Kick It Forward's mini-pitch initiative has now gone national! We welcome D.C. United's Julian Gressel to the pod. Gressel, a top playmaker in the MLS loves to hand out assists and is known throughout the league for his versatility. Gressel came to the United States as a college player, striving to put together an experience that would help him grow as a person and student, as well as an athlete. He landed at Providence College, where the program experienced a strong period of success during his tenure. Gressel also volunteered at Project GOAL, during his time time in Providence in from 2013 to 2017. Participation in Project GOAL is the common theme of this project, as other mentors of the program include Jeff Larentowicz, currently of Atlanta United and formerly of the New England Revolution and Brown University, Rhode Island native and former New England Revolution stud, Michael Parkhurst, plus other current New England Revolution mainstay, Scott Caldwell and newcomer, Damian Rivera. We plan to connect with each of these players over the coming weeks and while all of their stories will be enjoyable, we hope you enjoy hearing about Julian Gressel this week!