Written by Admin | Mar 5, 2021 6:00:00 AM
Schiller DuCanto & Fleck is pleased to announce that PartnerEvan Whitfieldhas teamed up with the international charity Common Goal, a player-led social movement in global soccer. Evan led the Common Goal coalition in the USA, bringing together professional soccer clubs from three major leagues in North America, the U.S. National Team Supporters Group American Outlaws, and other professional athletes to launch theAnti-Racist Project.This new program is designed to generate action and end racism in soccer across all levels from the players and fans up to the coaches and team owners.An Olympian and former professional for the Chicago Fire FC, Evan was heavily quoted inThe New York Times,Forbesand several other high profile media outlets sharing his views on the need for “a call to action” for leagues and fans to make a collective societal change to end racism in soccer.Quoted in Forbes, Evan points out: "There are no Black majority owners of MLS Clubs, there are zero Black coaches in the NWSL. This needs to change, and the responsibility to make that change lies with everyone – not just people of color. We have a solution that can transform the system from top down and bottom up.”He goes on to say, "I’m proud that my former club, Chicago Fire, is one of the pioneers of this project and I’m looking forward to more players, clubs and other soccer leaders joining us."Evan shares a personal story in which he tells how fortunate he feels that his first soccer coach was an immigrant from Johannesburg, South Africa. “Here I was in Arizona, surrounded by people who didn’t look like me, and I had a coach who was exactly like me. That was such an empowering thing for a five-year-old soccer player," he says. Evan wants other young players to experience a similar situation without worrying about the added pressure to over perform in order to feel like they are getting the same opportunities as their white teammates.In 2020, Evan and several other standouts in the soccer industry came together to create a new organization called the Soccer Collective on Racial Equity (SCORE) in an effort to bring about change in the U.S. soccer landscape. Passionate about educating others on racial injustices in the soccer community, Evan was a featured speaker at the recentSoccerex Connectedvirtual conference where he discussed what inequality in soccer actually looks like and what steps others can take to level the playing field.The Anti-Racist initiative will engage with more than 400 communities around the United States through the educational anti-racism tool kit developed in partnership with theSanneh Foundation. The goal is to move past the anti-racism protests and demonstrations and establish true measurable change. The coalition invites leagues, teams, players and fans to join the fight against racism.Evan brings a 21st century touch to family law. As a former elite athlete having competed on a world stage, he brings the same tenacity, discipline and commitment to his family law practice. His unique perspective and diverse leadership experiences on the field have translated to courtroom success. He connects with his clients and collaborates with them to bring about the best possible result for their cases. Evan makes the complex understandable, builds trust quickly and shepherds his clients through difficult terrain with ease.Our firm’s family law attorneys understand the value of “team” and we help sports professionals by drawing upon years of individual and collective experience. To learn more about our sports and entertainment family law practice, visithere.