Operation Get Active uses the game of soccer to encourage young people in Chattanooga and beyond to live active, healthy lifestyles.

About Us

Operation Get Active is a health initiative that uses the game of soccer to encourage Chattanooga's youth to live active, healthy lifestyles.

Operation Get Active aims to inspire and educate children across Chattanooga about the importance of health, fitness, and nutrition. Ultimately, our goal is to encourage participants to maintain regular exercise throughout the rest of their childhood and into adolescence. Using soccer as our tool, we seek to introduce a diverse group of children to sports and in doing so, develop their teamwork, leadership, and social skills.

We understand power of sport and truly believe that soccer is a universal language that has the ability to engage children in leadership, teamwork, and communication.

We are currently working in a variety of public elementary schools, City of Chattanooga recreation centers, and private community centers and have reached over 1400 kids since we launched in the spring 2016.

Meet the Operation Get Active Team

Julian Ramirez
Director

julian@chattanoogafcfdn.org

Julian has over ten years of experience working with youth sports in the Chattanooga area. Previous to working for Operation Get Active, he graduated from UTC with a Bachelors in International Studies in Latin American Culture and Spanish. Julian has been playing soccer most of his life. He loves using sports to bring kids from different parts of his community together as well as teaching essential life skills through the game of soccer.

Mario Orihuela
Program coordinator

mario@chattanoogafcfdn.org

Mario Orihuela has over eight years of experience working with youth in the Chattanooga community, including coaching with Operation Get Active for the past two years. He has gained much knowledge in youth development for multiple sports and has great passion for community development. One of those sports that he loves so dearly is soccer and he loves using the sport for mentoring and teaching valuable skills needed in life.

Bradley Cummings
program coordinator

bradley@chattanoogafcfdn.org

Bradley Cummings has over eight years of experience working in youth sports programs and camps. He first began as a coach with OGA and now serves as a program coordinator. He is a dedicated and passionate individual with a strong background in youth programs. He has found his calling using sports to make a positive impact on the lives of children in need. He strives to create inclusive and nurturing environments where underprivileged youth can develop not only their athletic skills but also life skills.