Two lives. two dreams. two passions.
one purpose to change lives.
We're going to take you on a journey that tells a story of a promise made over 25 years ago and is being fulfilled today. The part of this story that you may already know is, Walter and Pamela are a husband + wife team and Co-founding Girls Soccer Worldwide™ together. The part of this story you may not know begins in 1991 with Walter living in Paraguay as a young soccer player, to a passion behind the lens being discovered in 1998 while Pamela was living in New York. It's one of their favorite stories to tell because it shows the seeds being planted long before Girls Soccer Worldwide™ became a name.
Two lives.
two dreams.
two passions.
one purpose
to change lives.
Walter, born and raised in Argentina, moved to Paraguay in his early 20’s to play semi-pro in a small rural town, Coronel Bogado. This was the same town his father was born and raised in so it wasn't unfamiliar knowing he had traveled there as a child. However, visiting as an adult he experienced a way of life through a different lens.
He was taken back by the generosity of this community who had so little and gave so much. Upon leaving two years later, he promised if he was to make a way for himself he would “come back to give back.”
WALTER
Fast forward 23 years:
CLICK HERE for Walter's Bio
Move to Colorado. Become a girls soccer coach. Marriage. Twin boys and thoughts of his Paraguayan promise, he got back on a plane in 2015. He returned to see poverty was still prominent and more importantly, girls didn't have access to the same opportunities as boys in the game of soccer simply because they were girls, losing out on valuable life skills. Walter becoming a girls soccer coach shattered any false beliefs of a male dominated playing field taught in the South American culture. He knew these girls deserved more. He returned to the US with a vision to create opportunities for an equal playing field & empower local Female athletes.
PAMELA
CLICK HERE for Pamela's Bio
In 1998, while living on the East Coast with her daughter, Pamela found a passion in the camera and fell in love with documenting life through the lens. She realized it came with a dream and believed the gift of the camera came with the gift to give back. Pamela had a vision to photograph areas of poverty around the world with the purpose to educate and create change. Her goal was to use photographs as a vehicle to open the eyes of our own communities in the states, allowing us to see the reality of the outside world.
Single mom. Corporate world. 4 states later, including Colorado. Fell in love with the game by way of her daughter playing. Marriage. Twin boys and thoughts of a misguided dream set aside. Pamela always believed there was more, something bigger.
In 2012, Pamela left a management career of 18 years to pick up the camera again and believed photography was a vehicle to get her where she was suppose to be. She found her passion for the lens again, started her own photography business, and created the freedom she craved to explore a dream of documenting life behind the lens.
Fast forward through a journey of 14 years:
In the summer of 2016, Walter began planning a trip with 9 families in the Bay Area that would involve traveling 6000 miles away to inspire girls to play the game they all loved.
Walter's plan: To empower a community to believe bigger and see the possibilities through an equal playing field AND to create an experience for female athletes to see a life through a different lens...returning with the gift of empathy.
Pamela's plan: It was simple. To document an experience so this story could be told. In November of 2016, the first Ambassador led trip for Girls Soccer Worldwide was on its way!
However, it wasn't that simple. Pamela was not the same woman who arrived 9 days prior with only a camera in her hand. This was more. This was something bigger. Her camera is what got her on that plane and what she wasn’t expecting was her own transformation.
Walter saw his vision come to life. Girls who traveled with them were forever changed. They learned girls who were told they couldn't play wanted to play and they showed up. They just needed a door opened.
Pamela and Walter traveled to make an impact, but the reality was, they met individuals that made an impact on all of them. They both knew getting back on that plane life was never going to be the same, for anyone who traveled. They both knew they couldn’t return and not do something and this was the start of Girls Soccer Worldwide™.
"Today, we are a Leadership program empowering girls to rise out of poverty through sports AND education. We believe in the power of dreams and are on a mission to create a path for others to not only chase theirs, but to live them."
-Pamela and Walter
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