Play to Excel

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kayonza district, Rwanda
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 06/30/2027
Cost of the project €88,044
Foundation funding €88,044
Project identifier 2025002245
Partners Right to Play
Categories Access to Sport - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

In rural Rwanda, many children lack opportunities to play sport. Although part of the school curriculum and essential for developing motor skills, building confidence and interacting with others, physical education is limited by a lack of trained coaches and safe play areas. Without supportive environments, children miss out on the benefits of sport and play.

Project goals

Improve access to sports activities in schools and increase children's participation in physical education by:

  • ensuring children in rural settings have access to safe, child-friendly play areas;
  • providing schools in rural settings with age-appropriate sports equipment;
  • training primary school sports facilitators on effective coaching techniques and supporting them so they can organise regular sports activities and use sport to help develop life skills, social cohesion and the inclusive participation of girls in sport;
  • increasing girls’ participation in sports and play, with a target of at least 50% of girls in the target area participating in sports and play-based activities;
  • leveraging Right to Play's existing programmes and relationships with schools and the government in the Kayonza district to establish new sport-for-development partnerships, including with the Rwanda Schools Sports Federation and the Rwanda Football Federation.

Project content

The Play to Excel project will be implemented in five primary schools in Kayonza, a rural district in Rwanda.

Activities include:

  • renovating play areas and football pitches and giving the entire student population aged 6–12 across the five schools improved access to safe, inclusive sports areas and higher-quality, more frequent sports sessions;
  • giving ten sports coaches and teachers in-depth, practical training on inclusive, child-centred and life skills-oriented coaching;
  • distributing age-appropriate and inclusive sports equipment and training materials;
  • organising tournaments.

Partner

Field of Hope

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bujumbura, Burundi
Start date 02/01/2026
End date 01/31/2027
Cost of the project €61,000
Foundation funding €48,800
Project identifier 2025000021
Partners Bafashebige
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Many children in Burundi live in poverty. Some are displaced or disabled, and many have nowhere safe to play. Girls are especially disadvantaged and the lack of inclusive sports activities makes them even more isolated.

Project goals

  • Offer vulnerable children safe, inclusive access to sport
  • Foster children’s personal development and well-being
  • Promote gender equality and inclusion of disabled children
  • Raise community awareness
  • Help children feel valued, protected and supported, whatever their background

Project content

  • Creation of inclusive sports clubs in 12 rural schools
  • Organisation of mixed community tournaments
  • Training of 30 local educators in sport, gender and inclusion
  • Distribution of suitable equipment
  • Organisation of awareness-raising workshops for families
  • Production of radio programmes in collaboration with local radio stations to promote children’s rights and change people’s attitudes to disability and gender

Partner

Kick for Hope

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps, Jordan
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €400,000
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 202500713
Partners Association Football Development Programme Global (AFDPG)
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Jordan hosts a large number of refugees relative to its total population. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, approximately 445,000 registered asylum seekers and refugees were living in the country in November 2025, with Syrian nationals making up the vast majority at around 422,000.

While these figures reflect the numbered of registered refugees, the total Syrian refugee population in Jordan, including unregistered individuals, is substantially higher – some estimates place the figure in excess of 1.3 million.

Jordan has hosted large numbers of Syrian refugees in the Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps and in urban and peri-urban communities across the country since the start of the crisis in 2011. The protracted nature of displacement means that many Syrian refugee families have been living in Jordan for well over a decade.

Many young refugees live in overcrowded environments with limited access to safe, structured recreational and educational activities. The absence of regular, supportive activities and safe spaces for them to play, socialise and develop skills can lead to stress, boredom and behavioural challenges, which can in turn impact emotional well-being, social integration and long-term development.

