Bullying prevention through football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Úlfarsárdalur and Grafarholt, two neighborhoods in capital Reykjaavík(Iceland)
Start date 02/02/2024
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €157,800
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20230880
Partners The Icelandic Youth Association (UMFÍ)
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Bullying poses a significant problem, and extensive research has shed light on its psychological, physiological, and social ramifications. It has detrimental effects on the victims’ overall health, well-being, and quality of life, particularly among disadvantaged children. Approximately 16% of children in Iceland report that they have been bullied.

Project goals

Football can serve as a highly effective tool in preventing bullying and creating a secure, inclusive, and respectful environment. The programme's objective is to combat exclusion and instead foster inclusivity and a sense of belonging while also addressing inequalities and promoting social integration.

Project content

Changing the culture and social norms to achieve behavioural change among children requires the active involvement and cooperation of all stakeholders. This programme aims to educate parents and professionals working with children in school and football settings – namely, teachers and coaches. It involves establishing clear collaboration processes among these parties and providing education and training for the children through dialogue, organised projects and games. It also offers children leadership training, encourages democratic participation and fosters a sense of positive competition based on empathy and solidarity. This kind of competition can be a source of motivation as opposed to frustration upon losing. Once the pilot project is complete, the intention is to expand its implementation to clubs across Iceland and, potentially, Europe

Partner

RePlay Project

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
Start date 11/05/2025
End date 11/05/2026
Cost of the project €59,220
Foundation funding €35,220
Project identifier 2025001225
Partners Kızlar Sahada
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Türkiye was ranked 135th out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Only 1% of licensed football players are women, reflecting deep gender inequality in sport. Şanlıurfa, a region facing significant sociocultural and socio-economic challenges, has some of the highest rates of child marriage and school dropout, and girls in the area face significant barriers to participating in both sport and society.

Project goals

The RePlay Project organises free and accessible football activities and community events to promote fair play, build life skills, foster inclusion and empower girls and boys and is now entering its third year in Şanlıurfa.

  • Use football to strengthen social and emotional skills, helping individuals to face personal and community challenges
  • Foster belonging and collaboration by engaging families, coaches, and local stakeholders in community activities
  • Create a safe, inclusive environment that is welcoming to everyone, especially marginalised groups, ensuring free access to sport
  • Promote gender equality by empowering girls through regular training and events

Project content

  • Conduct regular football activities, including football3 sessions, technical training, and matches, to develop social and emotional skills
  • Organise five events to engage the community and raise awareness of the project
  • Consult with schools, NGOs, local governments, and clubs to ensure free, inclusive, and safe access to football
  • Deliver workshops, presentations, and games focused on gender equity

Partner

Safe Soccer Development Programme

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ukraine, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €500,000
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 2025000863
Partners Spirit of Soccer
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Ukraine’s children face unprecedented dangers amid the ongoing conflict. More than 340 educational facilities were damaged or destroyed in 2025 alone, bringing the total to over 2,800 since the start of the war. Nearly 4.6 million children have had their education disrupted. In addition, 23–30% of the country’s territory is contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance ­– one of the most severe consequences of the war. Since the war began in February 2022, hundreds of children have been killed or injured by explosive remnants, with boys aged 14 to 17 particularly at risk from exploring contaminated areas.

Project goals

To enhance civilian security and foster resilient communities by training football coaches in explosive ordnance risk education so they can provide essential education to at-risk young people.

Project content

  • Delivering 360 professionally run explosive ordnance risk education training sessions (known as Safe Soccer training sessions) in schools in areas affected by explosive remnants of war, reaching 7,000 at-risk young people.
  • Reaching 21,000 indirect beneficiaries via education and coaching workshops, word of mouth, local community tournaments, multimedia campaigns and the distribution of outreach materials.
  • Distributing 500 footballs and 10,050 Safe Soccer notebooks.
  • Holding one Safe Soccer festival per month in each of the three areas, delivering trauma‑informed football training to a group consisting of 40% girls, to deliver trauma-informed football training.
  • Organising six Safe Soccer tournaments throughout the year.

