One of the star players at Yuwa is a girl named Pushpa, who arrived at the first practice session in 2008 wearing a tattered yellow dress and a red bandana - her standard training attire for the first six months of the program. In less than a year she joined the India National Team for girls. With support from the 1L community I am helping to bring Pushpa to the US for a six-month soccer training camp. One thing that I have learned from these girls is that any dream has the potential to thrive. If we work together, we can help make a dream come true for Pushpa.

1L Ambassador Chandrima Chatterjee recently returned from a visit to India where she was lucky enough to see Yuwa in action. We often discuss the transformative powers inherent in soccer. Add thoughtful and passionate leadership to the mix and you have a recipe for measurable change.

At the mere age of 25, John Farnworth is regarded as the top Football Artist in the World. He has won both World and European Titles in Football Freestyle and holds 5 Guinness World Records. He also started the John Farnworth Freestyle Academy, which has so far reached hundreds of kids in the US.

When I think about Taylor Twellman, I actually feel only one thing, admiration. I never knew him as the five-time MLS All-Star who was the league MVP in 2005, nor the guy who scored 101 goals in eight years and also had six goals in 30 appearances with the U.S. national team. I was out of country, so to speak, or at least highly focused on football in other countries. But what I did know was that he had suffered from a fate that all athletes dread.

Eric Wynalda asks, “Why now us? Why in a country with… so much interest, have we failed to be where we should be? That's the dilemma right?”