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Envoys Score with Moroccan Youth

ECA Sports Envoys Lorrie Fair and Jay Miller celebratte with campers and the Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sport

American soccer star, Lorrie Fair, and renowned coach, Jay Miller, led four days of soccer clinics for 60 girls and boys from March 31 to April 4, 2008, in Bouznika, Morocco. Organized under the auspices of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' (ECA) SportsUnited Program, the program focused on participants aged 14 to 17 from widespread locations, including Taroudant, Khenifra, Ouarzazate, Oujda, Zagora and Meknes. During the program, the participating girls and boys learned about soccer through workshops and supervised practice. Even more importantly, they learned about citizenship, good health practices and sportsmanship. In the process they gained a new and positive image of the United States. Minister of Youth and Sports Nawal El Moutawakel, the first woman from the African continent to earn an Olympic medal, attended the program’s opening ceremony.

ECA, in partnership with U.S. Soccer, selected the Sports Envoys, Lorrie and Jay, who volunteered their time to coach the participants. Lorrie Fair is the first American to join the top-ranked London-based Chelsea Ladies Football Club, which is currently in the Women’s Premier League. Jay Miller is Executive Director of Coaching for the Atlanta Fire United Soccer Association, a club with over 4,000 members. He also serves as Head Coach of the Region III Boys Olympic Development Program. Both have a long-standing commitment to working with youth to bolster life skills through sports.

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