Soccer Key in Athlete’s Humanitarian Work

Ever since Anna Key was a freshman, Cal women’s soccer coach Kevin Boyd knew that she was going to be a special player, not just in goal but also off the field.

Boyd recalls Key’s first year with the Bears when she had come into his office and told him, “I was put on this Earth to help other people.”

It’s a pretty powerful statement coming from a freshman who has never played a minute of collegiate soccer.

Four years later, that statement has come to fruition and Key’s humanitarian efforts have garnered her some hardware.

Last Thursday in Atlanta, Key was awarded the Coach Citizen Wooden Cup, an award given by the Athletes for a Better World nonprofit group, an organization whose mission is to change the culture of American athletes.

Key was among six college athletes that were nominated for the award.

“It’s obviously an incredible honor,” says Key. “I’m just really happy to get the award for Cal and put us on the map in that kind of arena. I wasn’t expecting it at all. All the kids that were there all had amazing stories. I was just shocked.”

Key won the award for her effort to raise money for youth development in Malawi. She created a nonprofit organization, the Malawi Youth Project, and raised $15,000 for the Amai Achifundo Orphan Care Centre in Blantyre, Malawi, the orphanage where Key volunteered on a visit to the country in 2005.

For these same efforts, Key was also awarded the 2006 NCAA Division I Female Sportsmanship Award.

“It was clear all along that you knew that she was the type to give back to people,” says Boyd. “For her to use athletics towards humanity and helping people, it’s appropriate to win an award like that.”

Key’s involvement with Malawi can be traced back to the humanitarian efforts of the soccer team itself.

With the help of Sam Mchombo, a professor in the linguistics department, the Bears have been sending jerseys and equipment to Malawi. Mchombo, in turn, had the people of Malawi work on community service projects in order to receive the equipment donated by Cal.

Key took Mchombo’s freshman seminar in her first year at Berkeley and took his Swahili class her junior year. Mchombo helped set up Key’s visit to Malawi by contacting family members there and giving her a place to stay.

Key is also heavily involved in the community service efforts Mchombo has done for years, but has added a youth development aspect.

“She did not get into it for the purposes of winning awards like that,” says Mchombo. “There’s a difference between the people who get into something because they are trying to make a name for themselves and the people who join a cause because they feel they can do something for the betterment of society.

“She obviously fits into that latter category.”

While in Malawi, Key met with several soccer clubs and soccer officials to discuss ways to develop the sport among women in the country.

One such club was the Zingwangwa Queens, a team that Key donated Cal jerseys and equipment to.

The Queens were so grateful for the donation that they changed their name to the Anna Key Queens.

“The cool thing about soccer is that it’s global,” says Key. “A lot of people go out and make projects, but the reason why I think this one has been so successful is because it takes something so basic and something that I love and it puts an international spin on it.”

Even after she graduates, Key said she hopes to continue to work with her nonprofit organization. Key’s parents, Jeff and Dutch Key, have also been involved with her work, and Mchombo said that he was going to continue to work with Key on her efforts.

“I was just really overwhelmed by what I saw,” says Key. “I truly wanted to make an impact. It was the only feasible way to help give back.”

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