In a video that originally aired in June of 2009, CNN’s Nkepile Mabuse reports on FIFA’s desire to leave a legacy in South Africa that will last far beyond the 2010 World Cup. Keep an eye out for Grassroot Soccer shirts, we’re a partner in the Football For Hope movement and the Skillz Curriculum is being taught at many of these centers.
Source: The Notre Dame Observer, by Laura Myers (9/22/09)
No shoes? No problem.
This weekend Notre Dame will become the latest school to host Lose the Shoes, a 3-on-3 barefoot soccer tournament to benefit Grassroot Soccer.
The tournament – organized by the Irish men’s soccer coach Bobby Clark and MBA student Luke Scullion – will feature 32 teams of three players each. The teams will play soccer Saturday afternoon on South Quad, and the championship will be played Sunday during halftime of Notre Dame’s game against Cincinnati.
“We want to get it started this year, and hopefully do it every year,” Scullion said. “Like Bookstore Basketball, we want to make it part of Notre Dame tradition.”
Each participant must donate at least $10, though more donations are welcome.
Prizes will be awarded to the winning team as well as to the team that raises the most money and to the team that scores the most points in a single game. Scullion said the prizes are not final but may include basketball tickets and Grassroots gear.
Scullion said other fundraisers will be held throughout the afternoon, including a heading tournament and a shoot-out in which students go against a goalie.
Grassroot is an organization that raises AIDS awareness in Africa through children’s soccer programs. Founded in 2002 by Tommy Clark, son of Bobby Clark, the program has already spread to 14 countries in Africa and two in Latin America.
Tommy Clark said he felt the need to start the organization after playing professional soccer in Africa and seeing the effect AIDS had on the community.
“People I was playing with and teaching with ended up dying with AIDS,” he said. “I wanted to do something about it.”
Scullion, who played semi-pro soccer in England before a broken leg cut his career short, spent his summer interning with Grassroot in Africa.
“We went out to the villages, worked with the kids, held tournaments,” he said. “I spoke with some of the coaches, who said if they didn’t have these tournaments the kids would be out on the streets, and we wouldn’t know what they were up to.”
Scullion said the tournaments also served as creative ways to teach kids about AIDS while playing soccer. For example, children would have to answer a question about the disease before shooting a goal.
“It gave kids someone to talk to,” Scullion said. “Over there there’s a bit of a stigma, they just try to hush it up, sweep it under the rug. This opens up the lines of communication.”
Grassroot also provides AIDS screening for the children and its partners then provide counseling and other services to those who test positive.
Lose the Shoes was started in 2006 by Zak Kaufman, then a student at Dartmouth, as a way to spread awareness about Grassroot to colleges and high schools. It has already held tournaments in 80 schools and has raised over $150,000.
“All I did was give a little talk at Dartmouth and Zak Kaufman was one of the young people in the crowd who wanted to do something,” Tommy Clark said. “His idea was to engage people who like playing soccer. It was a way to gather people.”
An e-mail will be sent to students today with instructions on how to sign up; spots are limited because of the small number of teams.
“Maybe next year everyone will be talking about it and want to get involved, so we could have more teams,” Scullion said.
Members of the UV Lightning U8-U9 team proudly showing their support of Grassroot Soccer on opening day.
Grassroot Soccer and the Lightning Soccer Club have formed an exciting new partnership beginning in the Fall of 2009, with Grassroot Soccer emblazoned across the front of all Lightning uniforms this season!
But the connection between these two organizations has been around for a while, with Grassroot Soccer CEO Tommy Clark himself an alumni of the Lightning SC program, and his father Bobby Clark was one of the founders of the Lightning Soccer Club. An Upper Valley institution since 1983, Lightning Soccer plays throughout New Hampshire and will help reinforce GRS’ message and raise awareness wherever their teams compete this season.
In addition, Lightning SC will be hosting a number of events throughout the year in support of GRS, including a number of Lose The Shoes tournaments in the Upper Valley.
Grassroot Soccer and Lightning SC would like to thank Nike for their support of this partnership.
