Our Story
2012
The dream of Joga Bonito began in 2012 while Julian Guilbeault "JWLZ" was in college at the University of St. Thomas.
After a disappointing college career filled with injury he had lost his passion for the "beautiful game."
While coaching for Greg wheaton's company ISSE , Kyle Johnson, approached Julian and asked him, "can you freestyle?"
julian had always been able to juggle a ball well with his size 14 feet but had no idea the tremendous changes this one simple question would bring to his life...
Kyle Johnson, social entrepreneur, and philanthropist, believed in julian as a young college student, making him the co-founder of Joga Bonito. His life would never be the same...
Since that day julian dedicated the past 5 years to learning freestyle and journeying into the world of freestyle and street soccer.
Through Kyle, Julian met his best friend and business partner Michael "Balam" Morales. Balam quickly restored Julian's passion for the game with his enthusiasm and love for the game.
2013
Joga Bonito was coming to life and what a beautiful dream it was becoming before our very eyes.
Kyle had made us feel like celebrities in the soccer world. We began doing pre-game performances for the Minnesota United FC at the Metrodome to get our name out.
The feeling of fans cheering you on in amazement was the most intoxicating and life-giving experience Julian and michael had felt. Even more important was the memories and friendships they were creating.
2014
Joga Bonito was a success. We were running our very own Joga Bonito futsal program.
Our students were having fun and improving rapidly... Providing highlight videos for the kids, showcasing their excellence was the icing on the cake.
Julian and michael got hired by Bravo Entertainment and flown to Dallas, Texas to perform for the international bank, Santander that summer. performing on stage for the first time at Tony Sanneh's Gala 4 Goals in front of hundreds of soccer lovers. The dream continued...
2015
All dreams have some set backs though... In 2015, we realized that although we were having fun.. expenses and responsibilities were piling up. We all had full-time jobs and the time needed to grow Joga Bonito was not there anymore...
Kyle made the difficult decision to step back from Joga Bonito to pursue other opportunities. Julian took an opportunity as the Technical Director at NSSA while working as the sales manager at a biodiesel manufacturer in Minnesota.
michael began working at Coerver and coaching high school soccer for Southwest. Time is our greatest asset and the time needed to grow Joga Bonito was not their anymore... Joga Bonito still was performing at events such as the Gala 4 Goals and local soccer club jamboree/ community events.
2016
julian and michael had worked too hard to give up... 4 years of freestyle and street soccer training was paying off. Julian and michael were shooting freestyle videos with the likes of Christian Rameriz and getting hired for big name events. Joga Bonito was hired by Ingster Marketing to help sell tickets for the Chelsea Vs. AC Milan event.
Joga Bonito was featured on WCCO, in the Start Tribune, and even feature on the Official Chelsea Youtube account (although they only used about 1 second of footage!) Things really started taking off!
2017
The most pivotal year so far for Joga Bonito. The Joga Bonito Soccer School has begun! Partnering with HGRA, Joga Bonito is running their unique and fun programming for U5 boys and girls in the Highland MacGroveland area. HGRA is where Julian began his soccer career and now he coaches his 4-year-old daughter Mackenzie "MKNZ" along with around 150-200 of her friends.
This was thanks to Bill Driver, Former President of HGRA. A special man who unselfishly served youth soccer in St. Paul for over 30 years.
Joga Bonito WAS WORKING WITH KIDS OF all ages to create a fun and inclusive environment where our students can learn, grown, and most importantly enjoy the "beautiful game."
JULIAN QUIT HIS COPORATE JOB SELLING BIODIESEL TO RUN JOGA BONITO FULL-TIME. THIS WAS AN EXCITING AT SCARY DECISION THAT PRESENTED MANY OPPORTUNITES AND CHALLENGES.
2018-2019
Things have continued to come together. Joga Bonito US has become a family business for Julian, wife Caty, daughter Mackenzie, and son Oliver along with our fabulous team of freestylers.
we were working with around 100 kids that train with us in our programs on a regular basis. We have grown into more than a freestyle activation company, now we are training kids, and putting on many free events for the community.
Joga Bonito was putting on free street soccer festivals for the community at Edgcumbe Rec Center with music and love. Adults and kids coming together to play for the love of the game rather than compete.
2020-2023
Joga Bonito performed on stage 2 times on stage at USA Cup in front of thousands of soccer players. In 2021 Julian performed on stage with his daughter Mackenzie, truely one of the most special moments of his life.
Joga Bonito began running futsal teams in Minnesota Futsal League and several other local leagues. In 2023 Joga Bonito won 3 championships trophies.
Joga Bonito was running a very special summer camp called Summer Adventures. Julian, his friend Andy, and wife Caty would spend all summer playing soccer and biking around the twin cities with a group of awesome kids. They would train from 9-11:30am and then bike for an hour have lunch and then play some more soccer. We combined with Coach David's group Futbol for All and would spend hot summer days at the Como Pool or local lakes like Lake Hiawatha.
Julian became friends with a very special man name Sam Diatta. Sam Diatta's knowlege of soccer was fasinating and he opened up his eyes to a different way of seeing the game. This way of thinking was called Total Football. Julian dedicated these years to understanding Total Football and how it can be applied in futsal and translated to soccer. Sam Diatta currently runs his own small business called DOFTG and is helping kids understand that fluidity of movement and patterns seen in the highest levels of soccer.
Julian has coached the UST Club Soccer team for the past 3 season and has the opportunity to work with former D3 soccer players and many all-state caliber players. The most impressive accolade we earned was beating U of M "A" team and qualifying for regionals each year. The goal is to one day to make it to the national tournament.
Joga Bonito currently serves as a partner to the U18 league at HGRA and works with close to 100 highschool athletes in St. Paul from Central, SPA, Highland, Cretin, and several other schools.