Our Stories

Mentorship and Milestones: How UPPER90 Helps Underserved Children Score Life Goals

Through UPPER90’s outreach, underserved children are scoring goals in soccer and in life! 

“Upper 90 is a soccer term. It’s the best but the hardest goal that you can score in the game of soccer,” UPPER90 Founder and CEO Jorge Vallejo shared. “We use the platform of soccer to partner with families and children growing up in vulnerable communities and help them score the greatest goals in life.”

UPPER90’s model combines soccer with mentorship to encourage winning on and off the field. 

“We create mentoring programs inside or in proximity to vulnerable communities to provide mentors to underserved youth that will help them win not just on the soccer field but in life,” Jorge said.

“When the children we serve graduate from high school and they’re the first ones in their family to accomplish that goal, that’s an UPPER90 goal. When our families come to know that God loves them and has a plan for their lives, we celebrate that.”

UPPER90’s commitment to underserved families in Gwinnett County has resulted in countless success stories. One in particular sticks out to Jorge.

After playing on UPPER90 teams for years, one teen named Alan reached a huge milestone and, with UPPER90’s help, is working hard to reach another.

“He was the first one in his family to graduate from high school,” Jorge said. “He went from being a player to also helping us coach the younger team. He actually coached his siblings, and he’s about to graduate from a welding program.

“We provided a scholarship for him to go to school, and we want to see more people like him [come through our program].”

In 2019, UPPER90 partnered with the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia to expand its connections in the community and build a reliable source of funds. 

“We wanted to find ways to connect more in Gwinnett County, and the Community Foundation has been a great partner to allow us to do that,” he shared. “The Nonprofit [and Leadership] Academy and the many things that Community Foundation does has been of great value to our team.”

One important way UPPER90 has benefitted from the Community Foundation is through its fund. In 2020, UPPER90 and many other businesses and nonprofits in Georgia recognized how important planning for the future could be.

“We are always thinking about sustainability long term. One step for us was having funds in reserves and being put to work in the market,” he explained. “God has blessed us with some great years with fundraising, and we’ve had some more difficult years. We want to be prepared so that if a difficult year comes, our mission can continue and we can continue to serve during a challenging year.” 

Their fund also allows them to connect with donors and nonprofits across Gwinnett County. 

“If someone is committed to Gwinnett County, being connected with the Community Foundation will connect you with other people of the same mind,” he said.

“The Community Foundation allowed me to connect with other nonprofits and hear their visions and missions and create partnerships.”

As UPPER90 continues to grow, Jorge is looking for meaningful ways to impact the community. 

“For the last four years, we have been intentionally looking for ways that we can create safe spaces for children to play, have fun and develop,” he said. “In Gwinnett County, we have built two mini fields, and this was an investment of about $140,000.”

Jorge is grateful to Atlanta United and many generous donors — including ones connected with the Community Foundation — who helped raise close to $140,000 and make the mini fields possible. 

“Mentorship is sometimes difficult to measure, but we’re grateful that we’ve been able to build actual, tangible spaces that we get to see every week how it’s being used for kids,” he said.

Through these fields and UPPER90’s mentorship opportunities, Jorge hopes to see more change throughout the Gwinnett area.

 “We want to see soccer bring about community that leads to transformation,” Jorge said.
Support UPPER90’s community transformation by donating to its fund!