DC United's Andy Najar Announced as love.futbol Pro Ambassador

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Mar 02, 2011, 08:30 ET

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- love.futbol, a 501 (c)(3) social-profit organization that empowers underserved communities to build simple soccer fields where at-risk youth have no safe place to play, announced that Andy Najar, D.C. United midfielder and 2010 Major League Soccer (MLS) Rookie of the Year, is set to become the Pro Ambassador of its Honduras expansion.

Najar, 17, who was born in Honduras before moving to Alexandria, VA when he was 13, is considered to be one of the brightest young stars in MLS. Najar sees the opportunity with love.futbol as a chance to give back to his native Honduras.

"For me, it is an honor to give back to Honduras," says Najar. "God has blessed me and my family with a wonderful life here in the United States, and I hope to do my part to give back and hopefully one day allow other Hondurans to succeed in soccer and other parts of life."

Najar went on to explain his connection with love.futbol, and how his own life experience fit with love.futbol's mission.

"I have met the people of love.futbol ... and am proud to be a part of their work. In the United States we are lucky to have the opportunity to help people in other countries and for me this was a perfect chance to work with people to combine the things I love the most - soccer and my two countries, Honduras and the United States. In this case, the United States has the opportunity to help the children of Honduras to fulfill their dreams, much as I am being allowed to do right now. I remember my days playing on fields covered with garbage and now I am playing in the most beautiful stadiums. I thank God every day for these opportunities and hope He blesses this project."

With plans to expand to Honduras and Brazil by 2012, and to complete over 120 projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean by 2015, love.futbol is excited about the opportunity to partner with Najar to bring greater awareness to its mission.

"At love.futbol, we seek natural soccer leaders, both on and off the field, to participate in our mission," said Drew Chafetz, co-founder and CEO of love.futbol. "As a Pro Ambassador to love.futbol, Andy exemplifies this moral ethic and, coming from the type of community that we target, is a symbol of the power of the game to youth around the world. We could not be more proud of this partnership with Andy and for the opportunity to work together to provide the youth of Honduras and beyond a safe place to play the Beautiful Game."

love.futbol is a 501(c)(3) social-profit organization that empowers underserved communities to build simple soccer fields where at-risk youth have no safe place to play. Since 2006, love.futbol has catalyzed community-driven soccer field projects throughout Guatemala, where thousands of youth now play.

http://www.lovefutbol.org