Soccer Without Borders

What We Do:

We use soccer as a tool for youth development. The Soccer without Borders program combines soccer instruction and play with arts based life-skills education. Through these activities, young people come into a greater understanding of their bodies, voices, minds and communities, encouraging them to make healthy choices for their futures. We build sustainable programs by providing the necessary resources, structures and support for local actors to continue running activities.

Where We Work:

We work with disadvantaged youth throughout the world who, due to a complex variety of social and economic factors, lack access to quality sport and educational opportunities.

Get Involved:

Thank you for visiting our site! Please explore our website to learn more about our work and how you can get involved.

Ben Gucciardi, Founding Director: Ben has a Masters degree in global educational leadership from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, where he was a captain of the soccer team. Ben currently plays soccer for the San Francisco Seals and previously worked as the Girls' Sports Coordinator at the Jamestown Community Center. He has studied conflict resolution, interactive theatre, team building, assertive communication and ways of teaching mindfulness practices to youth. Ben has coached youth ages 5-18 at a variety of skill levels, and is currently coaching the Oakland Internationals U-19 boys team in Oakland, CA, as part of SWB's involvement in the refugee and migrant student welness program.

Contact: ben@soccerwithoutborders.org

Katlin Okamoto, Director of Girls Programs: Katlin is a graduate of Colorado College where she focused on Biology and Asian Studies. As a captain of the Colorado College Women's Soccer team, she helped them make their first NCAA tournament appearance in 15 years. Her interests have led to participation in domestic as well as international service projects and ongoing research in the area of sports physiology. As the Director of Girls programming for Soccer Without Borders, Katlin is excited to find ways to increase the participation of females in upcoming projects in a way that is culturally aware and sustainable for the future. Katlin recently returned from the first SWB girls specific program in Monze, Zambia.

Contact: katlin@soccerwithoutborders.org

Mary McVeigh, Granada Girls Program Director: Mary is currently an Assistant Coach at her alma mater, Dartmouth College. A Philosophy major in undergrad, she earned her Master's degree in Sociology from Lehigh University while spending four seasons as the Lehigh Women's Assistant Coach. Her time as a professional player both in the US and abroad, followed by her college coaching experiences have made her particularly interested in expanding opportunities for girls to play around the world, and finding ways to get college players involved in giving back to the sport they love. Mary spent six weeks in Granada, Nicaragua, in the winter of 2008 working with the Soccer Without Borders Girls Program and will continue to work with this project as it grows.

Contact: mary@soccerwithoutborders.org

Daniela Molina, Granada Girls Program Coordinator: Dani is a Lehigh University graduate and a former all-league forward for Lehigh Women's Soccer. A native of Cali, Colombia, Dani represented her country for the first time in 2006, registering four caps and one goal at the South American World Cup Qualifying Tournament. She currently plays in the W-League with Sky Blue while working full-time as a field engineer with Turner Construction in New Jersey. Her experiences swimming upstream as a female athlete in South America have inspired her work with the Granada Girls Program in the winter of 2008, and Dani will continue to be an important role model and critical cultural link for this project in the future.

Contact: daniela@soccerwithoutborders.org

Molly Luft, Granada Girls Program Coordinator: Molly earned her B.S. in Earth and Environmental Science at Lehigh University while serving as a two-year captain of the Mountain Hawks Women's Soccer program. She is a proud native of Portland, Oregon. Since graduating from Lehigh, she now lives and works in Jackson, WY, in the summer as a scenic/whitewater rafting guide. Molly continues to play and coach soccer for fun and plans to return to Granada, Nicaragua, to continue the development of the SWB Girls Program that she helped to implement in the spring of 2008.

Contact: molly@soccerwithoutborders.org

Deirdre Murphy, Monze Project Director: Deirdre spent 10 years in the Mission district of San Francisco building a girls soccer movement in the Latino community. Her work at Jamestown Community Center as the Sports Director included developing and supervising a sports program that served 250 youth a year with over 25 paid and volunteer coaches. Due to limited opportunities for girls to play soccer, in addition to joining recreational soccer teams, she created and led girls sports camps, middle and high school leagues for girls as well as developing a leadership coaching program for the teens. Deirdre has her Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University and her NSCAA National Diploma in Coaching. She is an accomplished soccer player and recently completed her first triathlon. Deirdre is currently in Monze, Zambia, where she has been since the fall of 2007 to start and develop a girls program with our partner organization Beyond Sport Inc.

