Ben Gucciardi ’05 honored with NSCAA’s Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service
1/9/2015 9:49:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Soccer Without Borders
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Former Lehigh men's soccer player Ben Gucciardi '05, M'06 has been announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as the 2014 Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service recipient. Gucciardi is the founder and U.S. Director of the non-profit organization Soccer Without Borders, which aims to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion and personal success.
The Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service is presented annually by the NSCAA to one college men's or women's soccer player (past or present) who has demonstrated exceptional personal achievement and extraordinary accomplishment that transcend normal expectation, and who is or was an example and inspiration to his/her teammates and university.
"I'm very proud that Ben was part of our program, proud to see what he's accomplished, and proud that he's so personally invested in this organization," said head Lehigh men's soccer coach Dean Koski. "Ben really represents the kind of student-athletes that we want coming through our program and leaving here and making a difference our community, society and other parts of this world."
Gucciardi was a four-year member of the Lehigh men's soccer team from 2001-04 and majored in International Relations. Upon completing his first four years at Lehigh University, Gucciardi received a Presidential Scholarship from Lehigh for graduate school, where he pursued a master's degree in Global Educational Leadership.
Gucciardi was a key piece in the Lehigh midfield and helped the Mountain Hawks finish in the top four in the Patriot League in all four of his seasons. The three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member earned the team's Scholar-Athlete award twice, in addition to being a recipient of the program's Outstanding Athlete and Coaches Award honors. After graduating with his masters, Gucciardi went on to play two seasons with the San Francisco Seals of the USL.
Gucciardi founded Soccer Without Borders while earning his masters in Global Educational Leadership in 2006. He held a job at the Lehigh Media Center at the time and used the time when the library was empty to complete the necessary paperwork and get the organization registered as a non-profit. Gucciardi's time at Lehigh helped to kick-start the organization and has continued to support SWB's growth.
"The most important way Lehigh supported Soccer Without Borders' growth, particularly early on, was in validating and supporting the idea," explained Gucciardi. "What is today called the Baker Center at Lehigh helped provide some initial funding through the student-entrepreneurship competition and several of my professors, specifically Todd Watkins, Bruce Moon and Lisa Getzler-Linn were really encouraging.
"Lehigh's libraries are a gold mine," continued Gucciardi. "I spent a lot of time in the stacks at Linderman reading books about the world's increasingly painful disparities that exist between the wealthy minority in our society and the majority who face challenging circumstances. Understanding some of the systemic causes that create these disparities helped motivate me to want to work for social justice. I knew I wanted to see the world and connect with people and places, both in our country and abroad, that most people with privileged backgrounds like mine either choose to ignore entirely or experience in very short, curated ways."
After Gucciardi earned his master's degree, he worked as a volunteer for SWB for about four years, supporting himself in different ways to be able to spend time refining the methodology of the organization and spend time figuring out how the organization's work could have the most positive impact. Gucciardi spent countless hours connecting with people who brought different ideas to the table.
"After that initial period, when we were able to show that the organization had some concrete, tangible benefits for the young people that participate in the program, we were able to seek more funding and began to have paid staff members, which allowed us to devote more time towards the organization and help nurture and expand it," explained Gucciardi. "The defining factor of those early years was a willingness to work with whatever resources were available and turn them into something greater."
Since then, he has turned Soccer Without Borders an international organization reaching the youth of six U.S. inner cities, and the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Granada, Nicaragua and Kampala, Uganda. The idea behind Soccer Without Borders is to develop the whole person as opposed to just a soccer player by helping youth develop a greater understanding of their bodies, minds and voices. Since 2007, 95 percent of SWB's Oakland, Calif. participants have graduated from high school, compared to the city-wide graduation rate of 60 percent.
Throughout the nearly ten-year history of Soccer Without Borders, Gucciardi has received much support from Coach Koski.
