Meet Coach Vanessa!
Meet Vanessa Neri, she is 34 years old and is from Brooklyn, NY. She attained her MBA from UConn School of Business and when not coaching, works as a Brand Director. Vanessa is in her first year at Girls Leading Girls as a coach and as our Fundraising Coordinator.
Vanessa grew up in a soccer house, watching Serie A games with her Italian-American family every week and played with recreational and travel teams as a youth in Connecticut. Playing soccer let her forget about everything else going on, and made her strive to get stronger and faster. As an adult, Vanessa managed an adult soccer league in NYC and continues to play with coed teams at least twice a week here in San Francisco.
After hearing about Girls Leading Girls from a teammate she immediately wanted to get involved. She understands that lessons taught on the field can have a direct impact off the field, and wants to teach our girls that sports are not only a great way to build teamwork and fitness but it also leads to respecting their body, building confidence and understanding that failure is temporary and necessary both on and off the field.
As a coach Vanessa wishes to “inspire the young girls to have confidence in themselves” on and off the field. Looking to the future she hopes to change the world by showing girls their well-being and happiness should be a priority in their life.
"From the very first introduction email that we received about Vanessa, I was very impressed. Her experience shows that she is dedicated to soccer and teaching young girls. I especially appreciate the time that she spends with the girls after each game to discuss what went right/what could have been better. I also see her during the games, instructing the girls on the sidelines about what is going on on the field. In all of my years of soccer parenting, with different coaches, she is by far the best we've had. She shows the girls that she is dedicated to them and really cares. Vanessa is a gem!"- Parent on SF Sol Resilience 2006 competitive team