Project goals

  • Build the capacity of Syrian coaches and create employment opportunities
  • Provide children and young adults with access to safe spaces to enjoy football and other sports activities
  • Promote life skills through sport
  • Create professional development and competitive opportunities for young refugees
  • Create football clubs in the camps

Project content

  • Select Syrian youth coaches and administrators
  • Deliver in-person training for coaches, coordinators and admin teams
  • Organise ongoing football, judo, table tennis and other sports activities for children and young adults
  • Organise football leagues for all age groups
  • Run Zumba classes for Syrian girls
  • Enter a team of Syrian refugees in the local U13 boys’ grassroots league
  • Enter a team in the Jordan Judo League

Partner

Football for All in Vietnam

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Vietnam, Tuyên Quang province
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €116,661
Foundation funding €97,249
Project identifier 2025002081
Partners Football Association of Norway, Football for All in Vietnam
Categories Access to Sport - Environmental protection - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Tuyên Quang is a mountainous province in the far north of Vietnam, on the border with China. Few spaces are available here for recreation and sport. The area is also heavily affected by natural disasters such as landslides, monsoons and flash floods. As a result, many of the already limited pitches are either in poor condition or regularly washed out or damaged, making it even more difficult for children to access sports.

Project goals

  • Provide children with equal and sustainable access to football
  • Maximize the power of football to raise awareness of gender rights and foster equitable practices among ethnic minorities groups
  • Increase the participation of women and girls in football and life skills education programmes, empower and equip them with leadership skills based on the Football for All in Vietnam model

Project content

  • Construct three artificial turf football pitches in three schools
  • Organise regular football and life skills activities for children
  • Organise nine Fun Football Festivals focused on gender equity and climate change education
  • Educate teachers, children and local communities on climate change
  • Plant trees for environmental protection
  • Carry out feasibility studies and internal assessments, continue to monitor and evaluate results

Partner

Football4Wildlife Girls Club

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kenya, Maasai Mara, Lemek Conservancy
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €64,791
Foundation funding €51,832
Project identifier 2025000729
Partners Water4Wildlife Maasai Mara
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Girls in the rural Maasai Mara ecosystem face limited opportunities to participate in football due to a lack of infrastructure. Football4Wildlife Girls Club provides a safe and empowering space where girls can play football, build confidence, learn about wildlife conservation and take part in well-being activities. The club also offers mentorship from female conservation rangers, creating a unique environment for personal and community growth.

Project goals

  • Make the Girls Club a sustainable model of girl-led community transformation
  • Provide a safe, inclusive space where girls can play football and build their skills, teamwork and confidence
  • Promote wildlife conservation awareness
  • Strengthen community support for girls’ football and female participation in wildlife conservation
  • Empower girls, reinforce their leadership skills and personal development and inspire them to consider careers in conservation

Project content

Phase 2 of the project involves infrastructure components as well as football activities, teaching girls about wildlife conservation, career-focused female mentorship and community engagement.

  • Completion of essential facilities including a septic tank, drainage system, storage room and dugouts
  • Installation of a solar power system and water tank to support sustainable operations
  • Provision of football kits and a projector for use in training and educational sessions
  • Launch event attended by the football coach, female conservation rangers, club members and other members of the community
  • Regular training sessions and friendly matches for girls
  • Football-themed games and structured classes to teach girls about wildlife conservation
  • Interactive sessions delivered by professional female rangers during training and club activities
  • Career talks and mentoring sessions led by female rangers

Partner

Play It Forward

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Leuven, Belgium
Start date 02/01/2026
End date 05/31/2028
Cost of the project €122,600
Foundation funding €98,080
Project identifier 2025001931
Partners Football Girls Leuven
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Belgium has a strong football culture, yet participation remains highly unequal. Girls are still significantly underrepresented in football as in other areas, and the gap is even wider in urban, culturally diverse and lower-income areas.

In places like Leuven, a rapidly growing and highly diverse university town, many girls face persistent social, cultural, and practical barriers to accessing and staying in sport and other activities. While Leuven offers many sports opportunities, mainstream club structures often struggle to respond adequately to the realities of girls from migrant backgrounds and socially vulnerable families.

