Global Team Talk Notes from the network
Paul Jeffries from City Soccer in the Community (USA) Page 7
Kona Shen from GOALS Haiti (Haiti) Page 1
Renato Paes de Andrade from Instituto Fazer Acontecer (Brazil) Page 11
Francis Gichuki from Trans-nzoia Youth Sports Association (Kenya) Page 3
Ashok Rathod from OSCAR Foundation (India) Page 9
Jeff Malanga from Breakthrough Chiparamba Sports Academy (Zambia) Page 5
The streetfootballworld network has grown to include 90 organisations from over 60 different countries around the world. Each organisation believes in the unique power of football to bring people together and to generate positive social change. This publication presents expert knowledge from leaders in the field of Development through Football. By sharing their thoughts and experiences in this collection of interviews, the directors of six member organisations in the streetfootballworld network demonstrate their unique approaches to using football as a tool for development.
GOALS Haiti
Kona Shen, Founder and Director
“I love that football has the ability to bring together different people for a common cause.”
Haiti is a country that continues to be challenged by environmental disasters, meaning many of its communities have limited public services and educational opportunities for young people. GOALS Haiti is a non-profit organisation that works under a three-tier model involving football activities, community service programmes and educational seminars. Based on the needs identified by individual communities, the organisation engages young people in environmental projects, such as clean-up and recycling programmes. They also implement a number of community outreach initiatives, like their interactive workshops on health education and disease prevention.
Kona wanted to unite the elements of social development and football, leading to the creation of GOALS Haiti in 2010.
GOALS Haiti Founder and Director Kona Shen began the organisation after spending some time in the city of Léogane, as well as in the small fishing village of Destra. During her time there, she had the opportunity to learn about the country of Haiti and, practicing daily with a girls’ football team, she quickly recognised popularity of the football in Haiti.
2. Who or what inspires you in your daily work?
After further studying foreign aid and environmental issues in Haiti,
1. What is the proudest achievement of GOALS Haiti? GOALS has had a busy couple of years and we’re thrilled to report that we reach over 600 kids every month. I think our biggest achievement is that we create an intensive, leadership-oriented approach that really empowers young people, their families, and our great staff on a community level. GOALS is all about driving long-term change from the ground up.
The kids and families that I meet in really rural parts of Haiti are remarkable. Their passion for improving their communities always motivates me to see what we can do better. I’m personally inspired by organisations like Grassroot Soccer that have been able to create incredibly effective programmes that ar e innovative, scalable, and fun for kids. I love that football has the ability to bring together different people for a common cause. 3. Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? Football is special in that everyone understands it immediately. To tackle issues like leadership, gender equality and community development, it’s enormously helpful to use sport as the core framework for your programmes. Everyone will come together for football, and this is the perfect launching point for projects that are focused on social change. The same values that are important on the field –
hard work, teamwork, heart – carry over into the rest of our lives. 4. What is the biggest lesson that GOALS Haiti has learned since it started? We’ve learned a lot about strategic growth and programme design, and about monitoring and evaluation practices. We’re not shy about looking to older organisations for advice and guidance. 5. What is the best part of being a participant in GOALS Haiti? Right off the bat, GOALS provides kids with their first ever experience of being on a ‘real’ team, with new equipment, daily practices, and professional coaches. The kids have so much pride when they wear their uniforms, and seeing them come together as a team is wonderful.
Cassandra
More generally, I think one of the best parts of being part of GOALS is that you become more confident, and that your community starts viewing you as a leader for the first time. 6. Please share a favourite story about a participant. Cassandra is a young woman from Destra, a remote fishing village. She was one of our first participants and was elected class president in our first year of the Dream Team Scholarship programme. Cassandra was shy at first, but her self-esteem grew on the field and she is now a community leader and a GOALStrained peer educator. She has become increasingly confident and
ambitious, and it has been really remarkable seeing her strengths emerge each year in our programmes. 7. What is something that we might not know about GOALS Haiti? Not everyone understands how unique our approach is in Haiti. We’re really committed to long-term development, hiring local leaders, and community-driven projects. We want to see generations of children grow up with this programme. For more information about GOALS Haiti and their programmes, please visit www.goalshaiti.org.
“We’re not shy about looking to older organisations for advice and guidance.”
Trans-nzoia Youth Sports Association
Francis Gichuki, Executive Director Trans-nzoia Youth Sports Association (TYSA) was founded in 2001 in Kenya’s Trans-nzoia County. The non-profit organisation runs football programmes for children under the age of 14, using the sport to promote social values like respect, teamwork and fair play that can be carried over into everyday life. TYSA has a strong volunteer base of over 50 people donating their time to the organisation’s football, education, and child participation and protection programmes. The organisation also runs a resource centre for girls to meet and share experiences, as well as a gender equality programme called Girls We Can.
