The Legacy of Negus Kloehn

Our organization was born out of the dream of Negus Kloehn, a young Ethiopian boy who was adopted into the U.S. and fell in love with soccer. Before his untimely passing in 2020, at the age of fourteen, Negus envisioned giving children in Africa access to proper soccer equipment, so they wouldn’t have to chase after balls but could instead focus on enjoying the game.

Negus' dream lives on in our mission, and through your support, we can fulfill his promise to bring hope, joy, and confidence to children across the continent. Soccer is more than just a game for these children—it is a pathway to building life skills, fostering teamwork, and overcoming the harsh realities they face daily.

His goal was to become a professional soccer player and give back to Africa so kids could have hope for a better future.

This excerpt is from a paper Negus wrote for school.

“I want to become famous and play soccer to send some soccer nets to Africa so they can put the nets on the goals and play more soccer- so if they shoot on the goal the ball won’t go through the goal, and they don’t have to chase after the ball." Negus Kloehn