contracted to Gold Coast to the eend of 2017 and is in Me

There was no clock in the old Catholic church, but Paola Kuri was so focused on the time she could hear the ticktock, ticktock ringing in her ears. It was a First Holy Communion like many she had attended as a little girl in Mexico City, and as usual, she was in another flower-printed dress that she couldnt wait to take off.As soon as the ceremony was over, Kuri bolted for the car. The boys might pick teams and leave her out if she didnt get to the soccer field fast enough. So, she slid on her jeans, next to her soccer jersey and tennis shoes in the backseat, and told her dad to step on the gas.It was like changing into my superhero outfit, Kuri says. When I got onto the soccer field, that was my world.The founder of?Fut sin Género (Soccer without Gender), an initiative to promote womens soccer in Mexico, Kuris obsession with the sport began as a three year old, kicking a ball in her parents backyard until the sun went down. A skinny girl with a thicket of blondish-brown hair that she stuffed into a baseball cap to look tough enough for the boys to let her play, she was a natural. Before the age of 10, she had earned a place as one of the best players in the neighborhood -- the only girl on the field.Kuris passion for soccer developed alongside a commitment to art. Before completing a communications degree from Ibero-American University, where she played soccer on an all-female team, she moved abroad to Italy to earn an MFA at Florence University of the Arts. In 2013, she and her brother Rubén co-founded Ethos Arte, an art fair that annually showcases more than 500 pieces from 60 emerging Mexican artists at the Expo Santa Fe.Around that time, Kuri also began contributing articles to a blog dedicated to womens soccer, Ellas Tambíen Saben?(They Also Know). Hoping to marry her love of art and sport, she interviewed 50 different people about what soccer means to them and posted the answers up alongside pictures of her body painted while wearing her soccer gear. Within hours, the post, #YoSoyFutbol (#IAmSoccer), was shared by notable figures in Mexico, including former national team soccer player Luis García and former first lady Margarita Zavala.I chose not to reveal the gender of any of the people, Kuri says. It was an important way of saying: It doesnt matter whether you are a man or a woman, soccer belongs to all of us, and we all love it for the same reasons.Kuris social media presence ballooned overnight. After receiving calls from newspapers and messages from people interested in discussing her project, she registered Fut sin Género and began work on campaigns promoting the sport.What weve done with Fut sin Género is hit the red button to start the conversation about womens soccer, Kuri says. We have a big task ahead of us -- we need to make a statement that will touch the whole country.For the past year, that statement was clear: Play a role in launching the first professional womens soccer league in Mexicos history.***Before Kuri arrived in the United States as a participant in the 2016 U.S. Department of State and espnW Global Sports Mentoring Program, the potential for a professional womens soccer league seemed likelier than ever.In May 2015, the Mexican Football Federation launched La Liga Nacional Femenil, the countrys first national womens amateur league. The inaugural season began with 158 teams from 19 states in two age categories: under-13 and under-16.There were 3,000 girls every week playing football, says Lucia Mijares Martinez, technical director of development for the federation.The second season would create an even wider impact, according to Martinez, with three age categories (under-13, under-15, under-17), at least five more states and a 25 percent growth in teams.Our objective (at the federation) is to motivate, engage and inspire girls in Mexico through football, Martinez says, We want to build a competitive league, train coaches and generate a platform for future womens football heroes.As Kuri returned from Los Angeles, where she spent three weeks in October and November being mentored by Joan Coraggio, group director for sponsorship and experiential marketing at Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, the pieces for a professional league to follow the amateur league began falling into place.Then, the official announcement came on Dec. 5. The federation would launch Liga MX Femenil, a professional womens league consisting of 18 teams, for the spring of 2017.The announcement was the culmination of years of hard work by women like Kuri, Mijares Martinez and many others, including fellow GSMP alumna Cecilia Vales, who founded a nongovernmental organization, She Wins Mexico. From grassroots programs to reach girls in underserved areas of Mexico (Vales), to advocating for womens soccer from within the federation (Martinez), to rallying supporters and pushing the message of gender equality to thousands through social media (Kuri), women came together to claim a space on the field for themselves