The Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy Announces the 2012 JFSLA Choose to Matter Contest in Partnership with ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World® and The Century Council

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Girls changing the world one leadership project at a time.   Since 2006 Julie Foudy, the former Captain of the USA Women's Soccer Team, has been teaching girls to be leaders not only on the field, but in life through The Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA). Today, Foudy announced the second annual JFSLA Choose to Matter Contest—empowering young women to confidently choose to make a difference in the lives and communities around them.  

Chat with Julie and Join the Auction!

To kick off the Contest, starting November 7, 2012, Foudy and her daughter Izzy (age 5), will host a series of auctions to raise money for charities, talk about the JFSLA Choose to Matter Contest, and also encourage moms and daughters across the United States to enter the contest by teaming up to do a service project in their communities. The idea for the auctions came directly from Izzy—who saw coverage of the suffering caused by the tsunami in Japan more than a year and a half ago—and recently told her mom she wanted to sell her dolls to help the kids in Japan. In addition to raising money for Japan disaster relief charities, the first auction will also raise money for the American Red Cross and their efforts to help victims of Hurricane Sandy. Read more about Izzy's story and the auction on Julie's blog for espnW.

TheMotherhood.com will host an hour long Twitter party to kick off the first Julie/Izzy auction.  Join the Twitter party using the #FoudyAuction hashtag for a chance to win one of Izzy's dolls, a jersey signed by Abby Wambach, Co-Captain of the USA Women's Soccer Team and two-time Olympic gold medalist; and other prizes. Learn more about joining the event at www.juliefoudyleadership.com.

Mothers and Daughters Choose to Matter

The JFSLA Choose to Matter Contest celebrates young women who are passionate leaders and change makers in their communities and offers five competition categories, including a new category which is open to the public—"The Century Council Mother and Daughter" Category. All mothers and daughters in the United States are invited to create and implement community service leadership projects through December 31, 2012, and submit their projects online from January 1 through January 15, 2013.

Watch Video Messages from Julie about the Contest

Thanks to the generous support from Disney Sports Enterprises and The Century Council, the Grand Prize winners (plus a parent/guardian) will join Julie Foudy on an all-expense-paid trip in May 2013 which will include a 4-day, 3-night stay at the Walt Disney World® All-Star Sports Resort; a 3-day park-hopper pass to the Walt Disney World® Theme Parks; and a role as a youth leader at Special Olympics Florida Games happening at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. 

From February 1 through February 7, 2013, America will help select the finalists by voting on their favorite projects in the five different categories: categories 1-3 are the JFSLA locations (California, Illinois and New Jersey/New York), category 4 is the non-profit Girl Talk category, and category 5 is "The Century Council Mom & Daughter" category.  A panel of celebrity judges including: Julie Foudy, representatives from The Century Council, ESPN Wide World of Sports, espnW and the Women's Sports Foundation will select the five winners in each category.

For more on the 2012 Choose to Matter Contest details, visit www.juliefoudyleadership.com.  Become a fan of the Choose to Matter Contest on JFSLA Facebook. Follow us on Twitter: @juliefoudy and @JFoudySLA and #Choose2Matter.  Special thanks to our 2012 media partners:  espnW and TheMotherhood.com.

Media Contacts:
JFSLA: Jennifer Hwang and Dana Young, [email protected], 415-420-3259, 415-378-7998
The Century Council: Leslie Kimball, [email protected], 202-637-0077
GirlTalk: Jennifer Grizzle, [email protected], 770-409-1152

SOURCE The Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy