By Kiara Doayal,, The Seattle Medium
The Rainier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC) will host a free FIFA video game tournament Friday, Dec. 12, at the Rainier Beach Community Center, offering youth an engaging way to connect with the global sport ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Lumen Field.
Open to youth ages 4 to 18, the event will feature competitions in EA Sports FC, formerly known as FIFA, the world’s most popular sports video game. Participants can compete for prizes and bragging rights, while coaches lead futsal skills and drills sessions—bringing a gym-friendly version of soccer to local kids of all ages.
“The FIFA World Cup is coming up, and we thought that this would be such a great opportunity to have before it officially arrives to be able to get excited about it,” said Inonge Mubita, RBAC economic development coordinator. “Rainier Beach is one of the first stops on the light rail station, and so we definitely should have something that exists as people are kind of entering Seattle and making sure they don’t skip out on Rainier Beach.”
RBAC sees the event as a way to showcase the community’s energy and diversity while tapping into the growing excitement for soccer.
“Rainier Beach’s diversity and its many soccer fans make it an ideal place to host events that demonstrate the spirit and excitement building in Seattle as the 2026 World Cup approaches,” said Ari McKenna, PR and outreach specialist for the Rainier Beach Business District at RBAC. “This event couples an accessible form of soccer (futsal), with a video game (EA Sports FC, ‘FIFA’) that many youth enjoy, and will be the first of a series of events.”
The tournament is being organized in collaboration with Seattle Parks and Recreation, Rainier Valley Leadership Academy, the Rainier Beach Economic Development Roundtable, the Seattle Teen Late Night Program, and the Seattle Department of Transportation. Attendees can also enjoy food from local BIPOC-owned businesses Paranormal Pizza and Tienda El Pueblito.
“We want to make sure that when it comes to either major sporting events or just ongoing programming, that our small businesses are involved and can really take advantage of those opportunities,” Mubita said. “This event is really kind of just giving back to the community and working to highlight Rainier Beach as a clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhood.”
The World Cup presents a rare and exciting chance for local youth to experience a major international sporting event, and RBAC is committed to ensuring Rainier Beach youth can take part. According to Mubita, RBAC has been partnering with Rainier Valley Leadership Academy through its Career Pathways program as a key way to engage and involve students in this opportunity.
“They have two youth members who will be participating and helping with our futsal skills training. And then the Seattle Parks and Rec Youth Council will also be helping organize and kind of design the Video Game Tournament aspect,” said Mubita. “We heard they’re very excited about doing that, so that is also why we thought this is a great event to have. We do a lot of work around youth engagement in general, so we tried to get the youth involved in designing and planning some of it.”
Part of RBAC’s broader mission is to reimagine public spaces in the neighborhood and turn them into healthy, vibrant areas that serve both the community and visitors.
“We really want to help inspire people to kind of reimagine and reinvent the public spaces that are available and do exist in the neighborhood. Like the light rail station, and also reimagining public space there about what that could look like,” said Mubita. “And so being able to partner with the community center for an event that is creative and don’t really hear about has been a really great collaboration.”
As a way to challenge the stereotypes or misconceptions that people may have about the Rainier Beach neighborhood, Mubita said this event ties into RBAC’s mission of building an equitable community in Seattle.
“It speaks to the larger purpose of our mission, which is creating vibrancy and a fun neighborhood. It is showing that there are available events happening in the neighborhood, and we want the kids to leave knowing that they had fun,” said Mubita. “We are also supporting particularly local BIPOC businesses to have an inclusive environment. We really want to leave a positive impact on the community, which will encourage us to continue to do this type of work more.”
