Leadership Team

Driven by a passion for empowering young athletes, I am a dedicated husband, father of five young soccer players, and an experienced educator with over 20 years of coaching and mentoring experience. I am a proud graduate of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a B.S. in Biology. I am currently a middle school science teacher with 25 years of experience in middle and high school education. I was born in Jamaica and raised in Florida. I am from a family of soccer players; my father played Goalkeeper for many years, my 3 brothers and I played, with my younger twin brothers, winning a State of Florida Championship in high school. After experiencing life with our four oldest children playing travel soccer, we realized that many of the students that my wife and I teach in Title I schools were being overlooked. As a proud Christian, I founded this company six years ago to bridge the gap for talented, hardworking players facing financial barriers. Currently, 85% of American soccer players lack viable opportunities to be identified by coaches and scouts. To address this, we have built a global network spanning countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, and England—with more to come. By advancing academic and athletic opportunities through our platform, I aim to help transform lives worldwide through soccer.

Our organization operates on five core values: Service, Honor, Excellence, Empathy, and Perseverance. We share these values with our players each week. Most of our coaches are licensed public-school educators who draw on their classroom experience to develop character, instill educational values, provide goal-setting techniques, and strengthen communities. Recognizing that soccer can be expensive and require travel, our Academy addresses these economic and transportation barriers. Our educational program, Synced with Success, led by a past Upward Bound participant, is designed to help high school students enhance their academic skills and pursue higher education.

Our programs use soccer as a platform to transform the lives of the players we serve in the Lakeland community through sportsmanship, education, and mentorship. Our Core Values mentorship program provides our student-athletes with the opportunity to reflect on their life direction, career choices, personal investment in their community, and empathy for their community.

Yolanda has been with Synced Soccer Academy as a cofounder in 2020. Yolanda Henry has spent the last twenty years serving as an educator. Providing resources and educational opportunities to others is a passion of hers. Yolanda has experience in project management/writing grants, technology integration, professional development, and team collaboration. She believes that being resourceful helps to solve problems and achieve goals. Yolanda attributes her resourcefulness to being a Christian, married, helping raise 5 children, and teaching in the classroom. Some of her greatest accomplishments are becoming a mother /wife and being awarded Teacher of the Year, and launching. The mentoring program Synced with Success was launched in 2020 to help students navigate their high-school years.

Synced with Success is a college-bound program under the umbrella of Synced Soccer Academy, which is a non-profit organization. The Synced with Success program provides high school students with the opportunity to participate in learning to be prepared for the college transition and exposure to higher education. The program focuses on students whose parents fall in the middle-class income and who don't often get the chance to participate in many programs. However, all high-school students who apply may participate in the program. Synced with Success provides fundamental support to students in their preparation for college or vocational school entrance. The program activities help students to improve their knowledge of team building, mental health, financial literacy, time management, academic tutoring, and ACT/SAT preparation. Synced with Success aims to teach everyday life skills, close the educational gap of students who receive higher education, and increase the rate at which they complete secondary and postsecondary education.

Shaquille is part of the Synced Soccer Academy leadership team. His full biography is being finalized and will be added here soon.

Bio coming soon.