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Football for Inclusion – Everyone invited to the pitch!

Location and general information

Closed

Location Moreno, Argentina

Start date 08/10/2018

End date Ongoing

Cost of the project €155,476

Foundation funding €104,400

Project identifier SAM – 01xx

Partners Asociación Civil Andar

Context

People with disabilities have fewer opportunities to take part in football and integrate into mainstream society because they face various social or cultural barriers and discriminatory attitudes. This violates their human rights. In addition, they find it difficult to access public facilities, education, healthcare, employment and cultural and sports activities.

More than 1 billion people around the world live with some type of disability; at least 2 million of them live in Buenos Aires, the focus of Andar’s social intervention work.

Project content

Through a combination of work experience, sport, art, cultural and health-related activities, Andar promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities. Its Inclusive Football League uses the power of football to promote and foster the active participation of people with disabilities in society, while also addressing stigmatisation and prejudice.

With the foundation’s support, Andar will build the local community’s first inclusive and accessible sports facility for children with and without disabilities to aid their integration. In an effort to bring the best out of every individual and foster equal participation, it takes account of the physical, communicational and methodological aspects of accessibility.

Objectives

Andar’s programme aims to:

promote social change through football;
generate job opportunities;
promote autonomy and develop skills and abilities, empowering the people and communities involved; and
reveal the potential of people with disabilities.

Project activities

A total of 3,633 people currently participate in Andar programmes:

Therapeutic space: 59 people with disabilities
Inclusive social businesses: 86 people with disabilities employed per month
Inclusive Football League (LFI): 2,488 participants per year
Liga Buenos Aires: 920 participants per year
National League: 1,296 participants at national level
Inclusive Football School: 172 participants all year round, and their families
LatAm Festival: 100 participants from 10 countries across the region
Training and educational visits: 1,000 participants per year

Expected results

Opportunities to develop the potential of people with disabilities
Creation of facilities in which diversity is accepted and valued as part of the human condition
Information, tools and new training approaches that promote human rights
Access to sport for social change

Partner

Field in a Box – Rio Doce, Brazil

Location and general information

CONTEXT

Following the successful establishment of Field in a Box pitches in Madrid, Mragowo (in north-eastern Poland) and Cape Town, the UEFA Foundation for Children and FedEx are working together on the construction of a new pitch in Rio Doce, on the outskirts of Recife. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld has helped to identify a suitable location for the pitch and chosen local charity love.fútbol to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use.

PROJECT CONTENT

The UEFA Foundation for Children has been running its Field in a Box project since 2016 with the aim of providing enclosed, fully functional artificial football pitches to impoverished communities. These pitches are environmentally sustainable and quick to install.

OBJECTIVES

love.fútbol is a global initiative dedicated to giving people access to football where communities lack safe and inclusive spaces for sport. Since its inception in 2006, the organisation has encouraged and taught communities to design, plan, build, manage and ultimately redefine football pitches as community assets and platforms for sustainable social change. In a participatory process, love.fútbol empowers communities to build a football pitch, providing guidance, finance and raw materials and mobilising local resources, while placing ownership of the entire process in the hands of the community in order to ensure the sustainability of the project.
The construction of this pitch in Rio Doce – where almost 60% of the population live below the poverty line, with incomes averaging less than US$100 a month – will give local children and young people a safe place to play and access to various development opportunities. love.fútbol’s local partner, Pazear, will use the pitch as a platform for its football activities, using sport to foster peace-building, gender equality and social transformation.

RESULTS TO DATE AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Training sessions will take place using the football3 method.
Concepts and studies will be developed with a view to promoting the continued use of football as a vehicle for peace-building, gender equality and social integration.
Over the next year, hundreds of participants are expected to take part in football-related programmes implemented on the new pitch.
In addition to weekly football sessions, the pitch will also provide a platform for weekly educational and monthly cultural activities.