and many more to come after them.But the fact that one of her lifes greatest ambitions was fulfilled earlier this month has not slowed Kuri down.This is just the first step, Kuri says. We still face challenges: the mindset of machismo and making womens soccer popular across Mexico. But weve opened a path to get there.With the same hardworking mindset, Kuri continues striving to get girls playing soccer. In recent months, she has partnered with prominent professional European soccer clubs to support the development of girls soccer academies throughout Mexico City. Kuri and her Ethos team are also at work recovering spaces in marginalized communities, painting the fields, restoring the grass, and partnering with shoe company Puma to provide balls and cleats for girls to play.Her brother, Rubén, has had the benefit of seeing Kuris passion from the time they were kids to now as co-founders of Ethos. He remembers when the cousins would get together to play soccer and Paola was the automatic choice for team captain. He also remembers the frustration he felt when his sister would leave the house dressed like a boy, thinking it wasnt fair that she had to become someone else just so she could play.I would try to make it better by telling her to at least wear some dresses and heels when she wasnt going to play, he says. And shed tell me, No, lets go to Puma or Adidas! To this day, we may have an important meeting, and well pass by a sports store, and Ill tell her, Dont even think about it! Its our little joke.As with his older sister, the success of Fut sin Género also caught Rubén by surprise. With messages of support and invitations to lead girls clinics coming in for Kuri from Monterey, Guadalajara, Tijuana and Queretaro, she has had to step back from some of her responsibilities in the art world. But, Rubén is happy to support his sister in her other life as an advocate.I believe you are born with a gift, and this is definitely Paolas gift, he says.The gift extends from the soccer field to the internet, where Kuri manages Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts with tens of thousands of followers. In every post, she seems to share the same message that she did in the #IAmSoccer blog post more than a year ago: Soccer belongs to everyone.The future of womens soccer in Mexico is not cemented despite the establishment of the womens league. Knowing that, Kuri was led through a mental exercise by her mentor, Coraggio, before leaving Los Angeles last month. In it, Coraggio challenged her motivations for wanting a professional league for women. It was an important part of the younger woman realizing the fire that drives her comes from somewhere deeper than just making history.We are challenging ideologies that soccer is only for men, Kuri says. We are making a statement for gender equality. For me, that matters more than anything.Brian Canever is the digital content manager for the Center for Sport, Peace, & Society at the University of Tennessee and works closely with the GSMP participants. Custom Terry Sawchuk Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Custom Red Wings T-shirts . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. 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Gold Coast captain-in-waiting Tom Lynch says Geelong should stop dreaming about bringing back Gary Ablett.Abletts future has been a point of speculation since he re-injured his left shoulder two weeks ago, with Geelong coach Chris Scott still hoping the dual Brownlow medallist might return to the Cats.Im probably like most Geelong supporters on this one. Ive always held on to the pipe dream that he might come back one day, Scott told Footy Classified on Monday night.Lynch, expected to succeed Ablett as the Suns full-time skipper next season, is adamant the two-time Geelong premiership player is staying put on the Gold Coast.Gaz isnt going anywhere. Im very confident hell be here next year, Lynch told reporters on Tuesday.Former North Melbourne star David King has led calls for the Suns to consider trading Ablett to clear room so they can fit off-contract stars Dion Prestia and Jaeger OMeara into the salary cap.Ablett, 32, is contracted to Gold Coast to the eend of 2017 and is in Melbourne seeking different medical opinions on his troublesome shoulder ahead of another round of surgery.ddddddddddddHe wont play again this year but is not expected to have any lingering effects from the injury by the time pre-season rolls around.The Suns lost Ablett, Prestia and Michael Rischitelli to serious injuries in their win over Brisbane but were they were blown away by the Western Bulldogs on Saturday in the midfield trios absence.Lynch believes it will only take a few tweaks for Gold Coast to return to winning form when they host Fremantle at Metricon Stadium this weekend.Theyll be tough. We have full faith in the midfield and the guys we pick on the weekend, he said.Weve tidied up a few things and were fully confident if we come out with the right intensity and effort, well get the four points. ' ' '