SCORES! 4 Jan-July 2012

ISSUE 4 JAN-JULY 2012

Increasing refugee participation in sports activities – from the Refugee Council and the Football Foundation

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THE OLYMPICS? WELCOME TO the fourth issue of SCORES! which you’re likely to be reading just as the London Olympics kick off. If you haven’t yet made any plans to get involved in any sporting activities during the Olympics, take a look at page 4 for some ideas in your area.

The second year of the SCORES project is now coming to an end.

As planned the SCORES project has been operating in the West Midlands. During the last six months, the focus of our work has been to work with partners in the West Midlands to strengthen the capacity of community groups and community organisations in order to develop projects that encourage and increase participation in sports and physical activities.

We w o u l d l i k e t o t h a n k o u r p a r t n e r s i n th e re g i o n particularly the Birmingham Ne w Communities Network (BNCN) and the Coventry New Communities Forum for their unprecedented support. With

help from the two forums, the SCORES project has provided funding surgeries to organisations in Coventry and Birmingham. We have also started the implementation of our ambitious goal of training 15 football coaches across the West Midlands as we strive to strengthen existing football teams and help to start new ones. To date, the first round of 6 football coaches have been trained and achieved Level 1 Football coaching qualifications, with the second round starting very soon.

Over the next six months, we will continue to provide advice, information, support and training to refugee community organisations (RCOs) in London as well as in the West Midlands.

99 For any queries about the SCORES project activities and how you can access its services, please contact Ezechias Ngendahayo on ezechias.ngendahayo@ refugeecouncil.org.uk

SPORTING SISTERS! Holly Challenger, Project Coordinator at Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS) talks to SCORES! about a project they ran to raise awareness of Muslim women participation in UK sport Sporting Sisters – Stories Of Muslim Women In Sport is a short film, inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games, which brings together archival research and interviews with different generations of Muslim women, to preserve their voices for future generations as part of a one year Heritage Lottery Funded Young Roots project which we supported along with

London Metropolitan University and the Women’s Library. The project was carried out by 10 young Muslim women aged 16-25 from across London.

One of the aims of the film is to encourage more Muslim women into sport in the UK. The film explores the barriers that Muslim women face to participating in sports. Clothing was one of the key themes. The women who we interviewed for the project found that clothing minimized their access to certain sports. The project looks at those women who have succeeded in participating in sports and provides options and solutions to these potential barriers.

The new generation of Muslim women living in non,continued , back page

If you would like more information about how SCORES can support your RCO, call Ezechias Ngendahayo on 020 7346 1163 or email ezechias.ngendahayo@refugeecouncil.org.uk

PROJECT NEWS DO YOU WANT TO START A NEW FOOTBALL TEAM IN BIRMINGHAM? The Birmingham County FA have been working in partnership with a host of new and emerging communities from across Birmingham and bringing them together to create a new 11-a-side Football league. The Birmingham Communities League is a development league that is designed so that the FA can work closely with new teams to establish new clubs. The league was £60 to enter and then £12.50 per game for the referee and the FA provided all the equipment and paid for the pitches. There were a total of 14 teams participate last season with further interested teams this coming season.

The Birmingham FA have been great supporters and fore runners in trying to ensure that the 11-a-side format of the game is accessible to all and have been very supportive in the development of these types of league. If you are interested in creating a new team or other football opportunities please contact matthew.price@birminghamfa.com

Saltley Stallions FC – Birmingham Communities League Champions

How Street League can change the lives of disadvantaged young people Oni Oviri, Progressions Coordinator at Street League, explains how she re-engages young people back into education and employment I HAVE always had a passion for working with young people and my role at Street League enables me to play a key role in changing the lives of disadvantaged young people. At Street League, I prepare young people to re-engage with education or employment or to consider training options such as apprenticeships. We progress over 75% of young people back into education, employment or training; we are very good at what we do!