PARTNERS

Field in a Box – Pirapora do Bom Jesus, Brazil

Situation géographique et informations générales

Context

Konami Holdings Corporation – a Japanese digital entertainment company and a UEFA Champions League sponsor – was willing to work with the UEFA Foundation for Children and take the Field in a Box concept to Brazil. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld helped Konami to identify a suitable location for its pitch – in Pirapora do Bom Jesus, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo – and chose local charity Fundação EPROCAD to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use.

Project content

Objectives

This project aims to improve the lives of young people and breathe new life into disadvantaged communities. By providing opportunities to play football, the foundation seeks to improve children’s health and support their personal development, while teaching them football’s core values (respect, team spirit, etc.).
Fundação EPROCAD is based in Santana de Parnaiba – a suburb of Sao Paulo – and uses sport, education and culture to help children, adolescents and their families to integrate into society. Its work is aimed primarily at children and young people from poor families, providing activities that contribute to social development. Through its projects, the charity gives participants access to sporting, educational and cultural activities that can help to improve their quality of life. It also offers targeted support in specific instances, as well as guidance and referrals for specialist care where necessary.
Pirapora do Bom Jesus is one of the poorest areas of the country, with 27.8% of the population living on incomes totalling less than half of the minimum wage. Heads of households have an average age of 44, with 17.4% under the age of 30. With no access to basic services such as health and education, life there is a struggle.

Results to date and expected outcomes

This newly constructed pitch is the only place in the area where football can really be played.
Fundação EPROCAD will use the pitch to implement football-based programmes, as well as encouraging local people to make use of these new facilities.
Located next to a local day care centre, the pitch is ideal for physical education classes and recreational activities.
It is expected that about 2,000 children and young people from the local community will benefit from this initiative.

Partners

Refugee Life Skills and Employment Training Soccer Programme Atlanta

Location and general information

Context

Commonly known as ‘Ellis Island of the South’ or ‘the most diverse square mile in America’, the small southern US town of Clarkston has welcomed 40,000 refugees over a period of more than 25 years. Whereas in the past they tended to come from Bhutan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia and Vietnam, most current refugees are Syrian or Congolese. Whatever the country of origin, migrating to another country is often a difficult process, notably on account of cultural and linguistic differences. Sport, however, is a universal language that can act as a bridge between different communities: in our case, football provides the scenario for youth to both adapt and become part of the local community fiber. It also gives people an opportunity to integrate: having fun and making new friends at the same time. Nevertheless, the high prices charged by sports clubs, the high level of poverty and the lack of sports facilities in Clarkston are hindering the personal development and social integration of child refugees. The anti-immigration policies directed at Syrian refugees in recent years in the state of Georgia are exacerbating the problem, resulting in a lack of investment in sport and health in refugee communities.

Project content

Soccer in the Streets is a sport for development organisation that supports inner city children and young people living in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Our programs combine football sessions and youth development activities to create positive social change for underserved children. It gives them the chance to play football regardless of their ethnic origin, socio-economic status or religion. By adopting a holistic approach, the project is not limited to football on the pitch. It goes further than that, in particular by enabling personal development and education, with participants taking part in small-group sessions, hands-on activities or youth leadership councils. The project provides out-of-school activities that combine football with basic life skills. Older children are also invited to take part in workshops as part of the ‘Life Works’ programme. These sessions prepare teenage refugees for the world of work by helping them acquire employability skills. The project also plans to broaden its activities to include and have a positive impact on girls by helping them to boost their self-confidence and ensure their rights are respected.