Partner

Familjeprogrammet Funkis

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Sweden, Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €26,500
Foundation funding €20,500
Project identifier 2025001561
Partners En Frisk Generation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

The Public Health Agency of Sweden has found that intellectually disabled children report lower life satisfaction and poorer self-rated health than their peers. Currently, very few participate in organised sport due to structural barriers, limited support and a lack of inclusive opportunities. Early health-promoting efforts are crucial to reduce these health disparities and enable healthy choices later in life.

Project goals

  • Promote physical health and well-being through regular sports activities
  • Foster social inclusion and community engagement
  • Enhance intellectually disabled children’s personal development and social skills
  • Provide accessible and inclusive sports opportunities for intellectually disabled children
  • Raise awareness of the structural barriers that intellectually disabled children face in society

Project content

The project centres on Funkis, a programme offering weekly football and sports activities designed specifically for intellectually disabled children and their families. Beyond physical activity, sessions include education on health, nutrition and well-being. The project also organises inclusive community events such as races and family activity days to support integration and raise awareness. Collaboration with local sports clubs and schools ensures long-term engagement and reduced barriers to participation.

Partner

Equal Play, Equal Rights

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location India, Rural communities in Karnataka and Rajasthan
Start date 02/01/2026
End date 01/31/2028
Cost of the project €249,518
Foundation funding €95,000
Project identifier 2025002197
Partners OSCAR Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

In rural villages in the Indian states of Karnataka and Rajasthan, girls face significant barriers to education due to entrenched gender norms. Child marriages, low school retention rates and stigma around girls’ participation in sports are common. Communities often lack safe and inclusive spaces where girls can play, learn and develop confidence.

At the same time, boys grow up in the same environment and learn to enforce these gender norms reinforcing inequality. Limited access to structured sport, life skills education and age-appropriate information on sex, gender and rights further restricts children’s holistic development.

Project goals

  • Increase access to football and life skills training for girls in underserved communities
  • Train young women as community leaders and mentors
  • Deliver age-appropriate education on sex and gender
  • Promote respectful, inclusive behaviour among boys and shift community attitudes through parental engagement and local advocacy

Project content

  • Engage boys as allies and conduct community awareness sessions to challenge stereotypes and promote gender-equitable mindsets
  • Promote gender equality and the holistic development of children in underserved rural communities through weekly football and life skills sessions conducted in safe, inclusive environments where girls and boys can participate equally
  • Deliver specially designed games and activities to build confidence, teamwork, resilience, leadership and decision-making skills while addressing social issues such as gender norms and encouraging mutual respect
  • Provide participants with sports kits and food to support their participation and overall well-being
  • Deliver age-appropriate education on sex and gender through six interactive modules, focusing on gender awareness, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and healthy relationships
  • Through the Kick Like a Girl leadership programme, train 60 young women aged 18 to 25 as community coaches and mentors to serve as role models and support younger participants
  • Facilitate long-term change by engaging with communities, organising home visits, parent meetings and community events to encourage support and help shift mindsets

Partner

Youth Sports Games 2026

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia
Start date 01/13/2026
End date 09/30/2026
Cost of the project €8,183,513
Foundation funding €150,000
Project identifier 2025000972
Partners Association for Sport, Recreation and Education – Youth Games
Categories Access to Sport - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle

Context

The Youth Sports Games – the largest amateur youth sports event in Europe – use sport as a means to connect with children and teens (ages 6 to 18) and promote healthy lifestyles. More than 3.4 million children have competed in the 29 years since the first games were held.

