Featured PureGame Player: Interim CEO Jake Tirabassi

My experience with the game of soccer growing up in England was fun with a minimal amount of structure or adult intervention. I remember the joy of playing with friends anytime we could get on the field. (Tony Everett)

This liberating atmosphere resulted in a relationship with soccer and teammates that taught me transferable skills and values and helped me establish friends for life.

Between 2004 and 2009, I was lucky enough to travel to Nigeria, Brazil, and Rwanda. During these trips, soccer was the focal point of my activities with youth, and despite the children’s often-difficult background, this beautiful game bought joy and happiness.

Seeing how children were so open to learning about life while playing soccer made a real impact on me, but it was back in California when I understood where this was all going.

The PureGame vision of bringing hope to those who need it most was born out of my compassion for the children I had met on my travels. Realizing I could use my passion for soccer to help change the lives of the world’s at-risk youth was a miraculous discovery. At the same time, I realized the Pure Game model could be used to teach kids how to break free from their limiting circumstances and current mindsets.

I now lead a team of like-minded individuals who have a passion for creating change in the lives of children. Pure Game couples a cooperative form of soccer with positive character development in an overall attempt to influence the development of its participants’ physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.

The simple, yet effective system allows children to understand who they are through a series of experiential learning moments that help kids explore their gifts and talents. For the child, this creates a better understanding of their passion and purpose in life.

This connection with soccer, kids, and behavioral change feeds into my belief that we are all here for a purpose, that we have the gifts to fulfill that purpose, and that with a positive champion, children can start on their purpose pathway early on in life.