"I thought it was a terrific idea when Ben first told me about wanting to start such an organization," said Koski. "I was on his advisory board for the first several years, but mostly I've just been there for him to bounce ideas off of. Ben had a clear vision of where he wanted the organization to go and has been very open-minded and always adapting throughout the whole process. It's been really fun to see the organization germinate from an idea to an actual organization that has accomplished so much domestically and internationally and has received much deserved notoriety over the last few years, which speaks volumes about Ben's personal commitment to the organization as well as his incredible staff."
"Coach Koski has always been an advocate for the organization," said Gucciardi. "He has helped pass along internship and job opportunities to the NCAA soccer community, and shared the mission of the organization with the FC Lehigh community as well, and several of those teams have helped fundraise and donate equipment to the program. He also nominated me for this award, which was very generous of him, and is always thinking of ways he can leverage his connection to the soccer community to support the mission of SWB."
Gucciardi has also used the life lessons learned as a member of the Lehigh men's soccer program to help further himself and the organization professionally.
"I think anybody who plays team sports at a high level develops the qualities of discipline, teamwork and commitment. These qualities are also important to being successful at most things in life, from being an artist to working in business."
Gucciardi and the rest of the SWB team plan to continue the growth of the organization. For now, the team is focusing on ensuring that each of its program sites has the resources needed to sustain truly excellent programs that can help participants authentically shift outcomes in their lives.
"I want the organization to be a pathway for students to reach their goals," said Gucciardi. "I want our participants to go to college or access opportunities that previously seemed unlikely, and then I want them to come back and run the program and help other students in their community."
Gucciardi will accept the Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service at the NSCAA convention in Philadelphia on Jan. 17.
"This award provides Ben with another platform in the world of soccer and public service," said Koski. "I hope it will get people more informed, engaged, involved and interested in what he's doing because any successful and enduring non-profit needs support. If more people are aware of SWB and all the good that it has done and continues to do, I think it will only help Ben fulfill his vision. I'm privileged and honored to have coached and mentored Ben as a student-athlete at Lehigh and I'm very proud of who he has become as a man and leader."
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Former Lehigh men's soccer player Ben Gucciardi '05, M'06 has been announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as the 2014 Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service recipient. Gucciardi is the founder and U.S. Director of the non-profit organization Soccer Without Borders, which aims to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion and personal success.
The Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service is presented annually by the NSCAA to one college men's or women's soccer player (past or present) who has demonstrated exceptional personal achievement and extraordinary accomplishment that transcend normal expectation, and who is or was an example and inspiration to his/her teammates and university.
"I'm very proud that Ben was part of our program, proud to see what he's accomplished, and proud that he's so personally invested in this organization," said head Lehigh men's soccer coach Dean Koski. "Ben really represents the kind of student-athletes that we want coming through our program and leaving here and making a difference our community, society and other parts of this world."
Gucciardi was a four-year member of the Lehigh men's soccer team from 2001-04 and majored in International Relations. Upon completing his first four years at Lehigh University, Gucciardi received a Presidential Scholarship from Lehigh for graduate school, where he pursued a master's degree in Global Educational Leadership.
Gucciardi was a key piece in the Lehigh midfield and helped the Mountain Hawks finish in the top four in the Patriot League in all four of his seasons. The three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member earned the team's Scholar-Athlete award twice, in addition to being a recipient of the program's Outstanding Athlete and Coaches Award honors. After graduating with his masters, Gucciardi went on to play two seasons with the San Francisco Seals of the USL.
Gucciardi founded Soccer Without Borders while earning his masters in Global Educational Leadership in 2006. He held a job at the Lehigh Media Center at the time and used the time when the library was empty to complete the necessary paperwork and get the organization registered as a non-profit. Gucciardi's time at Lehigh helped to kick-start the organization and has continued to support SWB's growth.