Limited financial means, mobility issues, gender stereotypes, and a lack of safe, welcoming spaces where girls can truly feel at home, be themselves, and belong limit participation and increase dropouts, especially when sport is organised along linear pathways that reward performance over belonging.

There is a growing need for socially driven sports initiatives that not only offer access but also foster social mixing, ownership, empowerment, and long-term engagement. Football Girls Leuven emerged within this context, responding to a strong local need for a safe, inclusive, girls-only football space rooted in the neighbourhood and everyday public space. The club has grown rapidly, reaching more than 240 girls, demonstrating both the demand for such an approach and the limits of a purely volunteer-driven structure.

Project goals

With Play It Forward, Football Girls Leuven seeks to strengthen the club and continue to break down structural barriers to football participation for girls in Leuven by means of a sustainable, girl-led model that combines sport, youth work, and social inclusion. The project is designed to ensure that girls from diverse backgrounds and in potentially vulnerable situations can not only access football but also stay engaged, develop ownership, and have a voice beyond the club, transforming the club and football into a sustainable tool for inclusion, empowerment, and structural change for girls in Leuven.

Specific project goals

  • Build a coherent, club-wide structure that connects access, anchored participation, ownership, and policy impact in a clear, circular pathway, through which girls can enter, engage, pause, and re-engage on their own terms
  • Increase access and reduce dropout rates by embedding support, accessibility, and inclusive practices into the club’s day-to-day operations
  • Strengthen girls’ ownership by integrating leadership, volunteering, and co-creation into club life
  • Professionalise coordination, monitoring, and partnerships to ensure continuity, quality, and long-term impact beyond the project period
  • Translate local practice into broader impact by sharing knowledge and influencing policy on inclusive, girl-friendly sport

Project content

Play It Forward comprises four pillars:

  • Pillar 1 – Access: Bringing football to girls in their daily environment through regular street football sessions, school partnerships and neighbourhood activities. These low-threshold initiatives are directly linked to the club through a buddy support system that ensures smooth, stigma-free entry into regular training. Public space activations make football and playgrounds more inclusive and girl-friendly.
  • Pillar 2 – Anchored participation: Embedding support structures within the club to help girls stay engaged over time and prevent dropouts, including a strengthened buddy system, accessible membership policies, mobility support (bicycle loan scheme and carpools) and a more permanent menstruation programme. A shared framework guides trainers and volunteers in creating safe, inclusive team environments.
  • Pillar 3 – Ownership: Creating structured pathways for girls to take on roles as volunteers, coaches or referees, supported by training, mentoring and leadership workshops. Co-creation and shared leadership are embedded in the teams and club life, strengthening girls’ ownership and voice.
  • Pillar 4 – Policy impact: Systematising impact monitoring, sharing good practices through local and national networks, and actively involving girls in advocacy around sport, youth work and public spaces.

To implement the pillars and pave a sustainable pathway, the project requires a dedicated professional project coordinator (working at 70% of a full-time position), whose role is to connect and coordinate the four pillars, build partnerships with schools and youth organisations, develop mobility and inclusion measures, and ensure monitoring, evaluation and long-term anchoring of the model within the club and beyond.

Partner

Creating a safe play space for refugee children in Boa Vista

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Waraotuma a Tuaranoko refugee shelter in Boa Vista, Brazil
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €175,958
Foundation funding €120,000
Project identifier 2025001012
Partners KLABU Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Over 6 million Venezuelans have been displaced due to an ongoing socio-economic crisis in Venezuela. The most vulnerable include indigenous groups such as the Warao, Pemon, and Kariña, who face severe marginalisation. Many of them have found refuge in Brazil.

KLABU has opened a clubhouse at Waraotuma a Tuaranoko, a shelter that is home to 1,300 refugees (800 of whom are minors), making it the largest shelter for indigenous refugees in Latin America. However, the only community sports pitch in the shelter is in poor condition and poses safety risks.

