The perfectly imperfect team.
It happens when you least expect it.
Katherine Wald
Katherine is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Miami, Florida. She obtained her graduate degree with honors from The University of Pennsylvania, and her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, where she was a Division I swimmer. Katherine has almost 20 years of experience providing therapy to clients with a wide variety of emotional issues.
She was one of the founding members of 1st & Alton, a grass roots Haiti relief organization that was created with friends after the 2010 earthquake. In addition to traveling to Haiti after the earthquake, to help train local people to work with survivors suffering from stress and trauma, Katherine helped fundraise and assembled supplies. To date 1st & Alton has been able to collect individual, community, and corporate donations in excess of $12 million for earthquake survivors.
Since 2010, Katherine has been traveling to regions in Africa that have limited access to psychological resources, and a high rate of gender-based violence (GBV). She focuses her energy on counseling survivors of GBV and training local leaders how to use basic counseling techniques to improve lives. She was particularly drawn to working with women and children who experienced GBV due to her specialization in counseling trauma survivors. When Katherine was informed of the high incidence of rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and HIV throughout these regions in Africa, she knew that her expertise in working with patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) provided her with a unique opportunity to make a real difference in these communities. She primarily works with the Masisukumeni Women’s Crisis Centre (located in the Nkomazi region of Mpumalanga, South Africa), the Ark of Hope Southern Africa (located in Pretoria, South Africa), and in several remote villages in northern Namibia.
She is a certified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist, and certified clinical supervisor with extensive postgraduate training in various therapeutic modalities including experiential therapy such as Psychodrama, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing(EMDR), play and art therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Katherine has been able to utilize this training in working with survivors and to help train and educate local leaders to use basic counseling techniques.
She feels honored to be able to work with such courageous women and children, and to support and empower them to reach their highest potential.
Jeffrie Parrish
Jeff teaches mathematics and coaches soccer at Framingham High school. He has his masters in special education and enjoys working with students from all different backgrounds. Coaching is a passion for Jeff and grew up to believing in providing opportunities; he just wants any child to have the opportunity to play. Jeff obtained his graduate degree from Regis College where he worked as a graduate assistant running service immersion trips for students.
Jeff’s passion for travel grew when Regis honored him as an Erat scholar providing him with the opportunity to go to Kenya for the first time in 2012. Since, he has led several groups of coaches and students back to the country which is how SoccerPlus Outreach started.
In 2014, Jeff met Davis Ouma, who at the time was running a slum soccer league for the kids in the manyatta slum and doing everything he could to provide educational support for his players. This support included providing school supplies, school uniforms, lunch fees and all the other costs associated with schooling at the time. Jeff was able to impact the league through his many connections in the soccer world to get balls, cleats, and uniforms donated to the program. Jeff worked with US Soccer as a kit man for the youth national teams and still works with the New England Revolution as a Player Development coach.
Jeff joined the Inspire Transformation team in 2019 and has been working with Davis to expand the ten team league into ten teams across 5 age groups, including both genders. In addition they have taken the players with the most talent and showcased them in tournaments across Kenya for a chance to earn a scholarship to secondary school. Kisumu Greenland FC is the youth team where players compete in FKF competition for the 5th division (boys) and 4th division (girls). From these competitions alone over twenty players in each 2018 and 2019 were either given scholarships to secondary schools or were signed by teams in the Kenyan Premiere League or Kenyan Super League.
Jeff’s passion for the game of soccer comes from his father who coached him and sponsored many of his friends who were unable to afford club costs. SoccerPlus Camps also evolved Jeff’s mentality as he was exposed for 7 years as a camper and 8 years as a staff member to a culture addicted to celebrating the game. Jeff played both soccer and tennis at Regis College where he was a two year captain (soccer), two time conference champion (tennis) and the Regis-Casserly award winner which recognizes excellence in academics, athletics, leadership, and service. Jeff currently plays in the Over the Hill Soccer league for Irish Village out of Brighton.
Sarah Kate Noftsinger
"Skate" is a woman of many accomplishments. Among a wide range of endeavors, she has played professional soccer, explored wilderness camping for an extended time, founded two non-profits, and suffered a career-ending neck injury, to mention a few events. She is currently the Director of Marketing and Fan Engagement for Atlanta United of Major League Soccer (MLS). She began her role in November 2015 and leads initiatives and strategic planning for marketing, brand development, fan engagement, events, and more. She serves on the Brand Council for Arthur Blank's Family of Businesses, which includes the Atlanta Falcons (NFL), Mercedes-Benz Stadium, PGA Tour Superstores, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch, and Atlanta United.
Prior to joining Atlanta United, Noftsinger served as the Commissioner for the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) for six years where she grew the league to include 79 ECNL member clubs across the country and more than 10,000 players. It is the nation’s top soccer league for young women and is a breeding ground for the U.S. Women's National Team. Skate engages her amazing drive and unquenchable optimism as she leads the player development of more than 8,000 soccer players. She is a passionate motivating force in today's soccer world. Skate has faced cancer and broken her neck, although to use the word survivor in connection with her would be a great disservice to this strong, positive and dedicated woman. She embraces the vivid texture of life. Skate's entrepreneurial and philanthropic work has been featured on the front page of the New York Times, ESPN, and more. She has also coached prolifically at the highest level of women’s soccer, including as the Developmental Assistant Coach for the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team in the 2006 World Cup and as the Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach at Stanford University. She was an all-American midfielder at Wake Forest University before being the first female student-athlete to be drafted by a professional sports team, as the #22 overall pick by the Washington Freedom in 2002. Her on-field and off field success are summed up as she is currently endorsed by Gatorade’s Play it Forward campaign.
Skate lives by the philosophy captured in Les Brown's famous quote "Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars."
Ruth Riley
From a distance, her 6’5” stature is undoubtedly the most striking characteristic Ruth Riley has. Encouraged to see life beyond her economic means, she developed a quest for knowledge that led her to graduate with honors from the University of Notre Dame and eventually be inducted into the NCAA Academic All-American Hall of Fame. Ruth completed her MBA at Notre Dame in 2016 and is currently the general manager of the WNBA team, the San Antonio Stars.
More than Ruth’s natural born talent, the combination of her height and her very determined work ethic has enabled her to achieve a unique level of success in basketball. Beyond being the first female to be named Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Final Four (2001) and the WNBA Finals (2003), she has won championships at the collegiate and professional levels, (NCAA Champion 2001: WNBA Finals 2003 and 2006). In addition, Ruth is an Olympic Gold Medalist (Athens 2004). Whether it was leading her college team to its first NCAA title or holding a leadership role as the vice-president of the WNBA player’s union for the last eight years, Ruth Riley is a visionary by nature.
As one moves beyond the accolades and inspects Ruth’s life more closely, they will see an endless passion to make a meaningful contribution in this world. She has a unique global perspective that she was fortunate enough to obtain from her experience playing basketball in Europe and Asia and from working as a humanitarian spokesperson throughout Africa. Ruth’s gratitude for those who have helped her in her life’s journey has propelled Ruth to use her platform to help others overcome the obstacles in their life and accomplish things beyond their means, with a particular focus on women and children in the realm of global health and education. Whether it is working as a national spokesperson with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, with Inspire Transformation, or with the NBA as a global ambassador, Ruth has seen how her humble beginnings and athletic and academic success have allowed her to effectively partner with corporations and NGO’s to make progressive and sustainable change.