“We play ‘value football’, incorporating lessons learned on the pitch into real life situations.”
Executive Director Francis Gichuki has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, and a vast amount of experience working in the field of youth empowerment and community development. 1. What is the proudest achievement of TYSA? Our proudest achievement was having the work we do locally obtain national recognition. We
received a 2010 UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Award in Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women from the MDG Board of Kenya. 2. Who or what inspires you in your daily work? The many children and young people whose lives we touch, the trust that the community bestows upon us, and the many partners that we learn from and with whom we share experiences are all very inspiring. 3. Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? We find football to be recreational and a readily acceptable means of mobilisation for youth in our community. We play ‘value football’, incorporating lessons learned on the pitch into real life situations. 4. What is the biggest lesson that TYSA has learned since it started? We’ve learned that you need to have passion in what you do. We
need to build lasting relationships, develop trust and patience, and be open to continuous learning. 5. What is the most fun part of being a participant in TYSA? The most fun part of being a participant in TYSA is simply being a participant in TYSA! TYSA’s approaches are simple, practical and relevant. Volunteerism is part of our culture. 6. Please share a favourite story about a specific participant. This is the story of Wilgister Simiyu, who joined TYSA in 2011: “I was the eighth child of 18 in a polygamous family. I joined TYSA because I wanted to play football and to help people in my community. The longer I
Wilgister Simiyu
stayed at TYSA, the more I realised that football was not an end in itself, but a means to achieving greater things in life. TYSA’s ‘play and learn’ motto inspired me and I became a girls’ coordinator at TYSA and learned a lot.
I am working towards a diploma in pharmacy.” 7. A question from GOALS Haiti: What is the best way for new network members to use the streetfootballworld network to work with others and create new partnerships?
“I realised that football is not an end in itself, but a means to achieving greater things in life.” Eventually, the Global Give Back Circle, a programme run by the Kenya Community Development Foundation, opened a new door for me and I realised that I wanted to become a nurse. I am currently studying at the Kenya Medical Training College in Nairobi where
It is important to use social media for regular communication. Use it to share your experiences, lessons learned and current challenges. For more information about TYSA and their programmes, please visit www.tysak.org.
Breakthrough Chiparamba Sports Academy
Jeff Malanga, Director
Breakthrough Chiparamba Sports Academy (BCSA) uses football as a tool to address a broad range of social issues. Heavily involved in the coordination of the Zambian Street Football Network, BCSA runs programmes for youth leadership, the environment and community development, as well as various refugee camp projects in close coordination with streetfootballworld network member Grassroot Soccer.
“Football brings people together, builds lasting relationships, promotes teamwork and builds confidence. �
In 2010, BCSA was part of the Zambian delegation at the Football for Hope Festival held in South Africa, and in 2012, we won the UK Zambians Excellence Award in Sport for Development. We also broke the world indoor football record.
However, our greatest achievement has definitely been inspiring and educating the next generation of young street footballers and seeing them achieve greatness, despite Executive Director of BCSA, Jeff their disadvantaged backgrounds. Malanga, has been involved in Through our leagues, local and the field of Development through international tournaments, and Sport since 2003, with experience in NGO management, project planning leadership development training, we have been able to reach out to and management, strategic planning, over 3000 boys and girls throughout Monitoring and Evaluation, HIV/ AIDS education, grassroots football Zambia. This was our dream in development and football coaching. 2003 and we are proud to have achieved this milestone. 1.What is the proudest 2.Who or what inspires you in achievement of BCSA? your daily work? BCSA has had many proud moments It is inspiring to give young people since it was initiated. We have hope for a better life through contributed to the development football, despite the daily of football at the grassroots level challenges that they face. The by sending 600 young people to the Gothia Cup (World Youth Cup) energy and enthusiasm that they since 1999, and many others to be have to make a difference in their communities is also inspiring. part of junior and senior national Seeing them learn about HIV/AIDS teams. prevention and water sanitation, or get a university degree with our support always inspires us to do more. 3. Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? Football not only gives young people hope, but it is a way of life. It brings people together, builds lasting relationships, promotes teamwork and builds confidence. We use it to tackle social issues affecting young people in our community, such as the lack of
access to education (BCSA provides scholarships to 200 boys and girls annually), HIV/AIDS, water sanitation and hygiene. 4. How is the concept of Development through Football perceived in Zambia? After more than 15 years of using Development through Football in Zambia, the concept is finally being understood. The government and others now appreciate and recognise the great work that we implement. Through meetings, social media, workshops, tournaments and projects, we are able to spread the message of Development through Football and increase our reach. However, there is still more work that needs to be done. There is a need to invest resources into Development through Football, both material and financial, a need to increase networking, reporting, and documentation of our impact, and also a need for improved data collection tools and effective monitoring and evaluation systems.