Objectives

To facilitate the integration of young refugees and their families living in Clarkston
To promote a healthy lifestyle among children in precarious situations
To have a positive impact on the town of Clarkston by overcoming prejudice towards refugees
To increase the employability of young refugees living in Clarkston
To increase the participation of girls in the project’s activities
To provide opportunities so program participants can broaden their horizon by seeking to enter higher education institutions (Universities, Technical Colleges)
To develop community leaders
To connect youth with appropriate partners providing key services

Expected results

To work with a total of 200 youth, including 80 girls
To graduate 20 participants from our employability program
To train/certify 10 coaches or 20 referees from refugee communities and provide them with an income

Partner

Inclusion of children with disabilities in Bolivia

Location and general information

Context

In the United Nations Development Programme’s most recent Human Development Report, Bolivia was ranked 118th out of 188 countries, making it one of the least developed countries in South America. With a population of 1.8 million, Cochabamba is one of the most populous of Bolivia’s nine departments. This project is being carried out in Sacaba, Cochabamba’s second city in Cochabamba Department, where 36,3% (statistics from Instituta Nacional de Estadistica) censosbolivia)of the population live below the poverty line and many persons with disabilities are unable to gain an education or access required specialist health care services.

Project content

The discrimination that children and youth with disabilities face in Sacaba represents a significant barrier to their personal and social development. Light for the World International organises workshops and fun sporting activities for those children in a bid to end their isolation by promoting an inclusive approach to education and changing perceptions of disability in Bolivia.

Objectives

Strengthen relations between children and youth with disabilities (beneficiaries) and their families
Build up the self-confidence of the beneficiaries
Foster the social inclusion of the beneficiaries
Contribute to mainstreaming disability inclusion in local networks and regulations of the municipal government
Improve access to health services for children and youth with disabilities
Promote inclusive education for children with disabilities
Train youth with disabilities to access the labour market
Empower children and youth with disabilities, as well as their families to stand up for their rights

Expected results

Organisation of fun sporting activities for children and their families at regular intervals during the year
Organisation of sporting activities such as athletics, swimming, basketball, football, handball, slalom and dancing two or three times a week
Training of sports teachers at the Simón Rodríguez Teacher Training College to foster the social integration of participating children
Organisation of annual competitions and tournaments for people with disabilities to change the negative perception of disability in Bolivia in cooperation with EIFODEC (Escuela de Integración y Formación Deportiva, Expresión Artistica y Entrenamiento Laboral/ School for Integration, sports training, artistic expression and vocational training)
Organisation of 40 visits to schools to foster communication between children with and without disabilities

Partners

Creciendo con el Balón(Football for Growth)

Location and general information

Context

George Monbiot, British writer and political activist, once stated that “a community not built around children is no community at all. A place that functions socially is one in which they are drawn to play outdoors”.
Ciudadela Sucre is a community located in the hills to the south of Soacha in Bogota’s metropolitan area. Its population of more than 63,500 has seen major growth over the past few years, especially during the 1990s, with 48 families on average arriving every day, displaced by the violence and lack of opportunities in other regions of Colombia. As a result of this rapid expansion, the local population suffers from limited access to education, a lack of public services and, ultimately, a shortage of safe spaces for local children and teenagers to play in. Without these spaces, they resort to playing in rubbish dumps or between cars in busy streets.

Project content

Football for Growth is a joint project launched by the Tiempo de Juego Foundation and Love.fútbol, two non-profit organisations that focus on fundamentally different, but complementary social missions in the sport for development sector.
Tiempo de Juego uses football to promote values and formal education in several cities in Colombia, providing a range of programmes and activities aimed at enhancing participants’ personal and professional development. Love.fútbol partners with communities to plan, create, manage and ultimately redefine safe and accessible football pitches wherever children have nowhere to play.

The programme will last 17 months and activities will be divided between two axes:

Free time activities: a wide range of sports and cultural activities for the positive use of free time will be coordinated by Tiempo de Juego on the new pitch, reinforcing the connection between local schools, children, teenagers and families. Tiempo de Juego expects to attract 600 participants aged 5–20 years old to these regular activities.
Leadership school: Using the Football3 methodology, Tiempo de Juego aims to foster a positive change in the community through capacity-building for 14 youth leaders and monitors. Training sessions will be held weekly and each month there will be a focus on a different life skill. Recreational exercises will be combined with field trips and workshops, ensuring that the youngsters understand from experience what each skill entails and the implications it can have in their lives. Ultimately, the leaders and monitors from the leadership school are responsible for coordinating the leisure activities among the wider community, strengthening their leadership skills while replicating the knowledge acquired in the school.