GRS' Cape Town Skillz Coaches, Phumla Dyonta, Thembinkosi Sikinya, and Andile Rafeni celebrate the arrival of the Skillz Coach's DVD
On Thursday, September 10th, Grassroot Soccer South Africa received 1,000 copies of the new Skillz Coach’s DVD, which will be distributed to all Skillz Coaches as GRS rolls out the new Skillz curriculum throughout South Africa.
The result of many months of scripting, filming, and editing, the Skillz Coach’s DVD represents a long-time GRS dream to create an ongoing training tool highlighting model program delivery and presenting tips for improving facilitation skills. The DVD will serve as a supplement to the Skillz Coach’s Guide and will be used in Training of Coaches courses as well as given to each Coach to take home for continued development.
Highlighting the delivery of Skillz activities by two Skillz Master Coaches from Port Elizabeth with a group of youth from Ikhusi Primary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the DVD features:
GRS is infinitely grateful to local production company Substance Films, of Cape Town, South Africa, whose inspirational creativity, tireless dedication, and deep understanding of our mission brought this project to life.
The DVD was produced with funding from USAID through GRS’ F4 South Africa project.
This post was orginally published by MPILONHLE, one of our Implementing Partners in South Africa. MPILONHLE is using the Skillz Curriculum at two high schools in the Umkhanyakude District. You can read more about the excellent work they are doing by visting their website.
The first major component of Mpilonhle’s new Community Sports Programme has officially launched. And the reviews are in: it’s a huge hit!
In partnership with Grassroot Soccer, Mpilonhle has introduced the “Skillz” programme in two pilot schools: Silehtukukhyana High School and Mkhaliphi High School. Grassroot Soccer’s Skillz curriculum creates simple but powerful connections between sports and life skills, particularly in relation to the stigma, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. It’s a physically active and innovative way of encouraging students to think about and discuss these important issues.
With the support of school administrators and teachers, Mpilonhle has adapted the Skillz programme for use in the Life Orientation periods of these two pilot schools. Our well-trained team of peer educators – 4 at each school – are now conducting Skillz sessions several times a week, covering all of Grades 8 and 9. Nearly 800 students are currently registered for and participating in the programme.
The first Skillz sessions were held at Silethukukhanya on 31 August, with Mkhaliphi following one week later on 8 September. The response of teachers and administrators has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers have quickly recognized the value of the Skillz culture and curriculum, and they have expressed appreciation for both the enthusiasm and professionalism of Mpilonhle’s peer educators who are leading the sessions. Limited by time and resources, we are already asking interested Life Orientation educators in the higher grades to be patient as we develop a strategy for expanding the programme into their classes.
But for sure, the most positive response has come from the students. The important health and life skills topics covered by the Skillz curriculum are serious in nature and are handled appropriately. However, due to the soccer-inspired, physically active method of curriculum delivery, Skillz is also a whole lot of fun. Students are fully engaged in the sessions and truly enjoy the activities.
There is perhaps no better evidence of the positive student response than that provided by the students in Grade 8B at Silethukukhanya. Their life orientation period is immediately after lunch break and several of the students were late arriving at the soccer field for the start of class. In addition, the class is very large, so registration took longer than expected. As a result, time was short and the peer educators were forced to wrap-up class just as the enthusiasm was building for the boisterous, primary activities of Session 1. The life orientation teacher explained to the class that they had unfortunately run out of time, and they needed to move on to their next period.
So how did the students respond? They organized a spontaneous sit-in and refused to leave the soccer field!
Now, Mpilonhle certainly doesn’t want to encourage students disobeying their teachers. But, to be totally honest, the spirit of the moment and clear message communicated by their sit-in was inspiring; a true testament of how much they were enjoying the programme. Soon enough, the peer educators made clear that they would pick up right where they left off when they come back at the same time next week – and every week after that for the next several months. Assured that they wouldn’t be missing out on anything, the students slowly stood up and moved on to their next period.
We are very excited about the future of the Skillz programme and our partnership with Grassroot Soccer.