Project goals

  • Construct a safe, inclusive, and community-designed sports pitch at the Waraotuma a Tuaranoko shelter using love.fútbol’s participatory methodology.
  • Enable regular sports and recreational activities for children and young people from refugee and host communities.
  • Foster social inclusion and resilience through tournaments, events, and volunteer-led
  • Create local ownership and sustainability by engaging refugee volunteers and the local partner in maintenance and ongoing programming.

Project content

In partnership with love.fútbol, KLABU aims to rebuild the main sports pitch at the Waraotuma a Tuaranoko shelter and to make it a sustainable hub for sport and community. In addition, they will upgrade nearby infrastructure (a volleyball court, seating around the court, and a play area) and organise inclusive activities that will also be open to people from the six other nearby shelters. KLABU’s clubhouse is already active, and the new sports facilities will offer safe, inclusive spaces where children thrive, and community pride grows.

Partner

Championing an Inclusive Future through Football 2.0

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Germany, Hongary, Spain
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2027
Cost of the project €260,544
Foundation funding €260,544
Project identifier 20245000
Partners FedEx
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

As an official sponsor of the UEFA Champions League during the 2021–2024 cycle, FedEx extended its commitment beyond commercial sponsorship to include a robust social responsibility programme. This initiative spotlighted key social issues in the host cities of the UEFA Champions League finals: Paris in 2022, Istanbul in 2023, and London in 2024. Through the Championing an Inclusive Future through Football programme, FedEx provided financial support to non-profit organisations that use football as a platform to promote inclusivity and social cohesion within local communities.

Building on this success, FedEx will continue its engagement for the 2025–2027 cycle, supporting projects in the UEFA Champions League final host cities: Munich in 2025, Budapest in 2026, and Madrid in 2027. This renewed commitment underscores FedEx’s dedication to creating lasting social impact through sport.

2025

SCORING GIRLS* was founded in 2016 by former professional footballer Tugba Tekkal with the mission to empower girls* through football. While the work begins on the pitch, it goes far beyond sport, rooted in a strong pedagogical concept. The approach integrates five key competence areas—Teamwork, Self-efficacy, Resilience, Body Positivity, and Social Participation—into football training and educational activities.

Through this, participants not only enhance their athletic skills but also strengthen confidence, resilience, and personal development.

The target group includes girls* aged 8–18, with and without refugee or migration backgrounds, most coming from marginalised communities. SCORING GIRLS* currently operates at three sites in Cologne and four in Berlin, and in 2025 expanded to Munich in partnership with FC Bayern München.

2026

 

Project goals

2025

SCORING GIRLS*

  • Promote social participation and equal opportunities for girls
  • Build a strong, inclusive community and give visibility to strong role models
  • Empower girls* through competence development and mentoring for personal growth and responsibility.

 

Project content

2025

SCORING GIRLS*

Weekly Football Training

Core activity: weekly football sessions led by coaches and pedagogical staff. Training blends fun, education, and football to build confidence, resilience, responsibility, and teamwork. Feedback follows each session. Experienced girls (17 and older) act as peer mentors, fostering collaboration and role modelling.

Educational Activities

Beyond training, we offer vacation programs with matches, excursions, and workshops, as well as year-round tournaments and dialogues with inspiring figures from politics, media, culture, and sports.

Mentoring Programme

Launching in 2025: SCORING GIRLS* mentoring initiative with support from high-profile ambassadors (e.g., Nikeata Thompson, Fabian Reese, Lena Oberdorf) to enhance visibility and provide strong role models.

Public Relations & Networking

We actively promote SCORING GIRLS* to raise awareness and engage participants in advocacy, leveraging high-reach partners for stronger community impact.

