At 27 years old, Les Hewitt fled the war zone in Northern Ireland, known as “The Troubles,” to start a new life in Canada. It was an overwhelming life change made much easier by the fortune of meeting an unlikely mentor—Jim Rohn. Jim was considered a master of personal development and provided Les with important skills he never learned in school. Discovering his strengths, developing successful habits and cultivating effective communication skills, to name a few) Les became passionate about sharing these life skills and over 40 years built one of Canada’s most successful seminar businesses, executive coaching programs, as well as creating the international bestselling book series, The Power of Focus. There are currently seven titles. Now in his 70s, Les is on a mission to give the gift of these fundamental life skills to underserved youth. The gift he himself had once gratefully received from Jim Rohn. Yet, how do you engage youth in personal development today? This generation is easily distracted, pulled in many directions, and struggles with anxiety. Social media has become addictive, too. The answer came in a surprising way after meeting Jean-Claude Munyezamu, who 22 years earlier had escaped from Rwanda at the age of 19 to avoid the horrific 1994 genocide. JC, as he is known, had created a local organization in Calgary called Soccer Without Boundaries. The purpose was simple: to use soccer as a way of engaging the youth, most of whom lived in social housing, and to give them a sense of belonging and hope for the future. Many of these young people were newcomers to the country and experienced the challenges of learning a new language, fitting in at new schools, and attempting to thrive in their communities. Yet, they all shared a universal language—soccer! Les volunteered at the Soccer Saturday gatherings where the neighbourhood youth played every week for two hours. Later he introduced self-improvement content, a six-month pilot project which exceeded all expectations. Two years later, the curriculum expanded into a groundbreaking five-day program that teaches five fundamental life skills—Awareness, Focus, Relationships, Routines, and Resourcefulness. Notably, these essential skills are still not taught in school. Soccer is played each afternoon, and an experienced Coach improves those skills, too. The program is called KICKON—the ability to rise up and keep going, despite being faced with difficult circumstances. KICKON Youth Training is a federally registered non- profit organization that collaborates with and supports the registered charity, Umoja Community Mosaic. Umoja means Unity and is focused on helping underserved communities to thrive.