Soccer’s boom in North America is landing in Burlington, Vermont, with a local pitch.

Green Football Club, founded just four years ago, plays in USL League Two, a preprofessional summer league with 144 teams. Last year, the club drew national attention with an undefeated championship run.

The team also wants to become a net-zero club by cutting climate pollution as close to zero as possible and offsetting what remains. Fans are encouraged to bike, walk or take public transportation to home games at the University of Vermont in Burlington, and each match highlights a local nonprofit.

Speaking to Yale Climate Connections, co-founder Patrick Infurna said the club was built to have a purpose beyond soccer.

“We were founded by a group of friends with all different backgrounds, but with the idea that we wanted to build something that was more than just celebrating the game of soccer,” he said.

“We wanted this to be something that had a mission and an identity and a purpose that went beyond the game.”

Infurna said that from the start, the club’s founders wanted it to reflect the Vermont community.

“And when we did this in 2022, we always knew that to be successful and to be a club that actually mirrored and reflected the community in Vermont, it had to be something that had a purpose that went beyond the game,” he said.

He said the club’s environmental focus started with climate awareness and grew into an environmental justice mission.

“For us, that was initially ‘How do we build a club that raises awareness of climate change?’” he said.

“And that evolved to something deeper with our environmental justice mission: If we’re going to address the climate crisis, we need to do it at the local level, at the human level, and we needed to build something that brought people together to discuss these issues.”

Infurna described net zero as the club’s “north star” and said the work has been difficult. He said the club got an early advantage by playing at the University of Vermont and partnering with organisations and businesses aiming for net zero or operating as B Corps.

He said the club has tried to change the typical match-day experience by pushing fans to think more carefully about waste, food and transport.

“For example, our porta-potty partner is recycling and turning human waste into fertilizer,” he said.

“We wanted to transform that and encourage fans to be a bit more thoughtful with the food, the drinks, encouraging fans to recycle, using our staff to sort through the garbage at the end of every game to make sure things are recycled and sorted in the right way, and being an example, even if it’s a small one, to fans to say that we can be a bit better.”

The club also works with Local Motion, which runs a free bike-parking valet at every match. Fans who bike to games and use the valet are entered into a raffle for small prizes. Infurna said all club gear is made from recycled materials.

He said home games allow the club to push lower-emissions travel, even as away trips still rely on buses.

“We encourage fans to bike to every game, and we’ve partnered with Local Motion, a local organization that sets up a free bike-parking valet at every match,” he said.

Infurna said the club also ties its climate work to anti-racism and community partnerships. He said Vermont Green has worked with Juba Star FC, a local Somali Bantu community association team, and with Migrant Justice, which advocates for migrant farmworkers in Vermont.

He said the women’s team, coached last summer by US women’s national team World Cup winner Sam Mewis, raffled one of her game-worn jerseys and raised more than $6,000 for the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund.

Infurna said the club’s supporters then took that further.

“They built out their own fan campaign, and they raised [about $25,000] for the same organization,” he said.

“And that is success for a purpose-driven soccer team like ours.”

At games, local groups can reach fans through concourse tables, petitions, gear and halftime appearances, he said. Infurna said the club has sold out every game, and many supporters stay engaged with the mission throughout the day.

“We also have match-day spotlights where we’ll welcome an organization to speak at halftime,” he said.

“So you’re enjoying the game, understanding that this is entertainment and it’s a community event, but basically any other spot where the game is not going on, we hope that you’re going to find information about organizations locally working on these important issues.”

Infurna said players are also expected to take part. He said the club recruits athletes open to the mission and asks them to engage with the community, including at the King Street Center in Burlington and with local youth clubs.

“We don’t ask players to be experts, we don’t ask them to be perfect advocates for what we’re fighting for, but we do ask them to be open-minded,” he said.

At Virtue Field, Infurna said, game days mix soccer with local groups, food trucks and free Ben and Jerry’s mini-scoops for everyone. He said season tickets have sold out for the past couple of seasons, and every regular-season game sold out last year.

“We have such an engaged fan base that actively cheers on the team in this visceral, vocal way,” he said.

“And I think that is why we’ve had sold-out games and people asking for more seats, because it’s just a good time.”

Read more from GoodGoodGood.