Project goals

Aims of the association

  • Bring together children and teens to actively participate in sport and recreation
  • Educate and encourage children and teens in sport and friendship as an alternative to various forms of addiction and deviant behaviour
  • Provide and promote educational content through all activities, sending modern and up-to-date messages from young people to young people in support of health and social projects and to deter from addictive behaviours

Aims for 2026

  • Involve more than 389,000 participants across all countries
  • Expand our presence to more than 400 cities and 27,000 female football players
  • Gather 8,000 participants in all four national finals and 2,000 at the international finals, for which all accommodation, travel and competition expenses will be covered

 

Project content

Youth Sports Games tournaments will be held in over 400 cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, for school-age children (primary and secondary) to compete in ten sports (football, street basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, tennis, table tennis, chess, dodgeball and athletics). The most successful individuals and teams will enter national finals, through which the best performing will qualify for international finals.

In addition to the Youth Sports Games, other free sports and recreational activities are organised regularly for children to promote health, sustainability, tolerance and ethical values. The association promotes a lifestyle based on understanding, friendship, solidarity and fair play.

A special focus is placed on the organisation of football tournaments for girls, which will gather around 27,000 female footballers across the four countries.

Partner

Football for All – Unified Football in Thuringia

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Arnstadt, Bad Langensalza, Erfurt, Gera, Jena, Suhl and Weimar, Germany
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 06/30/2027
Cost of the project €152,828
Foundation funding €47,828
Project identifier 2025002425
Partners Spirit of Football e.V.
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Intellectually disabled children in Thuringia often face exclusion from mainstream schools, football clubs and social life. Many love football but lack access due to stigma, financial barriers or lack of support. Girls are especially affected. Unified Football breaks down these barriers through inclusive school and club activities, role models from pro clubs and life-changing events like the Unified Football tournaments – promoting visibility, health, friendships and confidence for all.

Project goals

  • Promote inclusion in schools, clubs and communities, creating shared experiences that break down stigma and build empathy
  • Improve the physical and mental health of intellectually disabled children and young adults while also teaching non-disabled people tolerance, compassion and teamwork
  • Raise visibility and inspire replication, especially in rural Thuringia, through collaborations with (professional) clubs

Project content

Unified Football brings together intellectually disabled and non-disabled children through weekly inclusive football sessions in schools and clubs, awareness-raising workshops, unified community events and inclusive tournaments. The programme fosters empathy, mutual respect, well-being and teamwork. It helps create lasting friendships, reduces stigma and breaks down barriers. Unified Football proves that football is for everyone, regardless of ability, on and off the pitch, locally and internationally.

Partner

Girl Power, Leadership Academy & Refugee World Cup

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Copenhagen, Denmark
Start date 02/02/2026
End date 02/01/2027
Cost of the project €250,000
Foundation funding €51,000
Project identifier 2025001066
Partners Girl Power Organisation
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Girls and young women in Europe face numerous challenges that impact their mental health, and studies show that these challenges are even more prevalent among refugees, who are likely to suffer higher rates of depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Another concern linked to mental health pressures is the rate at which girls from all walks of life drop out of sport during adolescence.

Research shows that approximately 49% of girls stop participating in sports activities in their teenage years. Self-doubt and lack of confidence are among the main reasons. Other factors are societal pressures, body image concerns, and inadequate access to programmes specifically for women and girls. Marginalised girls and young women, like migrants, refugees, and stateless women, face additional difficulties in accessing education and life-skills training due to the systemic structures in place and economic and language barriers.

Societal expectations around the role of women remain an issue, as do the financial constraints and lack of role models that deter girls from playing sport recreationally or professionally. There is a direct connection between sport and mental health: a lack of sufficient physical activity can lead to heightened levels of anxiety and depression, and conversely, engagement in organised sport contributes to better self-esteem, social support, and a sense of belonging. And yet 85% of adolescent girls in Europe don’t meet the levels of activity recommended by the World Health Organization.