"The most important way Lehigh supported Soccer Without Borders' growth, particularly early on, was in validating and supporting the idea," explained Gucciardi. "What is today called the Baker Center at Lehigh helped provide some initial funding through the student-entrepreneurship competition and several of my professors, specifically Todd Watkins, Bruce Moon and Lisa Getzler-Linn were really encouraging.
"Lehigh's libraries are a gold mine," continued Gucciardi. "I spent a lot of time in the stacks at Linderman reading books about the world's increasingly painful disparities that exist between the wealthy minority in our society and the majority who face challenging circumstances. Understanding some of the systemic causes that create these disparities helped motivate me to want to work for social justice. I knew I wanted to see the world and connect with people and places, both in our country and abroad, that most people with privileged backgrounds like mine either choose to ignore entirely or experience in very short, curated ways."After Gucciardi earned his master's degree, he worked as a volunteer for SWB for about four years, supporting himself in different ways to be able to spend time refining the methodology of the organization and spend time figuring out how the organization's work could have the most positive impact. Gucciardi spent countless hours connecting with people who brought different ideas to the table.
"After that initial period, when we were able to show that the organization had some concrete, tangible benefits for the young people that participate in the program, we were able to seek more funding and began to have paid staff members, which allowed us to devote more time towards the organization and help nurture and expand it," explained Gucciardi. "The defining factor of those early years was a willingness to work with whatever resources were available and turn them into something greater."
Since then, he has turned Soccer Without Borders an international organization reaching the youth of six U.S. inner cities, and the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Granada, Nicaragua and Kampala, Uganda. The idea behind Soccer Without Borders is to develop the whole person as opposed to just a soccer player by helping youth develop a greater understanding of their bodies, minds and voices. Since 2007, 95 percent of SWB's Oakland, Calif. participants have graduated from high school, compared to the city-wide graduation rate of 60 percent.
Throughout the nearly ten-year history of Soccer Without Borders, Gucciardi has received much support from Coach Koski.
"I thought it was a terrific idea when Ben first told me about wanting to start such an organization," said Koski. "I was on his advisory board for the first several years, but mostly I've just been there for him to bounce ideas off of. Ben had a clear vision of where he wanted the organization to go and has been very open-minded and always adapting throughout the whole process. It's been really fun to see the organization germinate from an idea to an actual organization that has accomplished so much domestically and internationally and has received much deserved notoriety over the last few years, which speaks volumes about Ben's personal commitment to the organization as well as his incredible staff."
"Coach Koski has always been an advocate for the organization," said Gucciardi. "He has helped pass along internship and job opportunities to the NCAA soccer community, and shared the mission of the organization with the FC Lehigh community as well, and several of those teams have helped fundraise and donate equipment to the program. He also nominated me for this award, which was very generous of him, and is always thinking of ways he can leverage his connection to the soccer community to support the mission of SWB."
Gucciardi has also used the life lessons learned as a member of the Lehigh men's soccer program to help further himself and the organization professionally."I think anybody who plays team sports at a high level develops the qualities of discipline, teamwork and commitment. These qualities are also important to being successful at most things in life, from being an artist to working in business."
Gucciardi and the rest of the SWB team plan to continue the growth of the organization. For now, the team is focusing on ensuring that each of its program sites has the resources needed to sustain truly excellent programs that can help participants authentically shift outcomes in their lives.
"I want the organization to be a pathway for students to reach their goals," said Gucciardi. "I want our participants to go to college or access opportunities that previously seemed unlikely, and then I want them to come back and run the program and help other students in their community."
Gucciardi will accept the Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service at the NSCAA convention in Philadelphia on Jan. 17.
"This award provides Ben with another platform in the world of soccer and public service," said Koski. "I hope it will get people more informed, engaged, involved and interested in what he's doing because any successful and enduring non-profit needs support. If more people are aware of SWB and all the good that it has done and continues to do, I think it will only help Ben fulfill his vision. I'm privileged and honored to have coached and mentored Ben as a student-athlete at Lehigh and I'm very proud of who he has become as a man and leader."
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