Objectives

Objective: Promote active and positive lifestyles among youngsters in the metropolitan area of Bogota by providing access to sport

Specific objective 1.Build the first open, safe and inclusive sport venue in Ciudadela Sucre
Specific objective 2. Promote the development of life skills among children and teenagers in Ciudadela Sucre by means of leisure activities

Venue: the project will involve different groups in the community – local government, parents, NGOs, teachers, sports, cultural and religious groups, local businesses and other youth advocates – to develop the first open, safe and inclusive sports venue in Ciudadela Sucre: a 75 x 45m synthetic turf football pitch.
Engagement: the partners will conduct an asset-mapping study to identify the leaders, talents and local know-how that exist in the community, then bring them together in a planning committee.
Construction: the partners will provide materials, technical and safety conditions, while local volunteers will be involved in building. On average, a community-driven project requires 2,000 hours of volunteer work.
Post-project phase: Love.fútbol will facilitate the transition from the planning committee to a far-reaching neighbours network that will maintain the facility.The ultimate goal for this space is that participants should be able to maintain both the physical facility and its ethos by means of a shared sense of ownership, responsibility and leadership.

Expected results

Construction of a 75 x 45m synthetic turf football pitch (from March to May 2018).
Inauguration day with a football festival (May 2018).
Creation of neighbours network for maintenance and planning activities.
Regular facilities for 600 participants aged between 5 and 20 years old.
Tiempo de Juego programming development of sports activities and training of 14 community leaders (June 2018 – May 2019).

Partners

Cruyff Courts in the Dutch Caribbean

Location and general information

Context

Many people live in poverty on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin. The recent damage caused by Hurricane Irma, aggravated the local economy and the quality of life.

The project’s target groups live in residential areas just above the poverty line: work does not provide a living income. The quality of education has improved in recent years, but still not to a level that allows adults to live independent lives. Poverty in the Caribbean gives rise to health problems, including obesity, and sometimes leads to child abuse. For many children it is impossible to obtain a proper education, join a sports club and practise safely. This has serious consequences for the children’s health and personal development.

The Cruyff Foundation has been running its Cruyff Courts project since 2005 on Aruba and Bonaire, and 2006 on Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin. The project provides a safe place where children can play, socialise, make friends, and develop their own talent. These are valuable experiences that they carry with them as they develop physically and mentally, and as they move into adult society.

The project was set up in cooperation with the Dutch ministry of health, welfare and sports and is run in cooperation with local sports organisations.

Cruyff Courts have provided thousands of children with a safe public place to play football or other sports in the heart of their community. Cruyff Courts have been used extensively by children and teenagers in this region over the past decade, but schools, sports clubs and other residents have also benefitted from the project. We ran capacity training programmes for coaches in Bonaire, Aruba and Sint Eustatius in 2011.

Project content

Many children live in poverty and have no opportunity to practise sport or take part in activities that help them develop emotionally and socially. Sport is a universal language, regardless of a child’s background, culture, religion or ability. Through sport and play, children become fitter, learn to interact, and develop mentally and physically. We therefore encourage them to take part in the activities at the Cruyff Courts.

A Cruyff Court is a modern interpretation of the traditional playing field that used to be found in many districts and communities before urbanisation. It is the place where children learn respect, health, integration, development and inclusion. Every week thousands of children are active on Cruyff Courts around the world, where they find a safe place to practise sport outdoors.

