{"id":7912,"date":"2025-03-15T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912"},"modified":"2025-03-15T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T13:30:00","slug":"after-g-i-bill-veteran-finds-purpose-in-soccer-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912","title":{"rendered":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Army Veteran Adam Boren is a program manager for LouCity & Racing Foundation, the nonprofit arm of professional soccer clubs Louisville City and Racing Louisville. Like many Veterans, Boren was seeking purpose after life in the military. After using the G.I. Bill, he found his calling and connection to his community through soccer.<\/p>\n

Like most great journeys, Boren\u2019s path to getting there wasn\u2019t so simple.<\/p>\n

At 17, Boren wasn\u2019t ready for college. Seeking adventure, he enlisted in the Army and went on to deploy 11 times in his 24-year Army career\u2014including nine to Iraq. After enduring years of wear and tear on his body, he retired and sought care at VA, where he \u201ccouldn\u2019t ask for better care or service.\u201d <\/p>\n

On transition, he found a job rather quickly, working on instrumentation and calibration equipment for the paper and pulp industry. But after a year there, he realized it wasn\u2019t fulfilling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the military, you have this feeling like you\u2019re working toward something bigger than yourself. You\u2019re making a difference,\u201d he shared, alluding to the desire to find that sense of purposeful work again. That, he said, is when he first thought seriously of taking advantage of his G.I. Bill benefits. <\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Boren hit the books and earned a degree in Sports Administration at the University of Louisville. After graduating, he returned to the community as an intern for LouCity & Racing Foundation. At the soccer matches, looking into the crowd as they recognized and honored the Veterans in attendance, he learned he wasn\u2019t alone. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings pride [to me] to see others in the community stand up [in recognition of their service]. It gives me pause because I\u2019m surprised by how many are Veterans,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

In his deployments all across the globe, Boren learned a sense of cultural awareness and how to interact with others through soccer. He understood the game, and more importantly, the culture. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn every country [the military] sent me to, I could not speak the language, but everyone spoke soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s when it hit him: He could use soccer to reach the youth of Louisville. <\/p>\n

Boren\u2019s internship led to a full-time programming position at LouCity and Racing, but in his spare time, he brings soccer to the underserved population of Louisville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese teams don\u2019t exist without the community support, so this is how we give back to the community. I\u2019m happy to be a part of that. This touches me like the military did\u2014where I\u2019m part of something bigger. I\u2019m incredibly grateful to find that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-veteran-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912\"},\"wordCount\":496,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-50.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community & Veteran Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912\",\"name\":\"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-50.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-50.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-50.png\",\"width\":736,\"height\":736},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7912#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans","description":"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans","og_description":"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community","datePublished":"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912"},"wordCount":496,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-50.png","articleSection":["Community & Veteran Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912","name":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-50.png","datePublished":"2025-03-15T13:30:00+00:00","description":"After using the G.I. Bill, Army Veteran Adam Boren found his connection to his community through soccer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-50.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-50.png","width":736,"height":736},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7912#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"After G.I. Bill, Veteran finds purpose in soccer, community"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}