From Paraguay

There Is No Dream Too Big

Meet Juan and Ivan,

Two inspiring young men brought together by sport.

Ivan, a young leader from a small town in Nueva Italia, Paraguay, had a vision of starting his own soccer school. After passing many children playing football in the streets, he wondered the impact he could have by starting a team of his own. In December of 2017, Ivan took the leap and launched a soccer school on his own ranch called Canaán Fut.

With just just 9 kids involved, he began the soccer school on the land of his own ranch. He was continually laughed at by neighbours in the community who couldn’t understand why he would pursue this dream. It was hard for them to see Ivan’s vision. Despite the opinions of many outsiders, he was determined not to give up. Canaán Fut continued to grow and he finished the year with over 70 kids regularly attending the soccer school.

The soccer school became so big that there was no longer enough space on the ranch. Thankfully, a club in the community opened up its doors to Ivan and Canaán Fut. From there, Canaán entered the LigaDeporvida to compete against other soccer clubs across Paraguay.

With 130 kids registered in 5 different age groups, Canaán captured there first U17 Championship at the end of 2019. A boy named Juan, who was a part of the championship team, was greatly impacted by Ivan’s leadership and the love he had for his players. Ivan saw so much potential in Juan and started to invest in him to train him as leader. Juan now desires to give back to his community in the same way that Ivan’s life had an impact on his own. Now working alongside one another, they continue to impact their community by giving kids a place to belong and providing greater opportunities through sport.

Stories like this continue to remind us of why we do what we do. We are grateful to work alongside organizations like Deporvida and Jesús Responde to further the impact of fostering life changing opportunities.