VIEIRA AND BROVSKY INSPIRE POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH SOCCER AT INAUGURAL BEYOND SOCCER SERIES

On Monday June 22 in Times Square, World Cup winner Patrick Vieira and New York City FC defender Jeb Brovsky joined MLS Commissioner Don Garber at the inaugural event of the Beyond Soccer Series, exploring how soccer can be used to drive positive social change.

The event, powered by streetfootballworld and backed by MLS, Barclays, Western Union and UNICEF, kicked off with 200 leading figures from the business of sport in attendance at the Thomson Reuters Headquarters, focusing on soccer’s potential to lead in social responsibility, community development and consumer engagement.

Vieira, a Western Union PASS Initiative ambassador, and Brovsky, shared insights on how they use the power of soccer to impact lives, explaining the responsibility they feel to give back to their communities and the value that social commitment adds to a player’s career.

Vieira, Head of Elite Development at Manchester City FC, commented, “Players and those involved in soccer have a responsibility to help, and have a huge influence, because our sport is the number one sport played across the globe.”

Brovsky, also founder of non-profit foundation Peace Pandemic, noted, “With soccer as my platform, I speak to kids about the importance of becoming responsible members of society. I want to inspire kids to grow up to be better men.”

The “Leaders On and Off the Field,” panel featured Don Garber, Patrick Gaston, President, Western Union Foundation, and Caryl Stern, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and addressed how effective leadership can socially impact the fastest growing fan sport in the USA.

On the importance of sports within society, Garber said, “The value that pro sports provides is to improve the lives of people you can touch everyday. We need to use our influence to do positive things,” while Stern commented, “Wherever I travel around the world, I will see a child kicking a soccer ball. It truly is a universal language.”

“Football is a vehicle for connecting to people in an important way around the world,” noted Gaston.

The second event in the 2015 Beyond Soccer Series will take place November 10. 

For more information on the Beyond Soccer Series 2015 visit www.beyondsport.org and follow @BeyondSport on Twitter.