Scoring Big Against Malaria

This past weekend I traveled to Salt Lake City to represent MNM at the United Against Malaria Speed Kick Contest at the Impact United youth soccer tournament. The tournament hosted 110 local teams and their fans

The Speed Kick Contest was the last in a series of nine UAM sponsored youth soccer tournaments leading up to the World Cup. And this tournament had the added bonus of being on the home turf of 2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup champions Real Salt Lake. The team, which got involved in UAM through MLS W.O.R.K.S., Major League Soccer’s community outreach initiative, generously provided their mascot Leo the Lion to entertain the players at the UAM Speed Kick booth.

In between games, young soccer players, parents, and coaches alike crowded the UAM booth to put their kicking skills to the test, while also learning about the fight against malaria and how they can get involved. The event was a success: by the end of the day, talk of soccer goals had turned into conversations about our goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015.  

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(Oh, and who had the best kick of the day? None other than Real Salt Lake mascot Leo the Lion, who wowed passersby with his combination kick-cartwheel-flip move!)