Contact: deirdre@soccerwithoutborders.org

Dustin Monahan, Volunteer Coordinator, New York City Program Coordinator: Dustin graduated from Lehigh University in 2005, where he was a member of the Varsity Men's Soccer Team alongside Kyle Hartman and Ben Gucciardi. Since graduating, Dustin works professionally as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and also serves as an administrator for New England Premier Showcases, a high school athletic recruiting showcase. He recently became a member of the Soccer Without Borders family, in April 2008, and can't wait to make an impact as an outreach coordinator and field volunteer.

Contact: dustin@soccerwithoutborders.org

Kajan Ratnakumar, New York City Program Coordinator: Kajan has been an avid soccer player and fan all his life. He captained the St.Joseph's Institution team in Singapore and then captained and co-ordinated the soccer activity at the United World College of the Adriatic in Italy, where he attended high school. Kajan now resides in NYC where he plays soccer with different league teams while he works on his dissertation in Biology. He recently began his involvement with SWB and is currently coordinating the NYC project for recently relocated refugees together with Dustin Monahan.

Contact: kajan@soccerwithoutborders.org

Courtney Jackson, Ambassadors Program Coordinator: Courtney is currently a fifth year student at Lehigh University, where she is pursuing a second degree in History, after graduating in May 2008 with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in Business. After playing for the Lehigh Women's team, she is now serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Lehigh team as well as head coach of the newly formed FC Lehigh U-10 girls team. Courtney's passion for teaching, soccer, travel, and connecting with people has made her extremely excited to be a part of Soccer Without Borders, head up the Ambassadors Program, and be a part of it all heading forward.

Contact: courtney@soccerwithoutborders.org

Lauren Markham, Education Coordinator: Lauren is currently working on curriculum development for Soccer Without Borders. Lauren, who graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a degree in Literature, has worked with youth in Uganda, El Salvador, Vermont, Massachussets and the San Francisco Bay Area. She has taught a variety of subjects including photography, humanities, fine art, creative writing, French, Spanish and math. She has taught at Project Image in Jamaica Plain, Boston, the North Branch School in Vermont and as a Master Teacher at the Aim High program in San Francisco. Lauren has developed youth programs for newly arrived refugee youth with the International Rescue Committee in Oakland, CA, and with SWB in Ndejje, Uganda, where she spent the fall of 2007.

Contact: lauren@soccerwithoutborders.org

Chris Markham, College Spring Break Camp Coordinator: Chris is a graduate of Skidmore College where he studied government and international affairs. Chris also played for the Skidmore College men's soccer team, and put on the first Soccer Without Borders college spring break camp. Bringing together volunteers from the men's and women's soccer teams, this camp was able to raise $4,650 which went toward building a youth center in Ndejje, Uganda. Chris hopes to use this camp as the template for other colleges and universities across the country in order to raise money for Soccer Without Borders programs around the globe.

Contact: cmarkham@soccerwithoutborders.org

Kyle Hartman, Graphic Designer: Kyle is currently living in the Lake Tahoe area working as a carpenter and yoga teacher. His passion for soccer began at an early age and led him to Lehigh University where he earned a bachelors degree in Architecture. Kyle is dedicated to the preservation of our environment and has studied environmental design, natural building techniques, and sustainable development. He has coached soccer players age 6-18 at a variety of skill levels. Kyle spent the fall of 2007 in Uganda working with SWB and also works on all design elements for the organization.

Contact: kyle@soccerwithoutborders.org

Jared Gagnon, Equipment Coordinator: Jared is a graduate from Saint Mary's College of California where he received his B.A. in Kinesiology with an emphasis on Teacher Education. During his days at Saint Mary's, he was a defenseman for the Lacrosse team and served administratively as team Vice-President. He has since gone on to teach Physical Education at the middle school level in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves working with children and has a passion for educating both on and off the field. Jared is also in his second year as Assistant Head Coach of the lacrosse team at California High School. Working with children in underserved countries has long been a dream of his, and he is excited to join the Soccer Without Borders team. Jared will be working to source equipment from across the United States that will be distributed to underserved youth around the globe.