The pitches on these four Caribbean islands have suffered a lot after 11–12 years of heavy use and need to be refurbished to remain safe places. In the meantime, Hurricane Irma destroyed the Cruyff Court on Saint Martin and damaged the one on Sint Eustatius. So, these two pitches will be replaced with the Cruyff Court Field in a Box concept instead of being refurbished. This is the same principle as the UEFA Field in a Box project, i.e. a specially designed, enclosed artificial pitch, as recently launched by the UEFA Foundation for Children in Madrid and Poland. These pitches are a sustainable, durable and efficient solution.

To ensure the sustainability of this project, a new programme, Heroes of the Cruyff Courts, has been launched. The goal is to turn young people into role models for their neighbourhood and have them involved with the community and the Cruyff Court in the longer term. Events are organised to give young people the opportunity to discover and develop their talents while also being challenged to try something new. The project trains Cruyff Foundation coaches who then oversee youngsters while they organise a sports event for children in the community.

Planning:

Summer 2018: Local coaches start training to become Cruyff Foundation coaches
Summer 2018: Refurbishment of Cruyff Courts on Aruba and Bonaire
Summer 2018/autumn 2018: Cruyff Court Field in a Box installed on Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin
Late 2018/early 2019: Inauguration of the new Cruyff Courts with the active participation of young people through the Heroes of the Cruff Courts programme
2018–2028: Projects and activities run by locals (10-year contract) and continually monitored and evaluated by the Johan Cruyff Foundation

Objectives

Cruyff Courts will provide at least six hours of sports activities a week for local children
Recruit new youngsters to take part in the Heroes of Cruyff Courts programme: learning to coach and organise sports activities and events, while also learning some basic business skills. Everyone who successfully completes the programme becomes a certified coach.
250–500 children attending, playing and enjoying sports activities on the different Cruyff Courts
1 Cruyff Foundation Coaching Course
4 Cruyff Courts inauguration events
4 events organised by 30 heroes/young people in 2019
15 new certified coaches

Expected results

We aim to inspire more children to practise sport and play at Cruyff Courts every day.
We expect to encourage more schools and local organisations to be active in sport.
We believe that once children discover the joy of sport, they will continue to be active for the rest of their lives:

Regular physical activities from a young age provides a long-term advantage in motor-skill development
Sport and play have a positif impact on concentration and improve academic performance at school
Children who engage in regular physical activity have a much lower incidence of psychosocial and behavioural problems

About the Cruyff Foundation

The Johan Cruyff Foundation is an international non-profit organisation that aims to improve the intellectual/mental/emotional and physical well-being of children and teenagers by:

Standing up for the interests of children and young people who have fewer opportunities in life
Offering and encouraging sport and exercise activities by facilitating Schoolyard14 and (special) Cruyff Courts
Financially supporting other projects and organisations with the same objective
Encouraging sport in conjunction with education and healthcare
Stimulating cooperation between various similar organisations in the Netherlands and abroad
Stimulating integration between the various sectors of the population
In addition to Cruyff Courts and Schoolyard14 special attention is paid to disabled children

The Cruyff Foundation works with sport assocations and clubs, the foundations run other leading athletes, local, provincial and national governments, schools, institutions, rehabilitation centres and professional football organisations.

Partners

Extra Time – Tackling the ‘Dead Zone’

Location and general information

Context

Jocotenango is an area of Guatemala that suffers from grinding poverty, gang crime, drug/alcohol abuse and domestic/sexual violence. Education for the Children (EFTC) runs a School of Hope in the area which is attended by more than 650 children. It also operates a successful four-point integrated plan helping people to escape poverty, which combines education, nutrition, health care and social support.

EFTC’s Extra Time project aims to tackle the issue of the ‘dead zone’ – the period between school ending and parents returning from work (which is often late in the evening). EFTC plans to use sport as a solution to this problem, seeking to combat the lifelong implications of children falling into gang crime, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour at a young age. In view of the fact that Guatemala has a three-month rainy season, EFTC will build an all-weather pitch with a roof and a drainage system to allow children to use the site all year round. This new facility will also be used for various community projects, such as workshops for children and parents, medical check‑ups and an empowerment project for local girls. For the School of Hope, sport is much more than just a game – it is a game changer.

