Sparks Fly at Angel City: Birdies and ACFC offer internship programs to the Youth of Los Angeles

“Wait, is that a kid?”

It’s something I’ve heard frequently in the workplace.

I don’t find my age, or my gender for that matter, to be a point of weakness—and Angel City Football Club seems to agree.

Partnered with Birdies, a woman-owned footwear company, ACFC has launched the SOAR Internship Program for high school students in Los Angeles.

Founded on the “deeply-held belief” that women can reach any and every field with the proper backing, the two organizations are practicing what they preach and setting aside 10% of Birdie’s sponsorship value for the program.

Offering eight positions with salary, ACFC and Birdies are providing real exposure to corporate workplaces and experiences with leadership outside of the classroom. Lasting for about six weeks, the program focuses on “leadership, teamwork, sports entrepreneurship, and public speaking.” And at the end of it all, each intern receives a $3,000 scholarship for their work.

For these girls, the program means being able to “feel comfortable communicating my ideas and collaborating with people that I haven’t known before,” as Jackson Gastelo noted to me during a press interview. For all of them, it’s the first time they’ve gotten an opportunity such as this.

With the support of Birdies founders Bianca Gates and Marisa Sharkey, as well as Lisa Finegan (recently named on the USA High-Performance Women’s Squad for the 2024 World Cup in England) leading as the program educator, the program is headed by strong female role models for the girls to look to. Strong, but not intimidating.

With the sports industry being largely male-dominated, ACFC has made it a priority to put their mission to action. By employing and making space for young women, ACFC and Birdies sends the message that “There’s nothing less important for us, as Lauryn Bowers so eloquently put it.

“The community that we’ve built at this internship is just absolutely amazing… It’s really just to build our confidence and being able to assert ourselves in the workplace,” Gastelo went on to clarify.

Finegan explained that there’s a total of four juniors and four seniors interning, the full roster including: Annaly Sanchez, Ashley Hernandez, Emerald Gilliam, Jackson Gastelo, Kaitlin Lewis, LaMia Morrow, Lauryn Bowers, and Maya Montes-Rodriguez.

You can view their full profiles on the ACFC Instagram.

Beyond football, the club is offering paths for the underrepresented. Their continuous endeavors to reach greater Los Angeles through avenues other than sports are previously in their Pride Night and extensive efforts to continue impacting the community that supports them.

As Taylor Swift put it: “I see sparks fly.” And as Beyonce put it, “Girls, we run this mutha.”

A special thank you from the women of Tangent to ACFC and Birdies for giving back to the girls of Los Angeles.

Photo by Katareena Roska.