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Dear Friends and Supporters,
Seven camps, five hundred youth, seventy-five volunteer coaches, and hundreds of hours of activities made for a busy summer with SWB. We are excited to share with you some of the highlights from months past, as well as introduce the newest members of the SWB team for the fall ahead. They are already out on the field, in community centers, and in classrooms around the US and the world coaching, teaching, and mentoring SWB youth. Thank you for your continued support of the SWB purpose, programs, and participants!
With much appreciation,
The SWB Team
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 | Support SWB by clicking on the dove to donate!
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Spotlight: From Burma to Boston, Meet Coach Tet
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When Ye-Htet Soe boarded the plane to Boston on September 4, 2012 it was his second trip ever on an airplane. In 2000, he flew from his native Burma to Oakland, CA under quite different circumstances: he and his family were fleeing conflict along the Burma-Thai border and resettling in Oakland. Ye-Htet, lovingly known as Coach Tet, has been coaching with SWB in Oakland for the past five
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Coach Tet (left) with Prospero Herrera and SWB Founder Ben Gucciardi (right)
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years, and was recently hired in an expanded capacity as a Coach Across America Coach. Coach Tet will be leading the U-14 and U-17 Boys teams with SWB Oakland this year. To prepare for this role, Tet recently completed the Up2Us National Training Institute at Boston University, where he spent five days learning about youth development and coaching, and also had the chance to meet peers from around the country. The experience was fantastic for Coach Tet: "The best part about it was being in a room with so many other people with the same mind-set; coaches who have a vision to make a difference in their communities. That was irreplaceable for me."
Coach Tet is excited to bring the skills he learned in Boston back to Oakland, where the SWB program there has been a cornerstone of his development. "Being a part of the positive community that Soccer Without Borders is has totally shifted my perspective, now I think about how can I help my players, how I can help others, more then I think about myself. Having the chance to serve my community has been a huge part of my life."
In the year ahead, Coach Tet hopes that he can help other newcomer refugee and immigrant adolescents have an easier time transitioning to their lives in Oakland. " I just want to see them all smiling, respecting each other and understanding that this is really about so much more than winning or losing." Coach Tet is an amazing mentor for the newcomer youth in our program and SWB is so proud to work with him this year and beyond!
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Summer 2012 was full of summer camps and special events thoughout the SWB world! Camps combine our five core activities: soccer play and instruction, team-building, off-field education, cultural exchange and civic engagement. Overflowing with energy, camps bring together new participants, local guests, and speakers who come to share their expertise with SWB youth, volunteer coaches, and staff.
Nearly 500 SWB youth took part in seven camps that ranged in activities from soccer, to mural painting, yoga, nature walks, mini-Olympic games and dance in Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Granada, Nicaragua; Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; and San Jose, CA. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers and guests that helped make SWB Camps this summer a huge success!
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Baltimore, MD
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Oakland, CA
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Welcome New Program Leaders and Staff!
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From country to country, SWB programs rely every day on the energy, expertise and enthusiasm of committed coaches and leaders. With a new school year upon us, we are excited to welcome new Local Program Directors, Coordinators, and Coaches to the SWB family!
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Larkin Brown with participants in Granada, Nicaragua
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First, Larkin Brown rejoins SWB Granada as the Local Program Director, after spending a year as a Long-Term
Intern in 2010-2011. A former captain of the Bowdoin Women's Soccer Team, Larkin returns to SWB after completing a Teaching Fellowship at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. Welcome back Larkin!
In Colorado, the SWB program is growing quickly to meet the needs of the hundreds of refugee youth for whom Greeley is now home. This growth is due in large part to the dedicated work of Meghan Belaski, who came to the program via her prior work in refugee resettlement services. We would like to welcome and thank Meghan for taking on this new and important role in Greeley!
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Meghan Belaski with players from SWB Greeley at the CO Rapids game
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We continue our participation in the Coach Across America program this year through Up2Us, which places AmeriCorps coaches in Sports-Based Youth Development organizations throughout the United States. We are proud to have Alyssa Budros become a CAA with SWB Baltimore after serving as an Intern during the summer, while Ye-Htet Soe and Indar Smith take on this role at SWB Oakland. Indar, an Oakland native and graduate of UC Irvine, will also take on the responsibilities of Program Coordinator.
Finally, SWB Uganda Summer Coach Ethan Shapiro has taken on a new role as a Head Coach at SWB Boston, while SWB LA welcomes Head Coach Omar Benjoud and Program Coordinator Isabel Shawel, who will look to build on the success of summer and winter camps to offer expanded programming this fall.
A big thank you and welcome to all new SWB leaders and coaches! If you're interested in joining the team or volunteering at an SWB program, please check out our open positions and/or volunteer page.
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Interested in becoming an Ambassador for SWB? Click here to learn more.
Interested in joining the SWB team? Click here to check out available positions.
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Soccer Without Borders' youth participants hail from 42 countries.
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SWB is a proud member of the Street Football World Network |
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