Emeldah Musonda
5.What is the biggest lesson that BCSA has learned since it started? The biggest lesson we have learned is that young people, if given the opportunity and the right platform, are able to make a huge difference, not only in their lives but in their communities and in their country. What they need are the right resources, mentorship and support structures. 6.Please share a favourite story about a specific participant. Emeldah Musonda joined BCSA in 2005 and was part of the first BCSA girls’ team. Over the years she has become a great football player and is a role model not only for her peers, but for the whole community. In 2011, she was part of the Gothia Cup. She then played for the Zambia’s national U-17 and U-20 teams. She comes from a humble background, living with her grandmother. When she first started playing football, she had to walk all the way from Chipata Compound, which is about an hour
and a half from the main BCSA playing field. Her endurance, will power and resilience finally paid off when she was selected to be part of the Zambian women’s team in the Zone VI Games in December 2012 in Lusaka. Zambia managed to win gold and Emeldah played in every game. The sky is the limit for Emeldah and we look forward to seeing her achieve even greater things. 7.What is something that we might not know about BCSA? The chairman of BCSA’s board is the former President of the Republic of Zambia. Mr. Rupiah Banda was the country’s Vice President before he became President in 2008. He was also the Vice President of the Football Association of Zambia and a Zambian Representative to the United Nations. For more information about BCSA and their programmes, please visit www.bsazambia. yolasite.com or www.breakthroughchiparamba.wordpress.com.
City Soccer in the Community
Paul Jeffries, Executive Director City Soccer in the Community provides inner-city children in the US with an opportunity to play football both during school and after-school hours. Formed as the US branch of Manchester City Football Club’s community development programmes, the organisation has also partnered with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington to build football pitches across the country. City Soccer in the Community now works with over 20 different schools and programmes in New York City and Los Angeles, using football to promote healthy living, teamwork and education. They have built a number of football fields in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago.
“The kids are the source of inspiration behind everything we do.”
Executive Director Paul Jeffries has a Master’s degree in Sports Management and runs the day-today activities of City Soccer in the Community’s school programmes. He also coaches with City Soccer in the Community’s partner organisation Downtown United Soccer Club.
1. What is the proudest achievement of City Soccer in the Community? Our proudest achievement was the construction of the rooftop field built for a public school in East Harlem, New York City. It initiated the benevolent partnership with the United Arab Emirates Embassy in the United States and Manchester City Football Club. It is a symbol of positive permanence that radiates throughout the community. 2. Who or what inspires you in your daily work? The kids are the source of inspiration behind everything we do. Everything we do is for them. Our best ideas originate from them. We listen to them, respect them and try to support them as best we can. 3. Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? First, I believe the game is natural for young people to play, and is especially accommodating for urban communities where space
and resources are limited.
Second, it is inclusive and democratic, and can unite people from all socio-economic backgrounds. Third, under the guidance of caring, compassionate coaches and mentors, the game teaches life skills that are far harder to develop in a classroom. We believe change starts with the individual and we want to empower the young people in our programmes by giving them all the tools they need to succeed.
4. How is the concept of Development through Football perceived in the United States? I believe the term is primarily referred to in US Soccer as the technical development of the player and of the game as it’s performed. I feel that we are still somewhat lacking in the areas of youth development and community development, or it’s not used as purposefully as it maybe in other countries. However, there are some brilliant people and organisations that have been doing great work in this area for many years, some of whom are streetfootballworld network members, but we are still only scratching the surface. 5. What is the biggest lesson that City Soccer in the Community has learned since it started? We’ve learned to listen to children. 6.Please share a favourite story about a specific participant. Some of my favourite stories probably wouldn’t make for an interesting read as they involve just simple acts of pure kindness. Recently though, we’ve been able to connect with one boy who has inspired us to accelerate our tutoring programme. While discussing with him what high schools he’d like to attend, he stared me in the eyes and said, “Coach, I want to go to a school where there is no violence.” Since connecting him to a tutor, his grades and attitude towards studying have improved and he’s now on a path that will lead to university.
