Freshman Shares Soccer Passion Through Charity

Having played soccer since he was 5 years old, and travel soccer since he was 7, Andres Gonzalez’ closet was full of uniforms past. He didn’t know what to do with them all, but he didn’t want them to go to waste.

So he started a charity to donate uniforms to students in Central America.

Gonzalez ’18, a communication major from Pembroke Pines, FL, came to the U.S. when he was 4, so he didn’t remember much of his life in Honduras. He had only traveled there once for a wedding, but he heard stories from his parents and grandparents.

“Soccer is really big in Central America, but they don’t always have money for uniforms,” Gonzalez said, explaining that teams often play on dirt fields.

He gathered up his uniforms and in 2010 delivered his first donation through his mother, who was traveling to Honduras for business. His mother shared photos of the trip with her son, but it wasn’t until 2013, when he made a delivery of about 150 sets (shirts and shorts) himself on a trip with his father, that it hit him: this was something that could make an impact.

“It’s definitely rewarding,” Gonzalez said.

He has since collaborated with three friends from high school — Ralph Beriro of Venezuela, Daniel Ramirez of Colombia and Kyle Moss-Solomon of Jamaica — incorporated as Champs of Charity and filed for nonprofit status. When Honduran professional soccer player Carlos Pavón retired, Gonzalez reached out to him on Twitter.

“I tweeted him as a long shot, and he started following Champs of Charity on Twitter,” said Gonzalez. Pavón’s fan base immediately started contacting Gonzalez about the needs of their local teams.

“When we first started this, we thought it’d take a long time to be noticed,” Gonzalez said. “But now we realize it has the potential to be big.”

Gonzalez said running the organization with friends makes the workload manageable with his UT coursework. And if things go well, he could see a career running Champs of Charity, keeping him connected to soccer, to his Honduran roots and to giving back.

“It’d be an ideal career for me,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”

Have a story idea? Contact Jamie Pilarczyk, Web Writer
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