Welcome to Ultimate Goal Ministries! Stay and explore what God is doing through us. We're a soccer organization where devotion to God meets a love for el jogo bonito: the beautiful game. Living in pursuit of these passions, our ministry was born several years ago and today continues to serve others through soccer in new and exciting ways. During 2006 we worked hard to organize new opportunities for you to serve, participate in, and support our growing ministry here in Nashville, Tennessee. All the information you'll need about Ultimate Goal is in this site, but if you have any questions or would like to speak to us personally feel free to e-mail, call, write, or even fax us. Come be a part of this great adventure we call Ultimate Goal!

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Vision
Making the soccer field our mission field

The Soccer Field ~ Soccer isn't just another sport; it's the world's sport. Soccer is the one language the entire world understands, and it brings with it a unique passion and commitment in its players, fans, coaches, and supporters. This past summer's World Cup (2006) demonstrated again soccer's global interest with over one billion viewers likely tuning in to the tournament's final match. It's longtime popularity overseas is growing rapidly in the United States, with US Youth Soccer reporting at the end of 2005 over 17 million Americans of all ages play soccer every year, where 11 million of those are players are under the age of 18. It's national and global popularity invite numerous opportunities to serve others through the game of soccer.

The Mission Field ~ We as a staff - of coaches, tutors, and mentors - strive to serve our players and outreach participants through love in action. Rooted in our own love and devotion to God, UGM seeks to make the soccer field our mission field in two main ways: helping provide for the basic, educational, and developmental needs of our youth and their families, and to demonstrate and coach our players on and off the field to pursue life's ultimate goal, living in relationship with God.

Mission
Ultimate Goal Ministries (UGM) is a soccer organization reaching youth across cultures in the love of Christ by developing growth through relationships in a player's whole person.

Core Values
Relationships
It is within the context of loving, caring, mentoring relationships that we build trust to help provide for the needs of others and seek to share the love of Christ.

Faith
As Christians we base our purpose in following the example of Jesus in Scripture to love one another, not just in words, but in action. The central theme of our Scripture is God's great love for us. It is this theme that is woven throughout all we do.

Culture
As we 'go into all the world,' we are compelled by faith to reach others across cultures.

Growth
We strive to see our players and outreach participants grow in every area of their lives. From our vision, we seek their growth in two main areas: increasing their opportunities by reducing their basic, educational, and developmental needs and coaching them to live in relationship with God.

Pursuing the Goal
UGM is pursuing our ultimate goal in a fresh, new way in 2007 and 2008. As a staff, we have redefined our mission, set goals to achieve, and spent time preparing to share our ultimate goal with others. We are more committed than ever to making the soccer field our mission field. In the next two years we'll be pursuing our ultimate goal in three main ways:

ULTIMATEGOALCLUB
Providing international (foreign-born and refugee) youth communities an opportunity to participate in a competitive youth soccer club system. Our player pool will develop out of the recreational opportunities we offer. The pool primarily consists of refugee and other international adolescent and teenage youth living in south Nashville who come from middle to lower income families.

ULTIMATEGOALACADEMY
Equipping and preparing international, refugee, and other foreign-born youth to excel academically and achieve their fullest potential through continuing their education. Our player pool is similar to our club pool, however most of Academy's international youth will have recently arrived to the United States, most likely come from lower income families, and who have shown or are showing difficulties learning in their new environment.

ULTIMATEGOALTRIPS
Providing opportunities for Christian youth and young adults to partner in local and international cross-cultural outreaches that will help strengthen and equip them in their faith and be extensions of UGMCLUB and UGMACADEMY. Youth participants come from different nationalities, socio-economic backgrounds, locations, ages, and ability to play soccer.

Our Impact: UGM's Faith in the Future
Our staff, partners, and volunteers are more excited than ever about what God is doing through our ministry and the impact we have already had in the lives of hundreds of youth across the country. Our local, year-round ministries are expanding and our summer outreaches are steadily growing in number of participants and opportunities for ministry. Today we work hard in serving God and our youth to bring about growth, faith, and opportunity locally and around the world. Ultimate Goal Ministries is walking in faith and service to one day:

• Operate a championship soccer complex, providing offices, training facilities, and a location to network UGM locally, nationally, and internationally.

The complex would provide opportunities to expand our club system, incorporate thousands of international youth on recreational and club teams, facilitate a soccer league for internationals of all ages, and host tournaments and events to support the ongoing ministry pursuits of Ultimate Goal.

• Network a Christian soccer community across cultures, helping to join people of Christian faith in Nashville and across the US in serving God and transforming communities in the love of Christ.

• Establish additional local and foreign UGM bases for ministry, expanding the heart and mission of Ultimate Goal to other international communities across the US and around the world.

 

Our Faith: Statement of Beliefs
UGM recognizes our participants are from many Christian denominations and backgrounds; therefore, we strive to minimize areas of theology or teaching in which there is controversy or disagreement. We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all Christians. Because of the specialized calling of our ministry, we desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based upon the Scripture alone, and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.