Developing leaders, enhancing community athletics and advancing US-China relations

Our vision is simple: enable exceptional student-athletes to become global-minded leaders. Success on the global stage stems from more than professional immersion—it requires a holistic appreciation for different cultures, people, and ideas. Those of us who have traveled the world know this is only truly achieved in the meaningful and lasting connections made with communities on the ground.

GLF uses American football as a vehicle for peace and cultural understanding between the United States and China, shaping America’s most prominent college football players into ambassadors of sport, culture, and country. We send our nation’s best and brightest gridiron leaders abroad to spread the positive power of sports culture into China’s grassroots football movement, by connecting American student-athletes with China’s best professional, linguistic, and athletic opportunities.

GLF applicants are carefully handpicked for membership into a select group of global ambassadors of the United States and American football. They return home having grown through hands-on experiences in global leadership, organizational management, and cultural bridging, contributing to a more meaningful personal and professional development path that will echo far into their futures.