Half Time Advice
"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."
- Albert Einstein

May 24^th 2010

Dear Visitor,

Welcome to Free Kick, an exciting new non-profit organization dedicated to serving Washington DC's at-risk youth. I invite you to browse this website to learn more about our program and the unique services it offers.

Less than three weeks from now, the 2010 FIFA World Cup - commonly billed as the largest sporting event on the planet - will kick off in South Africa. Although the games will be played thousands of miles away, I hope to bring the joy of soccer to the backyard of Washington, DC, to those young children who both desire and require it most.

On a most fundamental basis, the Free Kick program was established out of a pure joy for soccer and an appreciation for the positive, incalculable impact The Beautiful Game can have on an individual's life. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the back-alleys of Venice, the soccer ball brings with it a unifying and constructive power to all who give it a kick. This program, then, arose out of one question: If soccer can touch the lives of billions of people around the world, shouldn't we use it to enrich the lives and communities around us?

The answer, of course, is yes, and this is why I founded Free Kick. Having spent much time mentoring and tutoring middle-school children, I know from experience that sport can act as a catalyst for learning - a process I call "edu-recreation." Playing soccer requires countless life skills - discipline, respect for the self and others, conflict resolution, integrity, athletic ability, etc. These important skills should be fostered on the pitch by positive role models who demonstrate their relevance in our every-day lives.

So, the Free Kick program uses the soccer field as a mentoring forum, where at-risk youth can interact with engaging, energetic college student mentors. Combined with our more traditional classroom tutoring and lessons, led by highly qualified and dedicated college students, we strive to provide a well-rounded educational and recreational experience for DC's youth. Ultimately, I hope these mentors will serve as positive influences for our community's youth, guiding them away from negative trappings and towards a healthy, vibrant, and successful lifestyle.

Free Kick, Inc, is labeled as a youth mentoring program. To be truthful, I hope it will grow to be much more than that; we seek to build confidence in our youth so that they some day can positively impact their communities the way Free Kick has affected them. This, to me, would be a true marker for success: Our participants leaving the program with an appreciation for service to community, an understanding of the importance of positive role models, and, ultimately, the confidence to tackle pressing community issues on their own.

For now, however, I want to focus all our resources on creating a fun, safe, constructive extracurricular program for these underserved youth using soccer. So, please review our program, and feel free to contact me or any of our wonderful staff with questions. And as superstars likes Messi, Ronaldinho, and Kaka take the field at the World Cup, I hope to see DC's own future stars on the Free Kick pitch. ¡Viva el fútbol!

Best Regards,

Samhir Vasdev
Executive Director
Free Kick, Inc.