“We’ve learned to listen to children.” 7. What is something that we might not know about City Soccer in the Community? Our community coaches working on the ground day in day with the kids are remarkable and selfless people. They have humble attitudes and huge hearts, always putting the kids first. They are the real drivers of Development through Football. For more information about City Soccer in the Community and their programmes, please visit www.city-soccer.org.
OSCAR Foundation
Ashok Rathod, Founder and Director 2007, receiving the Vocational Service Award from the Rotary Club Of Bombay Seacoast in 2011, and the participation of OSCAR’s Goa team in the 2012 Slum Soccer National Championship. 2.Who or what inspires you in your daily work?
The Organisation for Social Change, Awareness and Responsibility (OSCAR) Foundation is based in the Ambedkar Nagar slum of Mumbai, India. Through regular football sessions held three times a week, OSCAR imparts basic life skills to participants, seeking to break the cycle of school dropouts, gambling, substance abuse and early marriage. Founder and Director Ashok Rathod grew up in the area and witnessed many of his friends and classmates engaging in negative behaviours such as these. However, his father convinced him that it was important to stay in school and to continue his education. Ashok began playing football and volunteering at Magic Bus, another streetfootballworld network member in India, and later worked as one of the organisation’s youth mentors. In 2006, at the young age of 18, he founded OSCAR and began hosting regular football games for boys that agreed to stay in school. Though the programme started with only 18 boys, it now also has girls taking part in its educational programmes and football sessions.
1.What is the proudest achievement of OSCAR? Our proudest achievement is the increase in the number of our young leaders. In the beginning, we only had four, but now we have 135, of which 36 are girls. Some of our other notable achievements include receiving the Community Achievement Award from Door Step School in 2010, attending a coaching programme run by KNVB (the Dutch Football Association) in
The OSCAR children and the Young Leaders inspire me daily. When I see their progress, it always inspires me to do work harder and to expand OSCAR programmes to new areas. I have also been very lucky to have travelled on behalf of OSCAR, meeting inspirational people from other countries and from other similar NGOs. 3.Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? When I first created OSCAR, the most popular sport for local young people was cricket. However, I didn’t have enough money to buy cricket equipment, so I bought a football. I have found football to be very engaging for young people, which makes it a great teaching tool.
4.What is the biggest lesson that OSCAR has learned since it started? We have learned to always believe in our work and what we are doing. In the beginning, we had to face negativity from parents in our community who did not want their children to be playing sports. By working hard to convince them of the programme’s benefits, we managed to transform their attitudes. There have also been various people along the way who have inspired us and have given us the courage to keep expanding. This has really helped to motivate us further. 5.What is the most fun part of being a participant in OSCAR? There are many fun activities at OSCAR. Football sessions delivered by Young Leaders allow children to learn new skills and to be challenged in a fun and safe environment. OSCAR teams enter both local and national tournaments. Aside from football, OSCAR also organises social and cultural events. At our most recent event, Funtoosh, over 1500 children from the community participated in different games, which were designed and run by the OSCAR Young Leaders. OSCAR also offers its Young Leaders exchange programmes, allowing them to work in different states and communities across India.
“I have found football to be very engaging for young people, which makes it a great teaching tool.”
for him to learn English at the Sujaya Foundation. Since the eleventh standard is always taken in English in India, he continued his studies with confidence, often helping friends who hadn’t received any tuition for English.
Shankar Rathod
6.Please share a favourite story about a specific participant. Govinda Shankar Rathod grew up in the Cuffe Parade slum in Colaba, Mumbai. At the age of 12, he could not continue his education because of his family’s financial difficulties. For two years, he worked in a hotel for 600 rupees a month, never once setting foot in a school. Govinda’s brother, who still lived in the slum, insisted that he go back to school. He returned to Cuffe Parade, but his parents were only able to pay for one year of his education. At age 15, Govinda found himself living without his parents and without financial support. 15 is a vulnerable age – an age where many boys from the slum fall prey to smoking, gambling and especially drinking. It was then that Govinda joined OSCAR and began to experience positive changes in his life. He improved his work ethic, raising his average from 42% in the eighth standard to 74% in the tenth standard, all the while working as a housekeeper. In the summer of Govinda’s tenth year, OSCAR paid
Govinda has always been a keen football player, eventually learning to coach at OSCAR. He has now been coaching twice a week for over a year and says his proudest moment was when he travelled to Bihar in March 2011 to teach football to volunteers from an NGO, some who were more than twice his own age. He also taught them how to educate young children about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, smoking and gambling. Govinda is currently in his twelfth year and is intending on going to university to study hotel management. 7. What is something that we might not know about OSCAR? OSCAR now has programmes in five different Indian states. In 2011, OSCAR registered as a UK Charity and continues to fundraise from its office in the UK. For more information about OSCAR and their programmes, please visit www.oscarfootballclub.blogspot.com.
