Ajay Kumar at 17:40, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T17:40:35Z

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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Franz Gastler
| image = Franz Gastler in 2012.jpg
| alt = A black-and-white photo of caucasian male in his late 20s.
| caption = Gastler in 2012
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1982 
| birth_place = [[Edina, Minnesota]]
| nationality = [[American citizenship|American]]
| other_names =
| occupation = social activist, teacher, football coach
| known_for = [[Yuwa-India]]
| alma_mater = [[Boston University]],<br />[[Harvard Law School]]
}}

'''Franz Gastler''' (born in 1982 in [[Edina, Minnesota]]) is an American social activist, teacher and [[Association football|football]] coach who works primarily in India. He is the co-founder and executive director of [[non-government organisation]] (NGO) [[Yuwa-India]].

==Early life and education==
Gastler studied at [[Edina High School]] and graduated in 2000.<ref name="OneLove">{{cite web | url=http://www.onelovefc.com/features/post/1l-spotlight-on-yuwa-part-1 | title=It Takes a Village... of Yuwa girls | publisher=Onelovefc.com. OneLove FC | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | author=Chandrima}}</ref> He attended [[University Professors Program]] of [[Boston University]], and received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] and [[Master of Arts]] in [[international political economy]]. He is certified in negotiation and mediation from the "university consortium" [[Program on Negotiation]] at the [[Harvard Law School]].<ref name="Bio">{{cite web | url=http://yuwa-india.org/people/people.html#management_team | title=Management Team – Franz Gastler | publisher=Yuwa-india.org | accessdate=August 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pon.harvard.edu/about/ | title=About – Welcome to the Program on Negotiation (PON) | publisher=Pon.harvard.edu. Harvard Law School | accessdate=August 2, 2013}}</ref> He underwent internship at the [[Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Colombia)|Ministry of Finance and Public Credit]] in [[Bogota]], [[Colombia]].

He participated in various sports. He received training in judo at the [[United States Olympic Training Center]]. He is experienced in coaching [[alpine skiing]] for 12 years, and played [[ice hockey]] as a [[goaltender]].<ref name="Bio" />

==Social activism==
In 2008, he joined ''Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra'' (English: Agriculture Rural Development Center), a [[Jharkhand]] based NGO, as an English teacher. During his time as a teacher, he lived in a "farmer's mud hut". He was asked by one of his students to teach her to play football.<ref name="Businessweek">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_15/b4223097536669.htm | title=Franz Gastler's Passage to India | journal=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]] | date=March 31, 2011 | accessdate=August 2, 2013}}</ref> He founded [[Yuwa-India]] with the financial help of his high school friends, Greg Deming, Sephen Peterson, and Erik Odland, to use football as a platform to combat [[Child marriage in India|child marriage]], [[Education in India#Women's education|illiteracy]] and [[Human trafficking in India|human trafficking]] among [[Women in India|girls in rural India]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite news | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20929762 | title=How football is changing lives of Indian slum girls | date=January 23, 2013 | accessdate=August 2, 2013 | author=Sarkar, Monica | publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref> [[Yuwa-India | Yuwa]] (youth in [[Hindi language|Hindi]]) is an NGO "that teaches girls to play [football], and promotes health and education."<ref name="Bostonia">{{cite journal | url=http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring13/franz-gastler%E2%80%99s-goal/ | title=Franz Gastler's Goal | author=K. Buccini, Cynthia | journal=Bostonia | year=2013 | quote=NGO teaches soccer and empowers impoverished girls in rural India | publisher=[[Boston University]]}}</ref>

Gastler, who never played or watched a football match before, started teaching the sport to girls between five and seventeen years of age.<ref name="BBC" /> Parents were initially reluctant to allow their daughters to take part in an "uncommon" activity, but now there are more than 250 girls who practice daily.<ref name="BBC" /><ref name="DNA">{{cite news | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/1868908/report-how-football-can-change-lives-jharkhand-girls-representing-yuwa-india-show-the-way | title=Yuwa India show the way | work=[[Daily News and Analysis]] | date=August 2, 2013 | accessdate=August 2, 2013 | author=Waghule, Pradnya}}</ref> The program has been quite successful and has received endorsements from the [[United Nations Development Fund for Women]], [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], [[The Coca-Cola Company|Coca-Cola India]], and many others.<ref name="Businessweek" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://yuwa-india.org/Blog/Documents/UNIFEM_Endorsement.pdf | title=UNIFEM Endorsement | publisher=Yuwa-india.org. Yuwa | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | format=PDF}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
Gastler's contributions and achievements of Yuwa have been recognized at several award ceremonies, including 2012 [[NDTV]] Spirit of Sports Award in the Best Promotion of Sports in Education category,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.exchange4media.com/45254_ndtv-celebrates-the-%E2%80%98spirit-of-sport%E2%80%99.html | title=NDTV celebrates the 'Spirit of Sport' | date=February 6, 2012 | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418064902/http://www.exchange4media.com/45254_ndtv-celebrates-the-%E2%80%98spirit-of-sport%E2%80%99.html | publisher=exchange4media News Service | archivedate=April 18, 2012}}</ref> [[Times Now]] Indian at Heart award for Gastler at the 2013 [[Times Now]] Amazing Indians Award ceremony,<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-22/india/36484055_1_hamid-ansari-felicitates-winners | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712065903/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-22/india/36484055_1_hamid-ansari-felicitates-winners | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 12, 2013 | title=Times Now felicitates 15 'Amazing Indians' | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=Jan 22, 2013 | agency=Times News Network | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | location=[[New Delhi]]}}</ref> Nike Gamechangers Award in 2011 and [[Yahoo!|Yahoo! India]]'s 12 Unsung Heroes of 2012 award.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.changemakers.com/isese/entries/yuwa-improving-education-girls-rural-india | title=Yuwa - Kicking It New School | publisher=[[Ashoka: Innovators for the Public#Changemakers|Ashoka Changemakers]] | date=June 10, 2012 | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | author=Johnson, Jeremy}}</ref><ref name="Yahoo">{{cite news | url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/yuwa-093040943.html | title=Unsung Heroes of 2012 – Yuwa | date=November 26, 2012 | accessdate=August 3, 2013 | author=Yangdon, Tenzin | publisher=[[Yahoo! News]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gastler, Franz}}
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Edina, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Edina High School alumni]]
[[Category:Boston University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]

{{Improve categories|date=January 2021}}

Franz Gastler - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 17:40, 29 August 2023