Project content

Sport as a solution to the ‘dead zone’

The Extra Time project will use access to sport as a solution to the problem of the ‘dead zone’. The organisation of after-school sports clubs and community workshops will provide significant opportunities for personal development and the protection of children’s rights.

Access to life skills through sport

Football clubs – and sports clubs in general – will not only serve as an alternative activity; they will also play a pivotal role in children’s development.

Bridging gaps

The Extra Time project will also organise tournaments with a view to bridging gaps between local communities.

A school of football fans

At present, the School of Hope is full of football fans with no real way of enjoying the game. EFTC aims to harness their passion for football and use it to tackle the issue of the ‘dead zone’, helping them to achieve long-term success by escaping poverty.

Objectives

To tackle the ‘dead zone’ and give children living in poverty an alternative to hanging around on the streets after school
To offer positive alternative activities, steering children away from crime, alcohol/drug abuse and unprotected/underage sex
To increase participation in sport among children with no current access to facilities, coaching or equipment
To empower girls through sport, self-defence classes and workshops
To provide the local community with a safe venue for workshops
To bridge gaps between communities through inter-school football tournaments

Expected results

- 3,000 local people with access to sport and community workshops that are not currently available to them
- Safer, healthier and more academically engaged children
- Children with less time and inclination to engage in gang crime, alcohol/drug abuse or unprotected sex after school
- Children who are well educated on the subjects of sex, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual abuse
- A reduction in the number of children at the School of Hope who are involved in gang crime
- Better future prospects for children as a result of essential life skills taught through sporting activities
- A reduction in the number of cases of substance abuse at the School of Hope
- A reduction in the number of teenage pregnancies at the School of Hope (expected to fall from ten to five by the end of the first year)
- More confident girls who are actively engaged in higher education and making positive choices regarding their future
- Greater engagement in the local community through community workshops
- Better networking with schools in surrounding communities through tournament events
Partners

La League: Champions of Change

Location and general information

Context

Girls and young women in developing countries often face two severe obstacles when growing up: child marriage and teenage pregnancy. Although it is often perceived to be a girl’s destiny, becoming a wife and a mother at such a young age has major consequences. In Latin America, where machismo prevails, girls believe that early marriage and pregnancy are the only way to escape poverty and violence at home. However, this often turns out to be a continuation of an already negative cycle of events, as marriage and motherhood tend to limit girls’ development even more.

Teenage pregnancy and child marriage pose serious health risks, with unsafe abortions and complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth being some of the leading causes of death among girls aged 15 to 19. This not only affects the individual in question; it trickles straight down to the next generation, with families, communities and even entire nations remaining trapped in a cycle of poverty and gender inequality. Teenage pregnancies are more likely in poor, uneducated and rural communities – exactly the kinds of community that Plan works in.

La League project aims to empower adolescent girls and their male peers in Nicaragua with a view to preventing teenage pregnancies and delaying marriage. One of the methods used consists of involving fathers and boys in efforts to achieve equal rights and freedoms for girls. This makes football the ideal vehicle for this project, as a male-dominated arena is exactly what is needed. Football can have a powerful impact in terms of changing gender roles and raising awareness regarding the negative impact of teenage pregnancies and child marriages.

Project content

Plan has, in cooperation with the Johan Cruyff Foundation and Women Win, established an effective model empowering adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 20 to decide for themselves whether, when and whom to marry, and whether, when and with whom to have children. At the heart of this project lies football, with the organisers encouraging girls to play the game and turn talented players into professional football heroes, and at the same time encouraging fathers and male role models to support their girls – not only when it comes to football, but also in other more important life choices. Thus, football is used to transform gender norms and raise awareness regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

With the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, this project will now be rolled out in Nicaragua, which has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Latin America.

