Before Can We Kick It?, There Was Concrete2Green

The Concrete2Green Archive: Before Can We Kick It?, There Was the Work

CWKI Press Room | Archive

Before Can We Kick It? became a film, the question was already being asked in real life.

Nearly two decades ago, Concrete2Green began with a simple idea: soccer in America did not have to wait for perfect fields, suburban complexes, or official permission. The game could grow from the spaces communities already had — concrete courts, empty lots, recreation centers, former retail spaces, and overlooked corners of the city.

That vision appeared in early press coverage dating back to 2007, when The New York Times covered the idea of turning small urban spaces in Harlem into places for futsal and small-sided soccer. From there, Concrete2Green’s work continued in Charlotte, where the idea moved from concept to proof of work through community spaces, nontraditional fields, and the belief that soccer culture could be built from the neighborhood outward.

That history matters now because it sits at the foundation of Can We Kick It?

The film asks why soccer has struggled to fully connect with certain communities in America — and what could happen if the country stopped treating the game as something to sell to people, and started building it with the communities that already understand its global language.

The Concrete2Green archive shows that this conversation did not begin with the 2026 World Cup. It did not begin with a marketing campaign. It began with the work.

It began with people looking at concrete and seeing possibility.

And now, through Can We Kick It?, that same question returns on a larger stage:

What would American soccer look like if it finally took those communities seriously?

Original C2G Press Archive

The early Concrete2Green archive includes original coverage and references from:

• The New York Times — “A Proposal for Mini-Spaces: Mini-Soccer”
• The Charlotte Post — “Soccer’s Urban Renewal”
• Creative Loafing — “Meet Concrete2Green”
• Charlotte Magazine — “Soccer Anywhere”
• Charlotte Magazine — “Big Ideas”
• Pride Magazine — “Game On”
• Black Sports The Magazine — “Leveling the Playing Field”
• Uptown Magazine — “The Finest”
• Creative Loafing — coverage on Eastland Mall and the future of the C2G futsal center

Together, these pieces document an early chapter in the larger story behind Can We Kick It?: the belief that soccer culture in America could be built differently, and that some of its most important possibilities were already hiding in plain sight.