Virtual Program Highlights 5 Weeks of Zoom, Videos, Challenges, Guest Speakers
Virtual Program Highlights 5 Weeks of Zoom, Videos, Challenges, Guest Speakers
Our Virtual Program has been a huge success with participation from our Sol Club players as well as our girls from our free after school programs in San Francisco & Oakland.
Each week our players and female coaches meet live on Zoom to develop leadership and soccer skills together. We’ve shared stories of overcoming obstacles, practiced ways to keep ourselves motivated and in positive spirits, and kept our soccer play going! Litzy, 4th grader from Hoover Elementary, shared how she looks forward to our sessions and misses her teammates between practices. Emily, 09 competitive Sol club player, shared her bursting excitement after getting to meet (virtually) former US Women’s National Player- Yael Averbuch, learning about her journey and how she got to play with Emily’s all time favorite player, Tobin Heath!
We’ve given the girls a safe place to talk about the stressful nature of the pandemic, to build their confidence in front of their peers, and shown them ways they can give back to their community. One of our weekly leadership challenges was to make Thank You cards for essential workers in the community; Alba, 3rd grader from Marshall Elementary, shared how her local grocery store workers recognized and thanked her for brightening their day with her kind card.
Every week we get videos and photos sent in to us from our players showing us their progress with the weekly skill challenge. We choose two winners at the end of each week for the two challenges and they receive a GLG shirt or gift card for their efforts!
Yael Averbuch joined us as a guest speaker during our Leadership Zoom session and talked to us about the importance of standing out, to not be afraid to be an individual and do something different from other people. “If you do the same thing as everyone else, you’ll be the same as everyone else.” Yael has an impressive background from playing soccer at UNC (the school of Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm) to playing on the US Women’s National Team in 2007, to now running her own business sports app, Techne Futbol and starting the NWSL Players Association as the Executive Director. Her story is a prime example of how you can use soccer as a vehicle to create impact and be a leader.
Over the next couple weeks we’ll continue to have guest speakers at our Wednesday Leadership Zoom sessions to talk to the girls about financial literacy, college planning, high school planning, career exploration, making mistakes, and communication. Our weekly skill challenges are posted every Monday and our weekly leadership challenges are posted every Wednesday. The intimate team time zoom sessions are a space for players to stay connected to their team, coaches, and home workouts.
Join us next week, for week six with our guest speaker Leslie Mallman, CFP discussing financial literacy for youth. Leslie Mallman has been a financial advisor for over 15 years. She is currently a financial coach, helping her clients to identify their financial goals and values, align spending and saving, and set up systems to be set up for long term financial success.
We are confident that when we’re able to return to the field we’ll be stronger than ever!
Interested in joining our Virtual Program? Read more here, and register. Open to all girls across the globe running through June 2020.
If you can, please consider making a small donation to our sustainability fund here on our Go Fund Me campaign, all donations will be matched 1:1!