KYLE WEISS
2012 YOUTH AWARD
Co-Founder, FUNDaFIELD
Haiti, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda
At 13, Kyle Weiss met soccer fans from Africa at the World Cup Games in Germany and quickly learned how soccer breaks down social barriers on the field while also giving kids a chance to develop friendships and learn important life skills. Inspired, he and his brother founded FUNDaFIELD in 2007 to build soccer fields in regions where children have experienced conflict or major trauma.
They soon learned of the therapeutic benefits that sports can have on young people who have been child soldiers, orphans or victims of disease. As an added educational benefit, FUNDaFIELD now builds soccer fields at schools, where children must enroll in and attend school in order to play. FUNDaFIELD has built soccer fields in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda and is now working on plans to build fields in Swaziland, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pader in Northern Uganda and in still-devastated Haiti.
In August 2014, World of Children and Molten USA partnered together to bring the joy of sport, play and philanthropy to children. As part of that partnership, Kyle was chosen as the first World of Children Honoree Ambassador of the Pass It Forward program. FUNDaFIELD will be the beneficiary of product donations, such as soccer balls, and Kyle will help spread the joy of sport and play to the children FUNDaFIELD serves.