Instituto Fazer Acontecer Renato Paes de Andrade, Executive Coordinator
1.What is the proudest achievement of IFA?
Established in 2003, Instituto Fazer Acontecer (IFA) is based in the city of Salvador, in northeast Brazil. Running educational football programmes across the state of Bahia, IFA teaches young people social values like solidarity, respect, teamwork and discipline. The organisation has a strong focus on changing Brazilian public policy, seeking to integrate educational sport programmes into the official curricula of public schools. Executive Coordinator Renato Paes de Andrade has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, specialising in public health, and has written academic work on subjects such as the gap between professional football and small Development through Football programmes, the psychology behind competitive sport, and how security issues can hinder youth sports in low-income areas in Brazil.
IFA’s proudest achievement has been our ability to influence some of the public policies in the cities where we work. Last September, we held a capacity workshop for 120 teachers from various schools in the region, showing them how to incorporate educational sports programmes into their schools. After participating in the workshop, teachers from communities such as Teofilandia and Barrocas were able to formulate policies for implementation in their schools. We are a small organisation, which makes it difficult to spread our Development through football ideas in huge cities like Salvador. However, our work has reached a political level in these small cities, and we are now looking to expand our programmes to another eight cities across Bahia. 2.Who or what inspires you in your daily work? I’m a psychologist. I’m not really your typical sports guy, but I have studied the football industry quite
a bit. I completed a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in São Paulo, and continued studying in Salvador, where I specialised in public health. I investigated the psychological norms of the football industry, specifically the assumption that football is simply a means to financial success, and the lack of connection between sport and education. In Salvador, I worked with the Vitória football club and it was there that I became even more aware of the disconnect between professional football and education. This idea is what inspires us in our daily work at IFA. We want to bring these two concepts closer together. 3. Why is football the perfect tool for creating social change in your community? Brazil is a country recognised worldwide for its love of football. If football is used as a way to teach people, it is a very powerful tool. In Brazilian communities, football is often only thought about on a professional level, but when we
introduce the concept of Development through Football to communities, they always love it! We are about to host the 2014 World Cup, and we really need to take advantage of this event as a way to publicise Development through Football. Legacies like airports and other infrastructure should be the responsibility of the government all the time, not just during this football event. A World Cup legacy that would really benefit Brazil would be FIFA’s support for Development through Football projects. 4.How is the concept of Development through Football perceived in Brazil? As I mentioned before, football is only considered on a professional level in Brazil. Education is often left out of the picture. We don’t even have official physical education teachers in schools! Football is the most popular sport in Brazil, but the educational aspect is still missing. 5. Please share a favourite story about a specific participant. Mayra Silva was a girl from Castelo Branco who had big dreams of playing football. Since
“There is a constant divide between high-level sports and educational sports programmes.”
it is not common to see girls playing football in Brazil, she didn’t get very many chances to play.
7. A question from City Soccer in the Community: Aside from funding, what is currently your biggest challenge?
In 2011, IFA started a project in her community and she finally had the opportunity. She is exposed to a lot of issues in her community, the most prominent being violence. Her mother agreed that the project is very important, as it gives Mayra something to do in her free time. Mayra has become an exceptional football player and a strong leader, often inviting other girls to participate. The number of girls playing football in Castelo Branco has grown a lot since 2010 and is still growing today!
The main challenge for us is to convince people that football can be used as a tool for education. There is a constant divide between high-level sports and educational sports programmes, like the ones implemented by IFA. We need to change the perceptions of government officials and people in the professional football industry, but also those of young people in Brazil. Instead of viewing football as pure competition, where your opponent is the enemy, we need young people to see football as a sport that can generate friendship, personal development and change in their communities.
6.What is the greatest benefit of being a member in the streetfootballworld network?
For more information about Instituto Fazer and their programmes, please visit www.fazeracontecer.org.br.
We have only been a member for the past year, a year that has seen a lot of changes within the network, but we’ve had the chance to get to know many other Development through Football organisations. With some organisations, you have to fill out a lot of paperwork and you don’t really see results, but at streetfootballworld – and especially because of the streetfootballworld Brasil office – we really feel like part of something. We’re looking forward to playing an active part in the network, and hope to see more academic research and Monitoring and Evaluation strategies develop over time. In the meantime, I am very much looking forward to the upcoming network member meeting in Brazil. Mayra Silva