{"id":10658,"date":"2026-04-13T18:19:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=10658"},"modified":"2026-04-13T18:19:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:19:52","slug":"college-student-builds-platform-to-guide-aspiring-pro-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=10658","title":{"rendered":"College Student Builds Platform to Guide Aspiring Pro Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Brando Babini is a 21-year-old student at Brown University and the founder of Youth 4 Youth FC<\/a>, a player-led soccer development platform run by active college and professional players that provides training, mentorship, and recruiting support to nearly 1,000 athletes. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a club,\u201d Babini told Entrepreneur. \u201c<\/em>Youth 4 Youth was built by players who are currently living the journey. We\u2019re taking the doors we\u2019ve walked through and holding them open for the next generation.\u201d Here\u2019s how Babini went about starting the business, and where he plans to bring it.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to create it?<\/strong>
I grew up playing at several academies in New York and always dreamed of going pro. Around 16, I realized that path wasn\u2019t going to happen for me. Watching close friends begin their professional careers made me reflect on what my journey was missing. That led to my \u201caha moment\u201d \u2014 most young players lack access to mentors who are actively living the path, and having those voices in your corner can completely change development.<\/p>\n

Please tell us one \u201choly @#$!\u201d moment about running your business.<\/strong>
Starting the business at 16 with no credentials or coaching license meant constantly pushing against the status quo of youth soccer. Early on, I DM\u2019d 250 parents and only one responded \u2013 but that taught me everything about momentum and belief.\u00a0 People don\u2019t take you seriously until they do.\u00a0When Nike reached out after seeing our content, I thought it was a prank at first. That\u2019s when it clicked: if a brand like Nike took us seriously, anyone could. We\u2019ve converted 30 million views on socials into 4,000 player applications in 2025.<\/p>\n

Any moments that made you doubt this was going to work?
<\/strong>In my first session ever at 16, one of my players got hit in the temple by a baseball. He was okay, but I remember thinking, \u201cI\u2019m never doing this again.\u201d Three weeks later, his mom reached out asking if he could train again and we picked up right where we left off.\u00a0It was the earliest lesson of entrepreneurship: you cannot quit when chaos strikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please tell us about a time when you felt particularly proud of what you\u2019ve put together.<\/strong>
Two things really stand out to me. One was an athlete who applied to our program over 10 times without being selected, but showed up to our free 1v1 event, nearly won, joined the program, and received his first college offer a month later. Another athlete reached out on Christmas Eve asking for an opportunity. He didn\u2019t come from a big club, didn\u2019t have the traditional pipeline, and couldn\u2019t afford pay-to-play showcases. He went on to earn two offers after attending our showcase. It was his first time playing in front of college coaches.\u00a0 Moments like these reinforce that access \u2013 not ability \u2013 is often the real barrier. Some players just need a chance, and we\u2019re able to provide that.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me about a time you made a decision that everyone around you disagreed with?<\/strong>
Launching our first college showcase was a decision almost everyone disagreed with. I was a college freshman. People thought it was unrealistic that a group of teenagers could run a credible event. We started small with four coaches. Just over a year later, that number grew to 52 on one sideline. If you commit to an idea and execute, you can figure things out as you go. Skepticism is proof of concept.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s something small, like a daily routine or mindset shift, that helps you be a good leader?<\/strong>
I\u2019ve realized that everything in business comes down to communication. So I write every day \u2013 whether it\u2019s reflections, planning, or ideas. Every morning, before checking my phone, I spend 20\u201330 minutes writing. It gives me clarity and direction. I also try to stay in a constant growth mindset, pushing myself on and off the field because improvement in one area carries into everything else.<\/p>\n

Please tell us about your current revenue and your outlook.<\/strong>
We\u2019re currently generating mid-five-figure monthly revenue, growing over 350% year-over-year with roughly 50% margins, while also delivering more than $10,000 in scholarships each month. More importantly, we\u2019re proving that you can build a scalable, sustainable business while prioritizing access and impact. We\u2019re just getting started, and we\u2019re willing to trade margin for meaningful outcomes if it means changing a player\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

What does the word \u201centrepreneur\u201d mean to you?<\/strong>
To me, entrepreneurship is self-led creation. It\u2019s not just founders, it\u2019s artists, filmmakers, and anyone who takes an idea and brings it to life. Looking back, even school projects felt like opportunities to build something from scratch. That mindset still drives everything I do today.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Brando Babini is a 21-year-old student at Brown University and the founder of Youth 4 Youth FC<\/a>, a player-led soccer development platform run by active college and professional players that provides training, mentorship, and recruiting support to nearly 1,000 athletes. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a club,\u201d Babini told Entrepreneur. \u201c<\/em>Youth 4 Youth was built by players who are currently living the journey. We\u2019re taking the doors we\u2019ve walked through and holding them open for the next generation.\u201d Here\u2019s how Babini went about starting the business, and where he plans to bring it.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to create it?<\/strong>
I grew up playing at several academies in New York and always dreamed of going pro. Around 16, I realized that path wasn\u2019t going to happen for me. Watching close friends begin their professional careers made me reflect on what my journey was missing. That led to my \u201caha moment\u201d \u2014 most young players lack access to mentors who are actively living the path, and having those voices in your corner can completely change development.<\/p>\n

Please tell us one \u201choly @#$!\u201d moment about running your business.<\/strong>
Starting the business at 16 with no credentials or coaching license meant constantly pushing against the status quo of youth soccer. Early on, I DM\u2019d 250 parents and only one responded \u2013 but that taught me everything about momentum and belief.\u00a0 People don\u2019t take you seriously until they do.\u00a0When Nike reached out after seeing our content, I thought it was a prank at first. That\u2019s when it clicked: if a brand like Nike took us seriously, anyone could. We\u2019ve converted 30 million views on socials into 4,000 player applications in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brando Babini is a 21-year-old student at Brown University and the founder of Youth 4 Youth FC, a player-led soccer development platform run by active college and professional players that provides training, mentorship, and recruiting support to nearly 1,000 athletes. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a club,\u201d Babini told Entrepreneur. \u201cYouth 4 Youth was built by players who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-green-brands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}