf soccer field, which will be home to the San Felipe Soccer Club, an after-school program that the Notah Begay III Foundation has operated since 2005. The club plans to host tournaments, camps and events to promote soccer and good health to neighboring pueblos as well as to help foster relationships with the larger soccer community in the Albuquerque and Bernalillo area.

“The Pueblo has waited nearly a decade for this facility, a park that will allow adults, youth and participants in the San Felipe Soccer Club to increase their physical activity,” said Begay in a press release issued on Aug. 24. “Tribal communities around the entire country are often lacking even the most basic amenities needed to keep their young people active and healthy. This incredible facility is an example of what’s possible when communities unite and work together in the interest of the health and wellness of Native people.”