Our Story

In 2001, our founder, Doug Brown, began travelling to impoverished countries in Africa, to work as a medical volunteer. His days were spent providing medical care and healthcare education, while his evenings were spent playing soccer with the local children.

As always, with experience comes wisdom and over the years he began to develop a better understanding of the needs in the communities he was working in. Many of which were directly related to the community members’ healthcare problems, such as lack of access to clean water and formal education. It was through these experiences that he decided to broaden the scope of his assistance, and get to the root of the problem: Poverty.

Additionally, on the soccer field he had begun to put on tournaments for the local schools and was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the communities. Through these experiences, it became clear that soccer was an effective way to not only reach children, but also bring communities together as a whole.

Armed with the knowledge that most children born into poverty will continue that cycle throughout their lives, and believing that a good education is the foundation to breaking out of that cycle, It Starts With Soccer, was formed. The idea was to work with children, and use soccer clinics as a way to promote the importance of getting a good education.  Understanding that education is only one component of poverty, It Starts With Soccer was also created to help find solutions to the tangible needs of  communities (i.e. access to clean water, school supplies, renewable energy, medical care).

Since we got our start in 2011, one of the most illuminating lessons we’ve learned from the children we work with in Africa is that it is truly possible to be content in the worst of circumstances, if you focus on the positive. Often, the needs of the children we serve are simple…a loaf of bread to eat, a pencil and paper for school, antibiotics for illness, or a shirt without holes. Despite not having those needs met and living a life in abject poverty, they rarely complain. It’s their appreciation for life in the face of such adversity that inspires and motivates us to keep helping them in any way we can.

Join us and help lift children out of poverty in Africa, by combining soccer with community outreach projects to promote lasting change.