I teach a recognised qualification on the Street League Academy programmes that addresses candidates CVs, teaches good interview skills techniques, and helps them learn about how interpersonal skills/behaviours can be applied in a work environment. We also offer a module on nutrition,

applicable to all the football training they undertake on our seven-week Academy programme.

I have had so many success stories but one that stands out is a young gentleman

who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

He was sceptical about lasting the sevenweek-long Academy programme as he said he had “never stuck to anything in his life before.” He was very quiet in the initial few weeks but gradually came out of his shell and started integrating more with the other

participants on the programme. As one of the older participants – in his mid-twenties – he became like a mentor to the rest of the younger participants. They regularly asked him for advice and assistance and in turn this helped to boost his self-belief that he could “belong” to a group that would accept him for who he is despite his past troubles. This quiet young participant went on to secure his first ever job as an Apprentice Finance Coordinator and now works full time at Street League as a Football Coach.

In our work with refugee community groups, we try to convey the importance of sport not only for keeping fit but other benefits such as life skills, self-development, and gaining employment. This can also help them to think more broadly when applying for funding for their projects.

99 www.streetleague.co.uk 99 info@streetleague.co.uk.

99 London office: 020 8536 5330

THE RCO SPOTLIGHT

SCORES! hears about the sport successes of RCOs

Burundian team is creating future national players THE BURUNDIAN Football Team in Coventry was set up by Constantin Mutima in 2007.

A former striker for the Burundian national football team, Constantin arrived in the UK as a refugee in 2002. To maximise his extensive sporting experience from Burundi, he completed a three-year football coaching course at a college in Coventry.

During this time, he started coaching young players in the third division team of Kenilworth

Town. This was the start of his passion for coaching football.

As his reputation grew, parents kept asking him if he would coach their children; this is how the Burundian Football Team in Coventry began.

The Burundian Football Team currently has no funding, however Constantin coaches 25 young players every week. He only asks that the parents buy their child one football, so that they have enough to train properly.

The players are aged between

Young aspiring players from the Burundian Football Team in Coventry.

Inset: Training with Constantin Mutima 11-18 and are from a variety of countries and backgrounds. They can only train during the summer months, in a local park, due to the inclement winter weather and cost of accessing pitches.

Constantin has had some great successes from his coaching. He trained two gifted Burundian boys: Gaer Bigirimana and Saido Berahino who have both gone on to play professionally for Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion respectively.

Constantin says: “It’s crucial

for young p e ople, not just refugees, to access sport activities because sport can educate young people about discipline, respect and ultimately stop them getting involved in crime.”

He adds : “S ome parent s cannot afford to send their kids to sports clubs, so Refugee Council and others need to continue to help groups like us to fundraise for such crucial activities.”

99 To contact Constantin, email: constantinmutima@yahoo.co.uk

The solution is always to involve more people Hornstars was established in 1995 with the aim of setting up a football team to engage local Somali youths who were loitering around the Harlesden, Stonebridge and Wembley area in London. Abdi Fara, a Development Manger at Hornstars tells us more AT HORNSTARS we use sport in particular football for community integration, community safety, participation and to gain qualifications such as coaching, mentoring and refereeing.

We organised a very successful community league that brought together conflicting estates to play against one another in a football league for 12 weeks.

These young men were involved in gang activity and were from rivalling estates. Influential community people were brought together to use football

to ease tensions with the young people and to broker a positive dialogue.

The league was a great success and broke down many barriers and territorial myths.

We have faced many barriers over the years, initially within our own Somali community who didn’t want change, and then, as we started to participate in football leagues, we faced more barriers with facilities, resources and volunteers. The solutions is always involve more people: ‘many hands make light work’.

You must get the support from service providers and publicise your work.

Sport can achieve wonders. For example, we had a young participant, Raheem Sterling, from our holiday programme who we later coached for Brent London youth games team in 2009 and who was the winning captain for us. He made his premier league debut this year for Liverpool FC at the age of 17.

99 www.hornstars.org or abdi.farah@hornstars.org

Young players involved in Hornstars’ various football projects

Olympic torch relay route AN ONLINE map gives street-by-street details as the Olympic Flame travels through more than 1,000 communities.

