Julie Foudy's Blog
Follow Julie and the 2011 Grand Prize Winners' blogs at the 2012 Olympic Games in London!
Prize Winners' Huffington Post Blog
Gulafsha Kumrulhoda Ansari's "Huffington Post" blog from the 2012 London Olympics
Date: 8-9-12
My Journey to London for the Olympics!: This is the third time I am going abroad on an aeroplane and it is as exciting as the first time was. This time, I am going alone, with Alkadi from Magic Bus. As the plane takes off from my beloved home in Mumbai, I am feeling slightly sad about leaving my mother, father and brother behind… (read more)
· Gulafsha Kamrulhodda Ansari, “Giving Girls a Chance to Play,” (age 17) from Mumbai, India (JFSLA California)
Previous blogs:
From the Slums of Mumbai to the London Summer Olympics: Huffington Post: Gulafsha Kumrulhoda Ansari, 17-year-old winner of Julie Foudy's "Choose to Matter" contest
Moriah Wilson blog from the 2012 London Olympics
Date: 8-9-12
Day 1: Hi, my name is Moriah Wilson (pictured here on the right) and I am luckily a Choose to Matter Grand Prize Winner. I feel so fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity and I am very thankful to everyone who helped make it happen. Today, my first day here, has been awesome. Even jetlag was no match for the excitement of the Women's Soccer Final in Wembley Stadium. Meeting a lot of new people has also been a bonus. I am very excited for everything in store tomorrow and bonding with my fellow Champions of Play!
· Girl Talk: Moriah Wilson (age 14), “Lil’ Hearts of Love: Pillows and Pages Edition,”Atlanta, GA (GirlTalk)
Jackie Schaefer's blog from the 2012 London Olympics
Date: 8-9-12
Hey guys! Today was my first day of Champions of Play / Choosing to Matter LONDON, and it was amazing. We rode the tube to the game. What is the tube? The tube is like a giant subway that you would ride in New York or Boston. The game was out of this world, with a 2-1 score . US winning the GOLD medal in front of 80,000 plus fans. At the beginning of the game we got to meet my role model, and just down to earth, coolest person, Julie Foudy . We sat behind the goal and saw Carli Lloyd #10 score her second goal. The game was incredible and the medal ceremony was spectacular! It made me proud to be a female soccer player from the USA. WOW what a great first day!
· Jackie Schaefer (age 12) “Kids Helping Kids,” from Jacksonville, FL (JFSLA New Jersey)
Date: 3-06-12
I feel like the proud mother of 70 babies. Well, ok, 70 leadership service projects. I truly felt that same sense of pride while reading about these awesome projects from the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy’s (JFSLA) students and the girls of our partner nonprofit, Girl Talk (and the good news is they don’t require being bathed and fed! J). I am still beaming that more than 60,000 people were exposed to the great work our girls are doing in their communities through our first ever JFSLA “Choose to Matter” Contest. Our hope is that by reading about these amazing leadership projects, many more people will be inspired to the do the same in their community.
Huge congratulations to our four winners who, thanks in large part to the generosity from McDonald’s and The Century Council, are heading to the Olympics this summer as Youth Ambassadors for McDonald’s “Champions of Play” Program! Here are the grand prize Choose to Matter Contest winners:
· Jackie Schaefer (age 12) “Kids Helping Kids,” from Jacksonville, FL (JFSLA New Jersey)
· Amanda Christianson (age 14) “Cleats for Kids,” from Plainfield, IL (JFSLA Illinois)
· Gulafsha Kamrulhodda Ansari, “Giving Girls a Chance to Play,” (age 17) from Mumbai, India (JFSLA California)
· Girl Talk: Moriah Wilson (age 14), “Lil’ Hearts of Love: Pillows and Pages Edition,”Atlanta, GA (GirlTalk)
And congrats also to our 2nd and 3rd place winners who get a $500 and $250 PUMA shopping spree on Eurosport’s website, soccer.com:
· New Jersey:
o 2nd place: Mariana Azevedo, “Mother Nature Strikes…Teen Defends!”
o 3rd place: Nicole Romola, “Bear Hugs”
· Illinois:
o 2nd place: Madison Martin, “Big Sister to Down Syndrome Kids”
o 3rd place: Amy Scruggs, “Teen Pride Volunteers”
· California:
o 2nd place: Maryssa Beare, “Operation Save Second Base: Breast Cancer Awareness”
o 3rd place: Montana Ankner, “Let's Put An End To Cyberbullying”
· Girl Talk:
o 2nd place: Emily Huff, “Choose to Matter 24/7/365”
o 3rd place: Erin Ernst, “Spreading Christmas Hope”
CHOOSE TO MATTER.
You can make a difference every single day, the question is -- will you?
We asked our girls to choose to matter and look at the results. http://contest.juliefoudyleadership.com/2012-jfsla-choose-matter-contest-winners
Now ask this of yourselves and each other: if we all just did a bit more to mentor, give back, lend a hand, help a friend, help a stranger -imagine the results.
Thank you to the 70 girls who just reminded us of the potential for good. In all of us.
Live. Lead. Pass it On…. and remember to keep laughing.
Julie Foudy
Date: 1-31-12
I love playing sports for a long list of reasons, but I especially love sports because they help define who we are: (read more)