Kimberley Crabbe

I am the first African American female to play on the U.S. Women's national soccer team - the Jackie Robinson of women's soccer. I grew up in Reston, Virginia, a planned community, and graduated from South Lakes High School in 1984. I attended George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia from 1984 to 1987, where I studied social work, though I did not finish there. I have been working in grassroots youth soccer for approximately 20 years. I've been with my nonprofit company for 4 years, and prior to that I was with soccer clubs under the umbrella of a soccer club here in Wilmington. I watched the sport evolve and saw that it is very much a pay-to-play sport, and I know that a lot of kids are excluded due to that component. I wanted kids to be able to experience the game and not have to worry about different entities that were going to possibly exclude them. That's why I got into the grassroots sector - I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. I've been asked to coach collegiately, at high school levels, at very elite levels, but I just feel like this is where my calling is. I have a board and volunteers who are very dedicated to the cause and understand the assignment. I've been inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame, the United Black Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame, and the Virginia Soccer Hall of Fame. But none of these supersede what I do here in the community with the youth impacting lives - that one's the priceless one. Right now I'm a substitute at an all-girls school, and my nonprofit is working to secure grants and raise money to continue our mission.