Franz Gastler (born in 1982 in Edina, Minnesota) is an American social activist, teacher and football coach who works primarily in India.

[4] He founded Yuwa-India with the financial help of his high school friends, Greg Deming, Sephen Peterson, and Erik Odland, to use football as a platform to combat child marriage, illiteracy and human trafficking among girls in rural India.

[5] Yuwa (youth in Hindi) is an NGO "that teaches girls to play [football], and promotes health and education.

"[6] Gastler, who never played or watched a football match before, started teaching the sport to girls between five and seventeen years of age.

[5][7] The program has been quite successful and has received endorsements from the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Nike, Coca-Cola India, and many others.