For many young soccer players, the opportunity to travel across the world and compete in an international tournament is a dream. For our players, this opportunity represents something truly special.

Taking Kids Out of Poverty (TKOP) is a Toronto-based non-profit organization that uses soccer, mentorship, and education to support youth from underserved and inner-city communities. What started as a grassroots initiative has grown into a movement that provides free soccer programming, mentorship, academic support, leadership opportunities, and pathways for young people who are often overlooked or face barriers to participating in organized sport.

This summer, our TKOP U12 team has the opportunity to travel to Denmark to compete in the Dana Cup, one of the largest international youth soccer tournaments in the world.

This trip is about much more than soccer, it’s a life-changing experience for our players.

For many of these young people, this will be their first time travelling outside of Canada, experiencing a new culture, meeting people from around the world, and seeing opportunities beyond what they are used to in their everyday lives. Through this journey, our players will not only compete internationally, but also build confidence, create lifelong memories, and continue growing both on and off the field.

What makes this group especially meaningful is that many of these players have grown together through TKOP for years. The TKOP U12 team has now been playing together in our competitive rep program for the past two years, and before that, many of these same players spent two additional years together in our free TKOP house league program before transitioning into rep soccer.

For almost all of these players, their very first experience playing organized and competitive rep soccer came through TKOP.

Over the years, they have developed not only as players, but as teammates, friends, and young leaders within our community. They have trained together, supported one another, and earned this opportunity through their hard work, commitment, discipline, and passion for the game.

Many of our families work incredibly hard just to keep their children involved in sport locally. International travel and elite tournament experiences are often financially out of reach. Through this trip, our players will be able to experience something that many never thought would be possible.

We are planning to take 19 players and 2 coaches on this trip.

• We are aiming to complete fundraising for Phase 1 for the Denmark tournament by May 25, 2026.
• We are aiming to complete this second phase of fundraising by June 25, 2026.

We will continue sharing updates and progress throughout the fundraising process as we work toward making this opportunity possible for our players.

Every contribution, no matter the amount, helps bring our players one step closer to this opportunity. Whether it’s $5, $10, $20, or more, every donation makes a meaningful difference and directly supports our players and team throughout this journey.

Thank you for believing in our players, our mission, and the work we continue to do through TKOP.