Use of the FedEx/UEFA Foundation Grant

  • Infrastructure for the new Munich location
  • Staff and trainers
  • Transport costs
  • Events and workshops

Partners

FedEx_UEFA Champions_Lockup_Hor Pos RGB

Rouge et Bleu school at Necker children’s hospital

Location and general information

to be started
Location Paris, France
Start date 10/01/2025
End date Ongoing
Cost of the project €950,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 2024000405 
Partners PSG for Communities
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

PSG for Communities takes advantage of Paris Saint-Germain’s huge popularity among young people to promote their inclusion and foster their healthy social development. It has created the Rouge et Bleu school – an innovative educational tool based around education, sport for health, and culture – in order to provide hospitalised children with a solid foundation for well-being and success. 

Project goals

  • Organise various fun, educational daytime or after-school sports activities adapted to the children’s medical needs and limitations  
  • Bring hospitalised and non-hospitalised children together so that they can understand and learn from each other 
  • Inspire a love of learning among children and teach them values of tolerance and openness 

Project content

The Rouge et Bleu school welcomes two groups of 16 children at a time, with activities adapted to individual needs. The programme is designed to: 

- Give children in hospital a chance to take part in cultural and sports activities 

- Provide opportunities to take part in individual and team sports 

- Offer activities that the parents of hospitalised children can take part in as well as supervised activities with care staff on hand 

Partners

Sports for Resilience and Empowerment Project (SREP): Primary school construction

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Masindi district, Uganda
Start date 02/15/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €300,000
Foundation funding €170,000
Project identifier 2024000336
Partners Aliguma Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

The situation in Masindi district reflects the challenges faced by rural areas in Uganda, where access to quality education is severely limited. Many children attend overcrowded and under-resourced schools with high dropout rates and poor academic performance. In addition, the socio-economic conditions are such that children are often forced to prioritise labour over education, leaving many without the skills and knowledge they need for a better future. 

This project addresses the shortage of adequate infrastructure, trained teachers and teaching materials, breaking the cycle of poverty by investing in the future of the region's children. 

Project goals

  1. Build a modern primary school: establishing a well-equipped and safe teaching facility and an environment that is conducive to learning for children in rural Masindi
  1. Enhance access to quality education: ensuring that children in the region have access to quality education, reducing the barriers associated with inadequate infrastructure and resources
  1. Promote social inclusion: creating opportunities for all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special needs, to get an education and participate fully in their communities
  1. Improve educational outcomes: improving schoolchildren’s academic performance and overall development by providing better learning conditions, teacher training and educational materials
  1. Empower the community: engaging the local community in the development and maintenance of the school, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility 
  1. Support holistic development: integrating sport and extracurricular activities into the school curriculum to promote physical health, teamwork and life skills
  1. Reduce dropout rates: addressing contributing factors and creating a supportive and engaging school environment
  1. Strengthen teacher capacity: providing training and resources for teachers to improve the quality of instruction and support effective learning
  1. Promote gender equality: ensuring that girls have equal access to education and opportunities, contributing to gender equality and empowerment
  1. Foster sustainability: developing strategies to support the school’s long-term sustainability and lasting impact, including community involvement and partnerships

Project content

  • Planning and construction of a primary school in the Masindi district of Uganda
  • Teacher training and curriculum development
  • Provision of teaching materials and other resources
  • Community engagement and outreach

Partners

She Should Play

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bangui, Central African Republic
Start date 02/01/2025
End date Ongoing
Cost of the project €14,733
Foundation funding €14,733
Project identifier 2024001462
Partners iACT
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Nearly one third of the Central African Republic’s population has been displaced by violence, and even those not displaced have been affected by the ongoing conflict. Women and girls continue to face gender inequity and disempowerment, including in sport. For example, they have very few opportunities to play football, because it is still considered a male sport. The impact of this exclusion reverberates through girls’ lives, affecting how they see themselves in the world. 

