Diego Chará’s smile is as much a hallmark of the Timbers captain as his tucked-in shirt. Leadership, joy, longevity, hard work, commitment…we’ve come to respect and appreciate—and hope to emulate—what’s only a partial list of Chará characteristics that would land as hyperbolic superlatives if so frequently ascribed to anyone else. The list of positive characteristics is earned and could go on, and yet one we always hold primary is that smile.

If you want to see Diego Chará really light up and show it to you, ask him about Club Deportivo Dinastía Chara (CDDC).

We just started to scratch the surface on the 7-year-old project started by Diego and his brothers in their Colombian hometown, near the end of our conversation in Diego’s podcast episode (where some connectivity issues and the end of our interview window affected part of the discussion of CDDC). And though we hope to circle back and spend more time in another podcast episode we can fully dedicate to CDDC, I wanted to share a little more of it here, as Green Is the Color is spending this week honoring Diego each day.

“The Chara brothers began their project by focusing on the community where they grew up: Comuna 6–Floralia neighborhood, in the northern part of Santiago de Cali,” reads the informational page about the club Diego and his brothers started in 2018. “It was there that the Chara Dynasty began preparing to seek the opportunities that would eventually allow them to fulfill many of their dreams.”

What started with 30-40 players in 2018 now involves over 100 players across four different age groups.

“The CDDC project,” the mission states, “seeks to empower children and young people to use sport as a vehicle that can change lives and leave a lasting impression, just as it did for the Chara family.”

To help achieve these goals and provide the structure for others to benefit from the Chara brothers’ experiences, the club follows stated Golden Rules, including academic regulations, behavior and punctuality expectations, values and principles, and even looking the part.

A year ago, the Timbers sent a crew to Colombia to document and produce this “Inside Soccer City” piece that explores Club Deportivo Dinastía Chara:

The next time Diego’s play gives you a memory at 1844 SW Morrison Street, know he’s also giving back—with his family—to the game, the place and, more important, the people who gave him so much.

While I can’t wait to sit down with Diego again to talk more about CDDC, you can follow the Club for yourself:

Join the Timbers Saturday August 16 for Diego Chará Bobblehead Night (click on picture for more information)

#RCTID