We're proud of our community.
The stories we received were inspiring, heartfelt, and deeply personal. They spoke of resilience, family, and community, and reminded us how the game has the power to bring people together through life’s biggest challenges and greatest moments.
Reading every submission was a privilege, and selecting our winners was one of the most meaningful things we’ve done as a company.
Congratulations to Deanna, Luke, and Denise. Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your journey, and thank you to everyone who shared their story with us.
The stories that inspired it all.
Denise’s Story
Meeting Denise is an unforgettable experience. A former medic in the U.S. Air Force, she has spent her life living by the military’s core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do. She now works every day to pass these values onto her son.
Living with stage 4 metastatic cancer, Denise entered with one heartfelt wish: to create a beautiful, lasting memory with her son. Her strength, grace, and unwavering devotion to raising an extraordinary young man touched all of us, and we are honored to help make that special moment possible.
Luke’s Story
After a difficult soccer game in which another child did not understand the disability affecting his right arm, Luke turned a painful experience into a powerful mission. He created A Lasting Mark, a foundation supporting children with Linear Scleroderma by funding research and helping families attend conferences where they can meet doctors and connect with others facing the same disease.
Luke’s courage and determination show how one challenging moment can become the beginning of meaningful change.
Deanna’s Story
For Deanna, soccer has never been just a game—it has been the foundation of her life. The sport taught her resilience from an early age, and when an injury in high school forced her to let go of her Division I dreams, she refused to let it define her. Instead, she found new ways to stay connected to the game that had already given her lifelong friendships, scholarships, a career, and eventually her husband.
Now, as she faces cancer, Deanna continues to lean on the lessons soccer has instilled in her. She shows up every day believing that the reward is waiting on the other side of the hardest moments, and she pours that same mindset into the young athletes she coaches at SUSA Academy.
Every goal has a story.
Behind every World Cup experience was a story worth telling. These conversations bring together our Park-it leadership team and the incredible winners to share the challenges they’ve overcome, the joy they found along the way, and the unforgettable memories created through Goals for Good.
The Pickup Game
From World Cup fever to grassroots impact, Joe Cogan, the driving force behind Park It’s Goals for Good initiative, sits down with J.C. to discuss how the campaign began, the powerful stories it uncovered, and what soccer truly means to neighborhoods and communities across New York City.
The Pitch Grid
Football is about more than what happens on the field. Park-it’s COO, Derek Messulam, and youth soccer coach Deanna Giordano join The Pitch Grid to discuss Goals for Good, football’s impact on local communities, and Deanna’s inspiring journey as a coach while battling cancer.
Coaching Soccer Weekly
From World Cup excitement to real community impact, Park-it’s Joe Cogan joins Matt and Fed to share how the idea for the Goals for Good World Cup ticket giveaway came to life. They also hear from winner Luke Medolla, who shares how living with Linear Scleroderma inspired him to create A Lasting Mark, an organization dedicated to helping children with the disease.
PhiloSoccer
Park-it’s Derek Messulam joined fellow Liverpudlian Daniel Carroll for a conversation about social impact and Park-it’s initiative built around soccer, community, and the World Cup. Together, they discuss why Goals for Good is only the beginning and how the sport continues to bring neighborhoods together across New York City and beyond.
A match day to remember.