Project goals

  • Increase the number of girls playing organised football in Bangui 
  • Break down barriers that block girls’ access to football 
  • Change perceptions around girls in football 

Project content

  • Football camp run by the Refugees United Football Academy for girls aged 8 to 17  
  • Workshops with parents and teachers 
  • Hiring female coaches 
  • Providing equipment and hygiene products for participants 
  • Closing exhibition match and community celebration 

Partners

Girls4Football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Switzerland
Start date 05/24/2024
End date 05/24/2025
Cost of the project €450,000
Foundation funding €-
Project identifier 20240001
Partners Mastercard and local implementing organisations
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Sponsors - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Girls4Football is a social impact initiative launched by Mastercard in partnership with the UEFA Foundation for Children. Rooted in the long-standing collaboration between Mastercard and the UEFA Champions League, the programme addresses the need for inclusive, empowering opportunities for young girls in Europe. It responds to the growing recognition that sports, particularly football, can be a powerful vehicle for personal development, social inclusion, and gender equality.

The initiative was officially launched on March 18, 2025, and is being rolled out in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It aims to reach over 1,000 girls aged 8 to 16 in its first year. This marks the beginning of a three-year project, with this being the first phase of the initiative.

Project goals

The primary goals of the Girls4Football programme are to:

  • Empower young girls through access to free football training and socio-educational activities.
  • Promote physical and emotional well-being through regular sports and leisure engagement.
  • Foster life skills such as teamwork, discipline, and resilience.
  • Enhance financial literacy by teaching participants how to manage money, budgets, and investments.
  • Encourage career aspirations in and around football, including roles off the pitch.

Project content

The programme includes a variety of components designed to support holistic development:

  • Football Training: Free, inclusive sessions focused on skill-building, teamwork, and fun, with a strong emphasis on encouraging girls to participate in sports.
  • Financial Literacy Course: Workshops and interactive sessions that teach essential money management skills, helping girls build a healthy relationship with finances from a young age.

Special Events:

  • Opportunities to serve as Mastercard Player Mascots at UEFA Champions League matches in cities like Paris, Munich, Milan, Madrid, and London.
  • Meet-and-greets with female football ambassadors who serve as role models.
  • Workshops with professionals such as nutritionists, physiotherapists, and referees to expose girls to diverse career paths in sports.

Local partners: To bring this initiative to life, Mastercard and the UEFA Foundation for Children have partnered with NGOs from the five countries:

Partner

The dream starts here!

Location and general information

Closed
Location Italy, Sicily
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €90,000
Foundation funding €45,000
Project identifier 2024000370
Partners ASD Centro Olimpia Giarratana
Categories Access to Sport - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

Founded in 1984, the volunteer-driven club ASD Centro Olimpia Giarratana has long been nurturing the dreams of children in the Ragusa region of Sicily through football. Its facilities have deteriorated significantly over time and are now in urgent need of renovation.

Project goals

ASD Centro Olimpia Giarratana’s primary objective is to provide a safe and positive space for children to develop not only their athletic skills but also their confidence, discipline and teamwork. Their development as people takes priority over their development as football players. The club also aims to serve as a social and recreational hub for the community while also promoting physical activity.

Project content

The club provides football and volleyball activities for boys and girls, aged between 8 and 14 years old. The UEFA Foundation for Children’s funding will go towards replacing the worn-out artificial turf pitch, upgrading the dressing rooms and constructing a community bar area where parents can relax while their children play.

Partners

Construction of an artificial football pitch

Location and general information

Closed
Location Madagascar
Start date 02/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €406,043
Foundation funding €120,000
Project identifier 2024000804
Partners AKAMASOA
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

Madagascar is one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Since 1989, Father Pedro Opeka and his humanitarian organisation, AKAMASOA, have been fighting the extreme poverty that plagues the country on a daily basis by providing emergency aid to those in greatest need, building houses, educating children, providing healthcare, helping people find employment and providing vocational training for young people.

In 1989, AKAMASOA helped 140 families from the capital, Antananarivo, settle 60km away in Antolojanahary, where the organisation built houses, a dispensary, schools and sports facilities. The village now has a population of 6’000.

