At 28, Kelsey Sullivan is fearless and determined, but she always has a twinkle in her eye. After graduating from Dunn School in Los Olivos, she traveled to Ghana to volunteer for the Right to Dream Academy, a school for talented West African soccer players. There she met 11 boys from Sierra Leone who had been sponsored by the Craig Bellamy Foundation (CBF), a similar program started by the Welsh soccer player.
Athletic and good-natured, Sullivan was a good fit. As a child in Wyoming, her first love was dogsledding, but she’s also boxed, danced, run track, and, of course, played soccer. She was especially drawn to the Sierra Leonean kids, who were “honest, direct, and a little bit cheeky … like me.” Today, she is the primary sponsor, advocate, and den mother to 14 Sierra Leonean boys who are living, playing soccer, and attending high school in the Santa Barbara area.
“We look at maybe 4,000 kids in Sierra Leone and ultimately whittle it down to 16,” she said. “For those who are chosen, it’s huge.” The players get room and board, running water, electricity, the only grass field in the country other than the national stadium, and five-year scholarships. “We start to see who the stand-out leaders are and who has really strong character,” said Sullivan, “and these might be chosen to come here to California.”