Lia Lewis

Lia Lewis Gribius (born July 9,[1] 1997) is an English freestyle football competitor and association football global ambassador who was raised in France. Having trained in dance most of her youth, she took up freestyle football in her 20s and became a world champion.

Not to be confused with Lis Lewis, Lisa Lewis, or Liam Lewis.
Lia Lewis
Personal information
Full nameLia Lewis Gribius
Born (1997-07-09) July 9, 1997
London
EducationTrinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
OccupationCompetitor and ambassador
Years active2018–present
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Other interestsBallet and contemporary dance
Sport
SportFreestyle football
PartnerMauricio Doehner
Medal record
Women's freestyle football
Representing  United Kingdom
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Red Bull Street Style 1 – –
Super Ball – 1 –
Total 1 1 0
Gold medal – first place 2021 Valencia freestyle football women's
Silver medal – second place 2021 Prague freestyle football women's

Background

According to her talent agency profile, Lewis was born in London and raised in the Brittany region of France.[2] She was a competitive dancer from approximately 2010 to 2018.[3] Since her mother wanted to raise bilingual children, she moved with her parents, Stéphane,[4] a businessman,[5] and Karen (née Lewis) Gribius, an interior designer, to Baden near the Gulf of Morbihan in 2001. She has two siblings, Emily and Alexander. Her maternal grandparents are Irish (grandmother) and Welsh (grandfather).[4] Her father is French.[3]

Career

Growing up, Lewis never participated in any sports involving a ball.[6] She studied ballet and contemporary dance for 18 years. After struggling to make it in the dance world, she left the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London at age 21 and switched to freestyle football in 2018. In 2020, she finished fourth in the Red Bull Street Style Freestyle Football World Championship.[7][8] Starting in September 2020, she was featured in a weekly skills guide on the CIC sports show on a Welsh language S4C every Friday.[9] During the COVID-19 lockdowns in December 2020 and January 2021, Lewis participated in the Amazon-sponsored Very Important Breakfast Club by giving e-visit lessons at schools in Doncaster, Poole, Brent, Scunthorpe and Edinburgh that could be subsequently viewed on the Amazon.co.uk YouTube channel.[10][11][12][13]

In January 2021, Vanity Fair dubbed her freestyle football's rising star.[14] Lewis partnered with Pringles for the brand's football campaign in Summer 2021 by creating a trick with an empty Pringles can.[15][16][17] In August 2021, Lewis was runner-up to Aguśka Mnich in the 2021 Super Ball tournament.[18] In November 2021, London-based Lewis, who represents the United Kingdom during international competitions,[19] became the Red Bull Street Style Freestyle Football World Champion.[6][20][21] In 2022, she won a Freestyle World Championship and partnered with Supa Strikas for a YouTube series.[22] In February 2023, she became an ambassador/spokesperson for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup as the dedicated skills coach of its World Cup Trophy Tour, that visited all 32 participating nations.[23][24][25]

Notes
  1. Lewis, Lia (9 July 2023). "Here's to another birthday". Instagram. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  2. "Lia Lewis". Globalfreestyle.com. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  3. "Meet Our Skills Coach, Lia Lewis". FIFA. 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  4. "Karen Gribius. "Les jeux à Londres, c'est extraordinaire"". Le Télégramme. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  5. "Zones commerciales. Ça repart à l'ouest !". Le Télégramme. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  6. Lewis, Lia and Vicki Hodges (25 November 2021). "Meet Lia Lewis – the freestyle football world champion who hadn't kicked a ball until three years ago". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  7. Morris, Natalie (22 September 2020). "Lia Lewis: Freestyle football TikTok star tackles her fear of failure to inspire young girls". Metro. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  8. Cossar, Vicki-Marie (21 July 2021). "TikTok star Lia Lewis reveals why freestyle football should be your next sport obsession". Metro. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. Gregory, Rhys (17 September 2020). "Sports TV series returns to S4C this September". Wales247.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  10. Hearn, Adrian (11 December 2020). "Professor Green, Rachel Riley and Joe Sugg deliver some Christmas magic to schools". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  11. "Star surprise for pupils". Daily Record. 10 December 2020. p. 17. ProQuest 2468484175. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  12. "Let Alexa offer some help with home schooling". Express and Star. 27 January 2021. p. 29. ProQuest 2480972474. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  13. "Amazon surprises schoolchildren with star-studded 'Very Important Breakfast Clubs'". Amazon. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  14. "Quick Fire Questions with... Lia Lewis". Vanity Fair. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  15. Shaw, Neil (9 June 2021). "Pringles brings back two popular flavours". Kent and Sussex Courier. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. Lewis, Anna (25 June 2021). "Pringles Come In 3ft Tubes In Italy And We're So Jealous". Delish. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  17. "Pringles aims to put the fun in football this summer". Grocery Trader. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  18. "Aguśka Mnich and Erlend Fagerli claim the title of 2021 Super Ball champions". World Freestyle Football Association. 22 August 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  19. "Official Champions". World Freestyle Football Association. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  20. "VIDEO: Lia Lewis stuns field to win maiden Red Bull Street Style title". Red Bull. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  21. "Devotos de Ronaldinho". El As. 21 November 2021. p. D2. ProQuest 2600117148. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  22. "Tobias Becs and Lia Lewis World Champion Freestylers Join Brand New "Supa Strikas Freestyle Challenge" Kids Animation Show". Moonbug Entertainment. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  23. "FIFA Women's World Cup™ Trophy Tour is 'Going Beyond' to Inspire Global Excitement". CNBC. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  24. "Colourful Melbourne launches Trophy Tour". FIFA. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  25. "FIFA Women's World Cup™ Trophy Tour is 'Going Beyond' to Inspire Global Excitement". FIFA. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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