Project goals

  • Build an artificial football pitch on the existing dirt pitch for the village’s 2,190 schoolchildren as well as other youngsters from the village and surrounding areas, giving every child the chance to play football, have fun, escape their difficult living conditions and the difficulties their country endures, and develop a sense of community
  • Enable children to play football not only in their school sports lessons but also, under supervision, during their free time and at weekends
  • Stage matches between local teams of children and young adults, bringing together residents of surrounding villages and developing a sense of community

Project content

  • Construction of an artificial football pitch for use by:
    • one nursery, one primary school, one secondary school and one college;
    • 2,190 children from primary to high school age (figures from the 2024/25 academic year).
  • Daily sports activities and competitions, including matches every weekend.
  • The pitch will be monitored at all times to ensure the facilities are being properly looked after.

Partners

Kick for Hope

Location and general information

Closed
Location Jordan
Start date 01/01/2025
End date 12/31/2025
Cost of the project €400,000
Foundation funding €175,000
Project identifier 2024000682
Partners Association Football Development Programme (AFDP) Global
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Relative to population size, Jordan hosts the second highest number of refugees in the world, including 706,100 registered Syrian refugees (approximately 7% of the population). Unregistered numbers are much higher, estimated at more than 1.5 million or 20% of the population. Over half (51%) are children, and over 80% are surviving below the poverty line.

The Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps have been hosting Syrian refugees since 2011 who have never returned to their homeland. Overcrowding and a shortage of resources in the camps limit the recreational activities and safe spaces available for children to play and socialise. The absence of structured activities can result in boredom, frustration and behavioural issues, which further hinder children and young adults’ emotional and psychological well-being and development.

Project goals

  • Build the capacity of Syrian coaches and create opportunities for employment
  • Provide children with access to safe spaces to enjoy football and other sports activities
  • Promote life skills through sport
  • Create professional development and competitive opportunities for young refugees
  • Create football clubs in the camps
  • Enter Syrian refugee teams in the local U13 boys’ and U14 girls’ grassroots football leagues and the Jordan Judo League

Project content

  • Selection of Syrian youth coaches and administrators
  • In-person training for coaches, coordinators and admin teams
  • Ongoing football and other sports activities for children and young adults
  • Football leagues for all age groups
  • Judo and table tennis activities, and Zumba classes for girls

Partners

StationSoccer – HE Holmes

Location and general information

to be started
Location USA; Atlanta
Start date 04/15/2025
End date 12/15/2025
Cost of the project €95,496
Foundation funding €27,232
Project identifier 2024000858
Partners Soccer in the streets
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Atlanta has the highest income inequality of any city in the United States. This, combined with the ‘pay-to-play’ model that dominates football activities in the US, means children in underserved communities are locked out of participation. These children need affordable programmes in safe, accessible locations. Soccer in the Streets provides just that with StationSoccer.

StationSoccer – HE Holmes is located at the subway station of that name in the Collier Heights neighbourhood of Atlanta. With a per capita income of $33,759 (€33,068) and a poverty rate of 25%, it is one of the most underinvested communities in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. The project will provide Soccer in the Streets’ unique combination of football training and social and emotional capacity building to 150 six to twelve-year-olds. It is estimated that 80% of participants will be African American, 40% of the participants are girls and the vast majority will be playing football for the first time.

Project goals

  • Provide access
    • Eliminate transport obstacles and cost barriers
  • Improve well-being
    • Integrate social and emotional learning into the football curriculum
    • Train coaches to follow the curriculum and recognise adverse childhood experiences

Project content

Football and social and emotional learning sessions

  • Two 2-hour training sessions a week, with matches on Saturdays
  • Total of 26 weeks of training over the year (spring season from 15 February to 15 May, and autumn season from 15 August to 15 November)
  • Incorporation of social and emotional learning in training sessions, with a focus on resilience, self-management, social awareness, decision-making and relationships

Coach training

  • Coach training session in July to help coaches follow the curriculum and recognise adverse childhood experiences

Partners