Every August, college campuses welcome a new class of students.
This year, one of them was my daughter, Liya.
As I watched her begin her journey as a student-athlete at the University of California, Berkeley, I couldn’t help but think back to an earlier moment—standing together as a family on that very field during her recruiting visit.
At the time, we were imagining what might be possible.
Now, that possibility has become reality.
As exciting as move-in day was, I found myself looking beyond the dorm rooms, the orientation activities, and the start of a new soccer season.
I was looking at the remarkable community that sport had brought together.
On this team are young women from Germany.
England.
New Zealand.
The Philippines.
And communities across the United States.
Different cultures.
Different life experiences.
Different journeys.
One team.
As I watched these young women begin this next chapter together, I couldn’t help but think about everything that had to happen to bring them to this moment.
None of them arrived here by accident.
Somewhere along the way, someone invested in them.
A parent.
A coach.
A mentor.
A teacher.
A teammate.
A community.
And just as importantly…
They had a place to play.
At Playing for Keeps, we often talk about creating access to sport. Moments like this remind me why that work matters.
Access isn’t simply about playing a game.
It’s about creating opportunity.
As the cost of higher education continues to rise, sport has become one of the most meaningful pathways to educational opportunity for young people and their families.
For many student-athletes, the opportunity to compete is also the opportunity to earn an exceptional education that might otherwise feel financially out of reach. Athletic scholarships don’t simply help pay for college—they open doors to academic excellence, lifelong friendships, professional networks, leadership development, and experiences that can shape the trajectory of an entire life.
Those opportunities should never depend on a child’s ZIP code or whether their community has access to safe, high-quality places to play.
A scholarship doesn’t begin with a college acceptance letter.
It begins years earlier.
On neighborhood fields.
At after-school practices.
In community sports programs.
In parks where children first discover the joy of play.
Every scholarship represents thousands of hours of dedication, discipline, resilience, and support. It represents coaches who believed, families who sacrificed, teammates who encouraged, and communities that created opportunities for young people to grow.
Looking around this team, I don’t simply see collegiate athletes.
I see future physicians.
Engineers.
Teachers.
Entrepreneurs.
Public servants.
Business leaders.
Researchers.
Community leaders.
Women whose influence will extend far beyond the soccer field.
The greatest gift sport gives young people isn’t simply the opportunity to compete.
It’s the opportunity to discover who they are and who they are capable of becoming.
It teaches resilience.
Leadership.
Teamwork.
Discipline.
Humility.
It challenges young people to learn from one another, embrace different perspectives, and build relationships that cross cultures and continents.
That journey begins long before college.
It begins with access.
A field becomes confidence.
Confidence becomes leadership.
Leadership strengthens communities.
And communities that invest in children create opportunities that ripple forward for generations.
As Los Angeles—and communities across the country—continue investing in youth sports, I hope we remember that we’re building far more than athletic facilities.
We’re creating places where children discover purpose.
Where lifelong friendships begin.
Where educational opportunities become possible.
Where young people from around the world come together, learn from one another, and prepare to lead in ways that extend far beyond sport.
When we invest in places to play, we invest in everything that can grow from them.
Because every child deserves more than a moment.
Every child deserves a place to play.
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