Sports Missions
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Jan-21-2020 | Sports MissionsWhen Accomplishment Counts
Since I live in Nashville but our family have followed the KC Chiefs for years, I named Chiefs my fav team for the playoff semifinals game but the Titans, the team I would root for because of how the way it impacts our city. Could we get creative and learn to see and to love both sides in a rivalry? Maybe we would get more wins in life that way. The rest of this blog examines what real accomplishment could look like.
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Sep-23-2018 | Sports MissionsSetting New Goals Through Soccer
It’s difficult to know how many people have died as a result of the drug war in Mexico. Some estimates put the civilian casualty rate at over 160,000 since 2007, a number that surpasses both Iraq and Afghanistan combined. In the midst of all these numbers are family members: brothers, fathers, women, and sadly, children.
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Jul-30-2018 | Sports MissionsA Window into Statelessness Through a Futbol Player
Some of you, especially World Cup fans, may have watched the global news with bated breath as 12 trapped soccer players were rescued from flooded, twisted cave passages in Thailand. This crisis hit close to home, as some of the affected children were from communities very similar to those we serve. My family has visited this cave, and our team has served communities in this area for decades.
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Jul-23-2018 | Sports MissionsOmar’s Story: View from the Top
When Omar hears the stories of the children he works with in the Saved by Soccer program, he is truly amazed at how far some of them have come. "In comparison, I had a beautiful childhood. Thank goodness, I didn't have such complicated situations as some of these kids," he said. Still, his passion for soccer and professional success allows him to connect with the participants in a meaningful way.
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Jul-13-2018 | Sports MissionsSaved by Soccer: Our Vision
Nobody expects international service work to be easy, but in 1988, the idea of launching a charitable outreach in a tiny town at the very southern part of Coahuila was particularly challenging.
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Jun-29-2018 | Sports MissionsA Family Saved by Soccer
In Mexico, the term mamá luchona roughly translates to "scrappy mom," usually referring in a derogatory fashion to a young single mom who has to act as both mother and father to her kids. In recent years, children of single moms have reclaimed the term, telling everyone about their incredible moms who worked twice as hard to provide for their family.
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Jun-25-2018 | Sports MissionsAdolfo’s Story: ‘I wasn’t alone any more’
Growing up in a small town in Central Mexico, Adolfo was no stranger to the two biggest problems plaguing his hometown: poverty and drugs.
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Jun-18-2018 | Sports MissionsSaved by Soccer: Our Impact
In 1988, our Program Director, Stephen, was working as a recording engineer in Nayarit when he heard about a job opening in a tiny town just southwest of Monterrey. "There was a community center that had been worn down to nothing, and somebody needed to come build it back up and hand it back to the community," Stephen said.
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Apr-22-2014 | Sports MissionsMexico Update: El Calor Is In The Playoffs!
El Calor (our pro soccer club in Mexico) is rounding out their season with a 6-4-1 record, which guarantees them a spot in the playoffs! We are exceedingly proud of these young men as they work to achieve their goals on and off the field.
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Jan-29-2013 | Project-AK47Donato joins our semi-pro soccer program!
He was an angry child, an orphan who grew up in the social welfare system. Fredrico had watched his mother die right in front of him. His father killed her and Fredrico knew he was next. He fled out the door, his skinny legs pumping and kicking puffs of dust up along the street. He ...
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Nov-26-2010 | Project-AK47Mexico Report: Hope Through Soccer
As I talked with our Latin America Director, José, about current and future projects one evening during my recent trip to Mexico, the phone rang, which wasn't uncommon for his bustling house. After he exchanged the usual pleasantries as is customary in Latin culture, I watched his countenance change and noticed a lump developing in his throat as he spoke. As he hung up the phone, he turned to me with tears welling up in his eyes and said, "A 26-year-old we pulled out of the drug trade a couple years ago just died." He paused in his grief for a moment and then added in choked words, "I'm so sick...so sick of burying kids," before he turned to walk out of the room.