An excited fan celebrates the coming of the World Cup during the Final Draw party in Cape Town on December 4th, 2009.
2010 promises to be an important and historic year for Grassroot Soccer. The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa provides a unique and powerful opportunity to make a lasting impact on the HIV pandemic. For the first time, the world’s most-watched sporting event—with billions of viewers and millions of visitors—will be played on the African continent.
Due to our proven track record, existing relationships, and large scale projects across South Africa, Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is in a unique position to engage virtually all key players—including major corporations, governments, UN agencies, community-based organizations, and FIFA itself—to ensure that the 2010 World Cup leads to a long-lasting legacy for Africa’s fight against HIV and AIDS.
In the months before, during, and after the World Cup, GRS plans to build on the momentum of the games in the following ways:
Skillz Holiday Programs
Schools will be closed for nearly 6 weeks during the World Cup tournament, putting youth at great risk and families under pressure. GRS will seek to relieve this burden by running Holiday Programs in each of our programmatic sites across South Africa during the June/July school break. Designed to keep kids healthy, safe, and learning during the long break, Skillz Holiday Programs include GRS interventions, football matches, and a safe place for kids to watch World Cup games. With support from Castrol, GRS is currently planning to run 45 Skillz Holiday Programs for 5,000 youth in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Polokwane, and Soweto. GRS also intends to train other organizations to implement our Skillz Holiday Program curriculum so that more youth can be reached.
GRS Coach Thami Thole leads children through "Find The Ball" during the September Holiday Camps in Khayelitsha, South Africa.
Graduates show their certificates after the Sept. '09 Holiday Programs. GRS expects 5,000 youth will graduate from Holiday Programs during the 2010 World Cup.
The Red Card Campaign
Grassroot Soccer is working with various partners including Matchboxology (Scrutinize), JHHESA, Sonke Gender Justice, Soccer Laduma, and others to create and air HIV prevention media content leading up to and during the World Cup. GRS will also deliver on the ground interventions designed to educate young people about how to use the RED CARD as a symbol for unacceptable behaviors that put them at risk for HIV and AIDS. In particular, the campaign will take on issues such as intergenerational and transactional sex, multiple partners, alcohol use, child exploitation, and gender based violence. The Red Card Campaign will be visible to millions of South Africans through television, radio, and print media outlets as well as integrated into the programming of various organizations. Launching in June 2010, the Red Card Campaign will not only capitalize on the excitement and incredible reach of the World Cup, but programming will continue well after the final whistle.
Skillz Magazine
Skillz Magazine is an educational supplement that has the look and feel of a football magazine, with images and messages from the world’s most famous players and role models. Skillz Magazines will be distributed directly to 3,000 disadvantaged schools and to GRS program sites for teachers and Coaches to use as a resource for their Life Orientation classes. The Skillz World Cup edition (distributed in May 2010) will be part of an overall study guide supplement that will help young people stay safe and learning while enjoying the World Cup.
Events/Programs with Official Links to the World Cup
Football for Hope Centre Programming
FIFA’s official fundraising campaign for the World Cup is called the 20 Centres for 2010 Campaign. As a result of this campaign they will donate 20 “Football For Hope Centres” (youth-focused public health and education facilities with a football pitch) across Africa. FIFA has named GRS as the FFH Centre Host for the first FFH Centre in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. The official opening took place on December 6, 2009 just after the World Cup draw. This was followed by a youth tournament with teams from 6 different countries. This event, that was covered by many of the world’s leading news outlets, showed what an opportunity exists to highlight the work of GRS, it’s partners, and the concept of fighting HIV and AIDS through football. The Football for Hope Centre has become a powerful symbol of the legacy of the 2010 World Cupä and serves as a valuable communications platform as well as an important programmatic hub for GRS in the Western Cape.
Children line the boards as they wait their turn to play on the new Football For Hope pitch in Kayelitsha, South Africa.
Festival 2010
The Football For Hope Festival 2010 – an official element of the FIFA World Cupä – is the marquee event of the FFH Movement. The event will be held in Johannesburg (Alexandra) during the days between the Semi-final and Final of the World Cup: July 3-10, 2010. While the world’s press is in Johannesburg waiting for the World Cup Final, 32 teams from around the world that represent best practice in development through football will compete in a youth football tournament while sharing best practices of their work and programs on a global stage. GRS has been invited to have a team participate in the Festival, which will be comprised of youth from our South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia programs.
World Cup Ticket Fund
GRS is partnering with Sony – an official World Cup sponsor – to donate 15,000 tickets to disadvantaged South African youth. Sony has made these tickets available to GRS so that we may award them to students and community members showing a high level of commitment to fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS in their community. GRS will be responsible for managing the distribution of the tickets and will work with dozens of organizations across South Africa in order to do so.
Coach's Story