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Bryan Aviles works with the Verde Leaders arm of Austin FC’s 4ATX Foundation.
AUSTIN, Texas – A young Austin community leader has been honored for his work by a major organization.
At Thursday’s ESPY Awards, Bryan Aviles was named a regional recipient of the award Billie Jean King Sports Leadership Award for his work with the Verde Leaders arm of Austin FC’s 4ATX Foundation. According to the Billie Jean King Foundation, the award honors young people who “use the power of sports as a catalyst for change and making a positive impact on society.”
4ATX Foundation said Aviles ran into the Verde Leaders while he was playing soccer at the 4ATX Wooldridge mini-fields in 2021. After graduating high school, he asked to get involved.
Since then, 4ATX said Aviles has become an assistant coach at both Burnet Middle School and the Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy sites, “where he is bringing his experience and perspective shared with students from similar backgrounds “.
Aviles told KVUE that growing up, he struggled to find safe places to play football. Now he’s helping the next generation get the resources they didn’t have.
“Being able to teach these kids leadership skills, our values, which are like, authenticity and inclusiveness. You know, things that bind us together,” he said. “And I’ve seen that just in a lot of the schools that I run — maybe sixth-graders or seventh-graders who, at first, are really shy and don’t know how to express themselves, I’ve just seen them, you know, blossom into great leaders.”
Aviles also said that when it comes to receiving this award, he simply appreciates the first one.
“I was super excited. I mean, I wasn’t super excited just like about the award, but just because I was being noticed for my work,” he said. “Because I know I’m doing great things here and … overall, (it) just makes me feel really proud of myself.”
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