Angel City Announces 2024 Player 22 Small Business Grant Recipients

Angel City Football Club (ACFC), in partnership with iFundWomen, has announced 10 new recipients of its Player 22 (P22) Small Business Grants Program. 

Funded through Angel City’s 10% sponsorship model, where 10% of all sponsorships are reallocated to impact, ACFC’s supporting partners HubSpot, Justworks, PNC Bank, Payscale, and founding spirits partner Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky make the fund a reality. 

Each of the 10 grantees chosen through an application program run by the California XY will receive funding for their business, one-on-one coaching, access to video-based business learning, and startup tools and resources via IFundWomen's workshop library. 

The Player 22 Program aims to position current and retired female and gender-expansive soccer players for success in new jobs or entrepreneurial endeavors. By holistically investing in players' post-playing careers, the program furthers progress toward gender equity in the industry, supports the development of women in sports, and addresses gender discrepancies in sports. ACFC is a women-led and mission-driven organization, and the Player 22 Program aligns perfectly with the club's values and its mission to drive more women into the business of sports.

2024 Player 22 Small Business recipients:

Yael Averbuch West

Founder of Techne Futbol

Location: Montclair, NJ

About: Techne Futbol is a soccer training app that guides players in training on their own and lets them compete with friends, teammates, and the broader Techne community on leaderboards.

Soccer Experience: USWNT, NWSL

Sabrina Flores 

Founder of FLO2.0

Location: Branchburg, NJ

About: FLO2.0 is a coaching and mentoring brand catered to the athlete who embraces the day-to-day journey.  The business is more than the time spent on the field learning soccer skills: it’s about building character and learning lifelong lessons to impact the person as a whole. 

Soccer Experience: NWSL, Liga F (Spain)

Leah Gallegos

Founder of People’s Yoga

Location: Los Angeles, CA

About: People's Yoga is a woman of color-owned yoga studio offering group classes at their flagship location, school programming for TK–6th grade, community events, and an annual certified teacher training program. 

Soccer Experience: WPSL, NCAA

Donna-Kay Henry

Founder of Dkay Henry Soccer Training 

Location: Brooklyn, NY

About: Dkay Henry Soccer Training provides technical training for beginning to advanced players, focusing on building confidence, mental strength, and technical skills in a fun, positive, and encouraging environment. 

Soccer Experience: Jamaica WNT, Women’s Premiership (Northern Ireland), Úrvalsdeild kvenna (Iceland), WPSL, Nationalliga A (Switzerland), NCAA

Izzy Hunter 

Founder of Sensi Fit 

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

About: Sensi is a smart cone that tracks athletes' movement during drills drawn in an app. 

Soccer Experience: Women’s Premier League (England)

Courtney Jones Louks

Founder of Hustle Beauty

Location: Colleyville, TX

About: Founded by female professional athletes, Hustle Beauty is the only athleisure-focused beauty brand creating long-lasting, protective, multi-functional products at an accessible price point. Made for all types of active lifestyles, Hustle keeps beauty routines simple so women can focus on their daily hustle.

Soccer Experience: NWSL, NCAA

Jillian Loyden 

Founder of The Keeper Institute

Location: Sewell, NJ

About: The Keeper Institute is an all-encompassing training school that aims to educate young aspiring goalkeepers in every component of the game. The mission is to develop great goalkeepers and better people.

Soccer Experience: USWNT, NWSL, WPS, W-League (Australia)

Melissa Ortiz 

Founder of Kickoff Coffee Co

Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL

About: At Kickoff Coffee Co, they bridge the two passions of soccer and top-quality specialty coffee while giving back to foundations worldwide that use soccer as a tool for social justice and development. 

Soccer Experience: Colombia WNT, NCAA

Amy Schweizer

Founder of Tiny Troops Soccer

Location: Danville, IL

About: Tiny Troops Soccer offers soccer classes that build a global community of active, healthy kids who are equipped to deal with the stressors of military life and make friends along the way.

Soccer Experience: WUSL, NCAA

Jasmyne Spencer 

Founder of Jas It Up

Location: Bay Shore, NY

About: JAS IT UP is a Black woman-owned business. Its mission is to educate and inspire people to lead eco-conscious and socially aware lifestyles to uplift communities, empower youth, and protect the future of this planet.

Soccer Experience: NWSL, Australian W-League, Gjensidige Kvindeligaen (Denmark)