Project goals

Girl Power Leadership Academy

  • Provide refugee and marginalised young women with access to coaching qualifications, including international exposure and mentorship
  • Support young leaders in finding real-life applications for the things they have learned during the programme
  • Provide young leaders with practical opportunities to make a difference in their communities, ensuring that the skills and knowledge acquired during the programme are effectively translated into tangible, positive outcomes for the benefit of the community and its younger generations in particular, reinforcing the importance of community leadership and the transformative power of sport
  • Create a geographically and socially diverse network of female sports leaders who understand and promote the importance of girls and women in sport and in local communities, and the impact they can have, and who work to give back to the community

 

Girl Power Refugee World Cup

  • Provide a space for young women in Europe to share their experiences and foster inclusion and integration through sport
  • Create a place where young women can put their skills into practice, as players, coaches, speakers, panellists, communicators, representatives, etc.
  • Showcase how football is driving positive change in communities

Project content

Our project introduces a groundbreaking, holistic model that merges five key pillars – physical activity, leadership education, mentorship, motivational storytelling and public speaking – into transformative activities.

We are launching a year-long, two-part youth leadership and coaching programme for 45 young refugee women in Denmark and other European countries where Girl Power is active. Future leaders will be aged 16 to 25 and selected based on their passion for sport and social change.

  1. Learning and development(six months)
    This phase includes residential, in-person training over five days, supported by expert sessions on safe coaching pathways in girls’ football. Focusing on how to create inclusive, secure and empowering environments where girls feel safe to join and stay in the game, participants will explore issues such as safeguarding, inclusive leadership and coaching methodologies tailored to marginalised communities.
  2. Practical football delivery(six months)
    During this phase, each young leader will form a local girls’ football team that includes refugees and marginalised girls from their community. With the support of Girl Power mentors, they will lead weekly training sessions while being guided in their coaching journeys.

In Denmark, we will continue our weekly football sessions in two refugee and asylum centres, supporting children aged 10 to 13 and 13 to 16-year-old girls’ teams. Additionally, we will collaborate with local schools to deliver storytelling workshops and cultural festivals at which girls from our leadership programme will co-lead activities, promoting community leadership, hands-on learning and the exchange of narratives to foster friendship and connection between refugee and host communities.

We will also organise a refugee football World Cup in Denmark – a unique seven-a-side tournament for teams featuring at least three refugee players and at least three host country citizens. There will be two teams from Denmark and one team from each of the other European countries in which Girl Power is currently active: Germany, Greece, Portugal and the UK. The tournament will feature not only competitive matches but also a podium and panel series, giving space for players and coaches to share their personal stories and show how football is driving positive change in their communities.

All activities throughout the year will be documented and shared on our media channels to amplify their impact and inspire broader action. We will also feature some role models and influential young people to amplify the programme's positive stories and overall impact.

Partner

Invisible Champions

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Serbia, Vranje, Bujanovac and Preševo, Pčinja district
Start date 03/01/2026
End date 11/01/2026
Cost of the project €56,112
Foundation funding €56,112
Project identifier 2025002437
Partners Vranje centre for activism
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The Pčinja district in southern Serbia is among the country’s least developed and most socially diverse regions. Many children and young adults – particularly girls, Roma children, migrants, refugees and disabled children – face poverty, social exclusion and limited access to safe and organised sports activities.

Much of the district’s sports infrastructure is outdated or neglected, and opportunities for children from different backgrounds to meet and interact through positive, structured activities remain limited. Cooperation between schools, sports clubs and local institutions is also often insufficient, limiting the potential of sport to promote inclusion and healthy development and prevent violence.

