Decatur, GA — Students from the Global Village Project welcomed some special visitors to Decatur on Thursday, April 4. The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team visited the students and school Thursday afternoon.

The USWNT visited Decatur ahead of their games in Atlanta this weekend. The team is hosting and playing the She Believes Cup, which features the U.S. Women, Brazil, Canada, and Japan. The U.S. faces Japan on Saturday, April 6, at 12:30 p.m., and Brazil will play against Canada at 3:30 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The team spoke with the students, played a game with them, and handed out cleats, jerseys, and other equipment. Students also gave the players a tour of their school at the Decatur Presbyterian Church and then hung out with them at the Decatur Recreation Center.

“Welcome to our school. Welcome to Decatur. Welcome to Georgia and welcome to our home,” Crispin Ilombe Wilondja told the players. Wilondja is the student and family engagement manager for GVP. Global Village Project was founded in 2009 as a school dedicated to meeting the needs of refugee girls in middle school and preparing them for high school.

“It is a school that welcomes only refugee girls that come to this country who have missed several years of education due to war…so they come to this country, and we welcome them and give them the foundation to be successful in their lives,” Wilondja said.

He added that the USWNT visit helped give a voice to the students and let them know that “through soccer, things can change.”

Defender Naomi Girma shared some of her family’s story with the Global Village Project students. Her father was a refugee. He fled from Ethiopia to Sudan and came to the U.S. when he was 19.

“He came here and didn’t speak English and hadn’t graduated from high school,” Girma said. “He had to work really hard to get a high school diploma, and he ended up going to college to become an electrical engineer.”

Girma’s mother also left Ethiopia in her early 20s and came to the U.S. to further her education.

“I think growing up here [and] knowing all their sacrifices, I learned and understood how amazing of an opportunity it is to come to the U.S. and how much education can better your life. It can be really rewarding, but [we know] how hard it can be. We just want to say how proud we are of all of you and the amazing work you are doing,” Girma told the GVP students and staff.

She added that the team was honored to visit the school and know that the students will attend the USWNT game in Atlanta on Saturday.

“One of the most special parts of playing for the U.S. National Team is being able to represent everyone of all backgrounds and just know that when we’re out there, we’re playing for all of you. We feel your cheers and belief, so we thank you for all of that,” Girma said.

USWNT Director of Communications Aaron Heifetz shared that forward Catarina Macario came to the U.S. from Brazil when she was 12.

“[She] spoke no English, her parents did not speak English, and she learned it in about a year and a half. [She] went to Stanford University, and now she’s on the national team,” Heifetz said.

The gym at the Decatur Recreation Center was filled with excitement, smiles, laughter, and cheers as the students met the players and picked out new cleats. Some players, like forward Alex Morgan, helped the girls choose cleats and ensure they fit.

Wilondja told Decaturish that some of the students play soccer. He hoped that meeting talented women soccer players may inspire his students to dream bigger.

“Today [April 4], having this opportunity to meet with these women and the team for the girls to see girls like them who have [made] it to this level, that is very inspiring,” Wilondja said. “These are people we see play on TV and now meeting them in person, shaking their hands, it’s a lifetime opportunity.”

He also wanted the students to learn that it’s possible to “be successful through soccer. It’s possible to be successful when you are open to other people,” Wilondja said.

GVP works with Soccer in the Streets to provide school-based programming at the recreation center during the school day. The program combines a social-emotional learning-focused curriculum with soccer.

“Once a week, we’re out here with students from GVP in the gym [at the recreation center] and we have an SEL word of the month,” said Elijah Miranda, executive director of Soccer in the Streets. “They’re here with us for about an hour. We do the drills. We do an opening circle where we talk about the word of the month.”

The word of the month for April is resilience. Miranda added that seeing the U.S. Women’s National Team was amazing.

“It was a surreal experience to think about us being able to collaborate with U.S. Soccer, with Global Village Project to bring experiences like this to this group,” Miranda said. “You think about maybe where some of these young ladies were five years ago, it’s probably a very surreal experience for them, and it’s a very surreal experience for us. This is why we do this work.”

A couple of USWNT players told Decaturish that it’s important for them to give back and make connections in the metro Atlanta community.

“I think just showing up for these girls goes a long way and can inspire them and show them that it doesn’t matter where they come from or what they look like, they can have dreams and goals and those can come true. We try to be role models in any way that we can,” forward Sophia Smith told Decaturish.

She added that while U.S. Soccer is in Georgia, it’s important for the team to give back, connect and try to make the state their home away from home.

U.S. Soccer announced in December that a new National Training Center for the federation will be located in Trilith in Fayette County, covering over 200 acres of land.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher agreed and said it’s exciting for the team to give back.

“The fact that U.S. Soccer is now coming permanently to Atlanta, our first game is this Saturday, but long term now U.S. Soccer will be here all the time, so I think making those connections and partnerships go a long way,” Naeher said.

Want Decaturish delivered to your inbox every day? Sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.

If you appreciate our work on this story, please become a paying supporter. For as little as $10 a month, you can help us keep you in the loop about your community.