Kotaro Umeda is a former midfielder for Joinville Esporte Clube in the Brazilian Championship and Tormenta FC in the USL, as well as an international author.

As a first generation immigrant from Tokyo, Japan, he has had the opportunity to overcome many struggles including racism, bullying, injuries, life abroad, sports complications, and much more to become the first ever Asian Athlete for Joinville Esporte Clube.

Umeda became the brand ambassador for the United Way of Greater Cleveland in 2021 after donating all of his proceeds from his book I'm With You to help people in need. His speeches provide a mixture of motivation, inspiration, and self-help to improve performance in every area of life.

He is fluent in Japanese, English, and Portuguese and provides speeches in all three languages around the world. As he speaks to people all around the world, he hopes to help one person at a time.

Soccer, Sports, Athlete, Sports Motivation, Sports Speakers, Japan, Japanese Heritage, Bilingual, Authors, Humanitarians, Humanitarian Aid, Self-Improvement, Empowerment, Overcoming Adversity, Children's Authors, Asian & Pacific Heritage, Asia & The Pacific, Discrimination