Coach's Story
Stories from Grassroot Soccer coaches about how HIV/AIDS has affected their lives.
GRS Port Elizabeth Features in Vanity Fair
The following is an article published 9 July, 2010 by Austin Merrill on VanityFair.com.
Perie Zabathempu has begun her weeks during the World Cup by reciting a Monday-morning story to groups of children in their early teens who live in the shantytowns that fringe Port Elizabeth, in South Africa. It’s a different group of kids each [...]
Finding Courage Through Skillz
Grassroot Soccer continues to make an impact on the lives of the youth who participate in our programs. The following story from Skillz Coach Siyabonga “Glen” Mgwadlen, from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, captures the power of our programs to create positive change for both our Skillz Coaches and participants.
I’ll never forget our first intervention at [...]
Master Coach Titie Plaatjie Features In New Book “Eleven”
Nolusindiso ‘Titie’ Plaatjie, of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, has recently been featured in the book ELEVEN: Making Lives Better, 11 Stories of Development Through Football. Written by Steve Fleming, co-founder of GRS Implementing Partner Kick4Life, and co-edited by streetfootballworld, the book tells stories of eleven extraordinary individuals, each of whom has been transformed by the [...]
GRS Coach Lunga Sidzumo Wins Mac Aids Fellowship
As a young leader in the fight against HIV and AIDS, Grassroot Soccer South Africa Coach Lunga Sidzumo, from Khayelitsha, was recently awarded a prestigious MAC AIDS Leadership Initiative Fellowship. Through a year-long training and development program, the fellowship supports leaders who have made significant contributions to reducing the spread and impact of HIV and [...]
Grassroot Soccer Founder and CEO Tommy Clark on the Vision and History of the Organization
From an early age I have been associated with the world of soccer. Growing up with a father who played on the Scottish national team, I received constant physical reminders (a lasso from Argentina, a wooden lion from China) that reinforced the notion of soccer as a unifying force.
When I was 14, the world came [...]