Racheal Kundananji needed to be there.
When Bay FC was organising a visit to Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame final month, Kundananji was in.
The second-year striker is likely one of the most well-compensated girls’s soccer gamers on the planet and has loads on her plate daily. But it was necessary for her to volunteer her time as Bay FC handed out merchandise to new dad and mom and sufferers within the orthopedic wing of the hospital.
“I wanted to have this experience,” Kundananji mentioned, “and know how it feels, being around this environment.”
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji, far left, and Bay FC’s Jamie Shepherd, far proper, pose for {a photograph} with Sanya Kennedy and her husband Kealan Santistevan as she holds their yet-to-be-named new child son of their room within the Household Delivery Heart at Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
There have been peripheral advantages as properly.
“It’s my first time to see a day-old child, and they were looking so, so beautiful,” mentioned Kundananji after visiting two new child infants and their households.
Kundananji’s journey in soccer has introduced her a sturdy number of memorable escapades. A local of Zambia, she’s performed in Kazakhstan, Spain and america after commencing her profession in her dwelling nation.
She wasn’t allowed to make extra significant reminiscences throughout a current worldwide window, as Kundananji was amongst 4 gamers from her homeland that the Soccer Affiliation of Zambia faraway from the nationwide staff due to elevated challenges coming into america.
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji fingers a Bay FC present bag to Kealan Santistevan as his spouse Sanya Kennedy holds their yet-to-be-named new child son of their room within the Household Delivery Heart on the Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Kundananji declined to remark concerning the determination.
From her earlier experiences, she’s attained knowledge from a diversified path that few can match. Her international travels and struggles early in her personal profession to get established as a participant, typically as a result of lack of sources, have knowledgeable her charitable efforts.
Now, she’s established her personal group, the Racheal Kundananji Legacy Basis, which leverages her standing as one of many extra recognizable girls’s soccer gamers on the planet to create the alternatives for younger people who Kundananji sought as she was blossoming into an elite ahead.
Kundananji initially needed to have her personal soccer staff, a dream she’s nonetheless hoping to make a actuality sometime. However she realized there was much more she will be able to do, together with offering tools, advocacy and help for younger gamers in Zambia and different nations in want.
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji, middle, and Bay FC’s Jamie Shepherd share fun with nurses within the Household Delivery Heart at Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
“After traveling around, learning new things, I understood having a team won’t make that much impact,” Kundananji mentioned. “Because the impact I want to make is to make sure that every young girl out there gets what they deserve, and they stand up for themselves and for others. So our goal is to look after the girls and make sure that we have a safe space for them, and they understand what they are capable of.”
Kundananji’s basis, which was launched in July 2024, has lofty targets. The inspiration’s acknowledged mission on its web site is “to ensure every girl and boy, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to play, learn, and thrive.”
The work remains to be within the early phases. To date, soccer gear has been donated to girls and boys youth groups in Zambia, and Kundananji and co-founder Bernadette Deka Zulu have spoken on the 69th session of the Fee on the Standing of Ladies in New York, which mentioned gender-based violence in girls’s sports activities.
However Kundananji thinks that is just the start. As her notoriety continues to develop within the Bay Space and world wide, she envisions her work outliving her soccer profession and outpacing its achievements.
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji poses for {a photograph} with Darian Harris, CEO of the Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart, on the middle in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
“We are focusing on sports and also education,” Kundananji mentioned. “I used to be appointed because the UNAIDS training ambassador, which is goodwill. It’s what I like doing, which is making me completely satisfied to do this.
“Every time when we go, maybe to a school, just to talk to the young girls and boys, when they see me, how motivated they are getting and how happy and excited they are getting, that motivates me to say, ‘I think we have to do a lot. We have got a good job to do.’”
The long-term ambition is for Zambia, and the broader world, to be an instance of excellence in training, healthcare and youth sports activities. The highway forward is an extended one, however in some methods, it’s a lot simpler than the one Kundananji herself walked.
“Our vision is to build schools, hospitals,” Kundananji mentioned. “Also to help players to build many talents, to be all over the world. When they are playing, they remember, ‘I come from the Racheal Kundananji Foundation.’ Because right now, we can’t build a player from scratch. But we can help those who are talented, those who want something, those who have passion for soccer.”
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji, middle, and Bay FC’s Taylor Huff signal autographs on mini soccer balls earlier than a tour on the Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Kundananji visualizes this progress having a knock-on impact down the highway.
“When you go to Zambia, many players are lacking soccer players, soccer boots,” she mentioned.
“They are lacking soccer balls. They are lacking training equipment. So if we are there to provide just a few of them – I know we can’t provide everything, and we can’t help everyone. But it will make a change if we help one or two players, because it’s a chain we are building. Those two players we help, they help others, and then those others, they help others too. We are going to create a good community for ourselves.”
As Bay FC toured the Sutter Well being hospital final month, Kundananji wasn’t notably loquacious. However when she did converse, her phrases have been rigorously chosen and carried weight.
Responding to a query from a hospital volunteer, Kundananji cited her need to problem herself as what powers her by means of the obstacles she faces.
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji, left, talks with Bay FC’s Maddie Moreau after doing a tour on the Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
“I’m the kind of a person who needs someone to push me to my limit,” she mentioned. “For me to develop, I’ve to face my fears. If you happen to’re scared about one thing, will probably be very troublesome so that you can develop.
“Sometimes, you get comfortable where you are, and that will destroy you, because you’re comfortable and you’re not pushing to work hard.”
Teammate Jamie Shepherd, who was alongside for the journey as Kundananji visited sufferers on the neonatal ground, mentioned Kundananji’s perspective is not like any she has encountered.
Her nickname amongst Bay FC’s gamers – Rudy – is a becoming moniker for the lengthy odds she overcame to achieve the head of ladies’s soccer.
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji, proper, shares fun with Bay FC’s Jamie Sheperd after a tour on the Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
“Rudy is like no one that I’ve met before,” Shepherd mentioned. “I was amazed at how she holds herself. She shows up every day with the biggest smile on her face, no matter what, and she plays with all the confidence in the world, and I really admire that and try to be like her. Watching her every day, no matter what’s going on in her personal life, she is always working so hard. She’s a really good teammate.”
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There can be many extra inquiries to confront as Kundananji makes an attempt to construct one thing particular. However her need to work for what she believes in is barely getting stronger.
She praised Bay FC for being among the many first organizations to associate along with her basis, an inventory that now consists of the United Nations Inhabitants Fund, UNAIDS, Zambia Kuchalo Leisure, UN Ladies and the World Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport, amongst others.
Shifting ahead, Kundananji hopes others take up the mantle of bettering the futures of the younger individuals she cares deeply about helping.
“We are going step by step, and hopefully a lot of people will come on board,” Kundananji mentioned. “My fellow soccer players, just to give back. Because what I believe in, being successful is not being a superstar, scoring goals. It’s how many people you have helped to succeed, and how many people you have carried with your success.”
Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji and Bay FC’s Jamie Shepherd stroll out of the Household Delivery Heart at Sutter Well being Mills-Peninsula Medical Heart in Burlingame, Calif., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