Contact: jared@soccerwithoutborders.org

Maile Tavepholjalern, Outreach Coordinator: Maile is currently living in Honolulu, Hawaii, and working as a grant writer and outreach coordinator for Soccer Without Borders. She graduated from Harvard College, where she played as a central midfielder and majored in Economics. After graduation, Maile traveled to Brazil to play for the Santos women's soccer team and then did a stint in law and economics research for a professor at Yale. Her experiences in the U.S. and abroad have made her interested in expanding opportunities for young people through sports and education.

Contact: maile@soccerwithoutborders.org

Colin Dowd, Outreach Coordinator: Colin is currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, and working as a grant writer and outreach coordinator for Soccer Without Borders. He graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in Business Administration and a degree in Spanish. At USD he was a founding member of the club soccer team that reached the national semifinals in just their third year. Colin has studied in Spain and Mexico and makes an annual trip to Europe. Currently he is working on developing relationships with organizations and youth soccer clubs in both Arizona and southern California.

Contact: colin@soccerwithoutborders.org

Dan Newcombe, Outreach Coordinator: Dan is currently studying at Lehigh University, where he is pursuing a second degree in International Relations after graduating with a degree in Finance and Marketing in May 2008. Hailing from England, Dan has been a lifetime fan of soccer, or 'football', and hopes to fuse his passion for the game with his interest in helping others to expand the depth and scope of Soccer Without Borders' mission. Dan is currently working on developing relationships with professional soccer teams across Europe.

Contact: dan@soccerwithoutborders.org

Chris Pedersen, Bay Area Regional Advisor: Chris is a goalkeeper and graduate of UC Santa Cruz. With a degree in Global Studies, Chris has been involved in various grassroots organizations in Senegal and Honduras that promote social awareness and community education. At home, Chris works for Smith Barney and is a goalkeeper trainer throughout the East Bay and Santa Cruz area. Chris will be working to promote the projects of Soccer Without Borders within the Bay Area. His role is to develop the various ways individuals, teams and businesses can get involved in community development through sport and education throughout the world. Chris is currently in Kampala, Uganda for the fall of 2008.

Contact: chris@soccerwithoutborders.org

Jeff McIntyre, Pacific Northwest Regional Adviser: Jeff McIntyre is from Seattle, Washington, and is SWB's Pacific Northwest Regional Advisor and founder of Ruffneck Wear, Inc. He is working on programs to help create awareness for Soccer Without Borders through projects such as "Scarves for Change." Jeff is a former U.S. Marine that served in Desert Storm and is passionate about the game of soccer. Jeff brings a wealth of business management experience to the Soccer Without Borders team, having worked for companies such as Microsoft and managing his own company, Ruffneck Wear, Inc.

Jacques Bwira, Hope Youth Center Superviser and HOPE Primary School Program Supervisor, Kampala, Uganda: Jacques is the Director of HOPE Primary School and Helping People of Ethnicities, an NGO in Kampala that provides service to urban refugees living in the Kampala area. Jacques is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who fled the conflict there in 1999 and fled to Uganda seeking relative peace. He has since devoted his life to providing education and other support to refugee families enduring similar difficulties as himself. In 2007, SWB and HOPE established a partnership. Jacques is currently directing the continuation of the projects.

Christine Siamukole, Girls Got Goals Zambia Director, Monze, Zambia: Christine is from the remote village of Mwamba, Zambia, where she developed a passion for soccer and sport. Christine has trained with Right to Play and has worked closely with Deirdre Murphy and Katlin Okamoto in designing a program that supports girls in Monze and Mwamba by providing soccer opportunities and life-skills education programs. Christine also pioneered a chicken run project in order to generate income for the program.

Humberto 'Chepe' Largaespada, Granada, Nicaragua Representative: Chepe is a soccer player and developing leader and coach from Granada, Nicaragua. Chepe has been supervising the ongoing girls program in Granada and is working with four local female coaches to develop more opportunities for girls to play in Granada. He has worked closely with SWB to support community soccer initiatives in Granada and coordinates SWB volunteers trips.

Carlos Zambrana, Granada, Nicaragua Team: Carlos is a professional soccer player for Alcadia in Managua, Nicaragua, and a coach of Deportivo El Barrio. Carlos has worked closely with SWB to support community soccer initiatives in Granada and is currently working to develop an academy model that would serve both boys and girls in Granada.

About Us

Soccer Without Borders is a collaboration among athletes, coaches, educators and artists. We are committed to eroding the borders of prejudice and hate in their many forms by working together to promote a more harmonious world. We are staffed entirely by volunteers united by their desire to use soccer, education and the arts as tools for positive change.