Girls’ football lies at the very heart of Plan’s methodology. Football is used to empower girls and make them more visible to fathers and boys, who then get involved in efforts to achieve equal rights and freedoms for girls, helping to prevent teenage pregnancies and child marriages. This method consists of three different pathways:

- Social empowerment of girls through football

The goal is to motivate girls to play football and experience teamwork, helping them to increase their self-confidence and boosting their knowledge of sexual and reproductive rights.

- Involvement of fathers and other male role models

In order to transform gender norms and raise awareness, boys and fathers will be encouraged to support their girls – not only when it comes to football, but also in other more important life choices.

- Economic empowerment of girls through the creation of job opportunities in football

This project seeks to create jobs and other income-producing opportunities in the world of football or related domains, so that girls can, for example, become coaches or gain access to scholarships in order to pursue playing careers.

Plan of action:

Conduct a baseline study looking at the incidence of teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
Develop didactic material and train trainers.
Engage with local government in order to turn municipal sports courts into safe spaces for girls.
Conduct two media training sessions for 20 youth reporters.
Help girls and boys (of the same age) to organise events raising awareness of the harmful effects of child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
Involve 150 fathers, brothers and other male figures in girls’ football activities.
Teach 40 girls leadership and entrepreneurial skills.
Produce a video documentary on the impact of girls’ football in Nicaragua.

Expected results

Awareness regarding the negative effects of teenage pregnancy and child marriage will increase significantly. Girls and boys will both learn about how they can prevent early pregnancy and marriage.

300 girls will attend Champions of Change football training.
20 girls’ football teams will be established in 10 different communities.
150 boys will be trained as Champions of Change.
10 girls and 10 boys will become youth reporters and cover the La League project.
4,500 peers will be in contact with Champions of Change through peer-to-peer events.
150 fathers/male role models will be actively involved in their girls’ football activities, supporting them in their SRHR decisions.
300 members of the community will be committed to improving gender equality in their daily lives.
40 girls will learn leadership/entrepreneurial skills and have access to football-related jobs (such as coaching).
4 talented girls will have access to sports scholarships.

Partners

Beyond the Green Pitch

Location and general information

Context

Founded in 2003, the Instituto Fazer Acontecer, based in Salvador de Bahia, promotes sports activities and training in human rights to young people living in disadvantaged areas. The main idea is to use football to educate through play and fun, providing opportunities for social inclusion and development of personal skills to the young participants in the programme. Football3 methodology is already used in 16 municipalities and reaches young adults in the rural areas where most of the challenges lie. Combining sport with environmental awareness activities works as a tool for effective social change in the target communities and provides education in human rights, establishing a relationship of respect and a feeling of being respected and of belonging in the community.

The Instituto Fazer Acontecer plans to extend its action to reach an additional 15 municipalities with the financial support of the UEFA Foundation for Children.

Project content

The UEFA Foundation for Children will support the Beyond the Green Pitch project, which aims to:

train 300 instructors in football3 methodology and in combining football with environmental awareness activities;
involve 900 young people (boys and girls) aged between 11 and 17 from 15 municipalities in the programme.

Objectives

Create a new sporting and environmental culture in the municipalities taking part in the project;
Raise the self-esteem of the participants (instructors and young people);
Promote environmental awareness in the region;
Specific goals:

1) to train 300 instructors in football3 methodology environmental awareness activities,
2) to promote capacity-building in sport and the environment among the 300 instructors,
3) to involve 900 young people aged between 11 and 17 from the municipalities taking part in the project in weekly activities (sport and environmental awareness),
4) to establish sustainable projects in at least half of the participating municipalities.

EXPECTED IMPACT AND RESULTS
• Reach 1,200 individuals (300 instructors and 900 young people)
• Impact public policies of the 15 municipalities by introducing the football3 methodology in schools
• Impact indirectly 5,000 people (families, institutions and communities)