An average of 115 Torchbearers a day will carry the Flame during its 8,000-mile journey around the UK before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July 2012 at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

The Flame will be carried within 10 miles of over 95% of the population.

If your community has not yet done so, perhaps you could start your own Olympic celebrations by organising a Community Games.

Community Games support people across the West Midlands to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics and Paralymic games by organising their community events.

99 For details on Community games taking place in your local area visit: www.communitygames.org.uk

SPORTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR 14–25 YEAR OLDS IN BIRMINGHAM Sportivate captures the excitement of sport surrounding the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by providing innovative opportunities for ‘semi-sporty’ 14 – 25 year olds in a sport of their choice. The programme

funds 6 – 8 weeks of coaching sessions to guide participants into regular participation within their community.

Funding is available for four years, from April 2011 until March 2015, during which time Birmingham

aims to retain around 7,500 young people on its projects. The deadline for second round Year 2 applications (October 2012 – March 2013) is Friday 24 August 2012.

99 For more details contact: Ashlie.caddick@birmingham.gov.uk

FINDING FUNDING

sported. funded project Athletic Small Heath

Sported. funding RCOs in West Midlands With a growing membership of RCO focussed sports projects the charity sported. has recently awarded a number of projects in the West Midlands with funding, through its grants programmes.

With support from its volunteer business mentors, REMAP Link Ltd has been awarded £9,000 under the large grant funding for a new Coventry-based football and indoor games predominantly focussed on the Somali community.

Small grant recipients include Carelink WM who are using a grant of £2,000 to develop a multi-sports project aimed at young people originating from Central Africa.

Groups who wish to apply for support must complete the expression of interest form at www.sported.org.uk/ get-involved/members 99 For more information contact the West Midlands Regional Manager: 07901 339336 or j.ellery@sported.org.uk.

£8m available for innovative sports for disabled people projects AT PRESENT, only one in six disabled adults plays sport regularly. Sport England want to change this.

The Inclusive Sport Fund has been set up by Sport England with £8 million of National Lottery Funding.

It will invest in programmes designed to grow the number of disabled young people (age 14+) and adults regularly playing sport.

The fund is looking for innovative, scalable and replicable projects that make it easier and more enjoyable for disabled people to take part in sport and physical activity more often.

99 Deadline: 5pm on 31 August 2012 99 Sport England: 08458 508 508 99 www.sportengland.org/funding/ inclusive_sport1.aspx

Refugee Council is a registered charity Charity number: 1014576 Company number: 2727514

SPORTING SISTERS ,from , front page Muslim countries are fighting between their religious and ethnic identity. For example, a young Muslim woman from a Pakistani origin may be restricted from participating in sports due to her ethnic and cultural background as it is not considered feminine, rather than reasons concerning her religion, which actually encourages women to participate in sports.

The young women who participated in the project feel that it is important for Muslim women to take the initiative to form their own women-only groups, they say if you want it to happen you have to make it happen yourselves!

99 To find out more visit: www.iars.org.uk 99 h.challenger@iars.org.uk 99 To watch the film visit: http://youtu.be/vamUYU-6oIY

Schools can do more to close exercise gender gap IN PARTNERSHIP with the Youth Sport Trust, The Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation recently published their Changing the Game for Girls report which highlights that while some schools are performing very well by providing environments and activities which ensure girls remain active, there is still a challenge to turn good practice into common practice.

This results in the worr ying statistic that only 12% of 14 year old girls are reaching recommended levels of physical activity – half the number of boys at the same age. This is despite three quarters (74%) of girls saying they would like to be more active.

The report recommends what government, schools and teachers can do to encourage and support more girls being active.

A toolkit packed with practical advice and tips about how to help girls enjoy PE and school sport is also available here: 99 http://wsff.org.uk/ publications/fact-sheets/ changing-the-game-for-girls 99 info@wsff.org.uk