Origins Story
Space United is an organization uniting the forces of soccer and academics to promote meaningful purpose in society. With the inspirational and integrative mind-body forces of soccer and academics, Space United empowers the community to embrace education, stand for something meaningful and play with passion and integrity.
Space United was founded by Camilo Tobacia, a former soccer player for the professional team Millonarios FC, former engineer at SpaceX and current engineer at Blue Origin. His unique and invaluable experiences in soccer and aerospace engineering, inspired him to create Space United.
Camilo with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Spacecraft, 2014
Here, we take a look at Camilo’s experiences, from his passionate dedication to pursue both soccer and engineering, to his emergence in the space industry and how this culminated into inspiring others.
On the spotlight at an early age
Camilo Tobacia was born in Bogota, Colombia where soccer was everywhere. Yet even as it was such a normal part of the daily existence, Camilo recalls that every moment was always special.
He was a boy of few words, but soccer gave him expression and helped him stand out. As a youth, Camilo rose to playing in the capital's top soccer team, Millonarios FC-- competing in recognized international tournaments and eventually joined the Colombian national soccer team.
Millonarios FC Copa Nike Champions, 2001
As a soccer player, he was recognized for finding pockets in the field, creating opportunities, and quick movement. Light and fast on his feet, he would craftily maneuver through defensive players and finish with explosive bursts of acceleration. But what exceptionally stood out was the integrity of his character. Regardless of the situation, he was composed on the field and focused on his objectives. His character also helped him develop a mutual respect and understanding among his teammates who trusted him on and off the field.
With the stars always in mind
At the same time that Camilo dedicated himself to his soccer life, he was also committed to his academics and continuously stayed at the top of his class. Camilo grew up in a household where education had made a big impact. His dad worked his way up from poverty and adversity to become a mechanical engineer for an international company, which was considered the highest career accomplishment in Colombia.
Camilo’s dad was passionate about engineering and instilled in Camilo and his 3 brothers a sense of purpose in doing well academically.
“My dad had a true love for learning and for using his head to solve everything, but he also had a big heart, and with his heart, he successfully instilled the love for learning in us.”
His dad also enjoyed soccer, but emphasized that education can give you the secure foundation you need to face life; so Camilo was intent on accomplishing both.
“Everyday, my dad would wake me up at 5am to work on homework and everyday I would practice hours of soccer.”
Camilo also remarks on how the combined forces of soccer and academics kept him focused and on the right track, even in hard times.
“I had a full schedule, so I didn’t have time to get into trouble. But I also didn’t feel the need to get into trouble because I had purpose in my life--I was engaged both mind and body. With Soccer and academics, I feel like I have this well-rounded reserve to hold myself together through a lot of challenges that could potentially knock someone down. It helped me through rough times in Colombia and its internal war, and as an adolescent in an unexpected and difficult relocation, from my home country to a small town in Texas.”
Camilo’s hard work soon paid off. Shortly after he graduated as an Aerospace Engineer from Texas A&M University, he received a job offer from SpaceX, a leading rocket company run by Elon Musk. This led to the culmination of soccer and space in his life.
“I was happy and excited to work at SpaceX and from then on, I began building my two favorite things-- rockets and our soccer club.”
Space United-who they are:
Space United FC, which started as the SpaceX FC soccer team, has now grown into a diverse community of footballers, consisting of employees from the nation’s most innovative space companies, soccer athletes and space enthusiasts.
They have played in several tournaments including an Adidas Association tournament, EA Sports tournament, Aerospace Games, and South Bay League--where they won the championship in 2019.
Space United @ The Association
Space United - 2019 South Bay League Champions
Space United-Mission:
Space United’s goal is to empower generations by establishing a professional soccer team, launching their integrative academic and soccer youth development program, and continuing their outreach efforts in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
The Space United Youth Academy, which is to launch in 2021, will emphasize an integrative mind-body curriculum that incorporates STEM learning, language immersion, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) on the soccer field.
In addition, Space United continues their active dedication to youth community outreach. On one recent occasion, three of Space United’s members were guest speakers at a local Title I Spanish dual language middle school. Through telling their life stories, the members engaged with students and sparked curiosity in engineering, soccer and building good character and integrity.
For Camilo, forming Space United has been a realization of his deepest passions, including the chance for him to give back to society. The combined forces of soccer and academics have given Camilo so much positive purpose that he hopes to be able to give our future generation a strong foundation to shape meaningful futures. After all, what cooler way to inspire, than by Space and Soccer.
Keep up with our progress on our social media:
- GOAL FOR LAUNCH!