Project goals

  • Increase access to safe, inclusive sports activities for marginalised children and young adults, particularly girls, Roma children, migrants, refugees and disabled children
  • Use sport as a tool to promote social inclusion, tolerance and mutual respect among children from different ethnic and social backgrounds
  • Reduce gender, social and cultural barriers through activities that mix sport with learning
  • Improve access to safe and functional sports infrastructure in local communities
  • Promote healthy lifestyles, non-violence, teamwork and fair play among children and young adults
  • Strengthen cooperation between schools, sports clubs, civil society organisations and local authorities to ensure long-term impact and sustainability
  • Empower children and young adults by providing safe spaces where they can participate, develop and interact with their peers

Project content

We run a comprehensive set of sports, educational and community-based activities targeting children from marginalised backgrounds that offer safe access to sport and contribute to improving local sports facilities and strengthening partnerships at community level. By creating spaces where children can play, learn and grow together, Invisible Champions fosters tolerance, equality and social cohesion, contributing to the well-being of children and the long-term resilience of local communities.

All activities are implemented in close cooperation with schools, sports clubs, civil society organisations and local authorities, and are continuously monitored and documented to ensure quality, transparency and sustainability.

  • Sports clubs are established in partner primary schools, and trained coaches and teachers lead weekly basketball, football and volleyball training sessions, adapted to ensure that marginalised children can participate
  • Young volunteers work alongside local communities and partners to renovate and revitalise neglected sports fields by cleaning, painting, repairing and installing basic sports equipment and creating safer, more accessible spaces for children’s activities
  • Under the Sport programme, educational workshops complement sports activities by addressing topics such as tolerance, gender equality, non-violence, child safeguarding and discrimination prevention, while encouraging dialogue, teamwork and respect
  • Inclusive sports tournaments bring together mixed teams of children from different communities and engage parents, schools and local communities, fostering cooperation and fair play and strengthening social cohesion
  • The digital platform My Sport, My Voice provides information on local sports opportunities, training schedules and renovated facilities, while also giving children a space to share experiences and stories

Partner

Together is OK!

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Bosnia and Herzegovina, Čajniče, Foča, Goražde and Ustikolina
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €87,000
Foundation funding €58,860
Project identifier 2025000985
Partners Football Friends
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Bosnia and Herzegovina is still experiencing unresolved post-conflict tensions and the negative consequences of the ruthless war of the 1990s, all of which particularly affect young people and ethnic groups.

Together is OK! is a tried-and-tested project successfully implemented in 2022 and 2023 with the support of the UEFA Foundation.

Project goals

  • Promote tolerance, social inclusion and gender equality among young people from post-conflict communities through football
  • Empower boys and girls to use sport as a tool for personal development, dialogue and lasting peace

Project content

The project includes regular football3 matches played by mixed-gender and mixed-ethnicity teams in four towns and villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina, combined with structured social activities such as workshops, seminars and community gatherings. The programme also includes youth tournaments and continuous dialogue-based activities that strengthen cooperation, understanding and fair play. Additional activities for 2026 will include a festival in Foča.

Partner

Logo-FF-est

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

TUMO Sports

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Gyumri, Armenia
Start date 01/01/2026
End date 12/31/2026
Cost of the project €109,820
Foundation funding €85,820
Project identifier 2025001525
Partners Simonian Educational Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Every week, 35,000 teens explore tech and design skills at TUMO centres across Armenia. To balance screentime with healthy playtime, TUMO launched TUMO Sports in 2015. Since then, 400 teens aged 12 to 18 in Yerevan train weekly in basketball and football. Enthusiasm is soaring, with 500+ kids on the waiting list and growing interest in other regions.

Football, in particular, is rapidly gaining in popularity among young Armenians. The Football Federation of Armenia aims to engage 80,000+ children and adults in football training in the coming years, but infrastructure investments, coaching quality, and demographics are uneven across the regions. To complement the federation’s network of facilities, TUMO Sports will open a natural grass football pitch and sports hub in Gyumri for hundreds of young people, many of whom are displaced and disadvantaged.

Project goals

  • Boost young people’s interest in sport
  • Train at least 200 children a week in football in Gyumri
  • Expand the provision of training sessions in Yerevan and establish a network of hubs across Armenia
  • Use sport to empower young people and complement the life skills and extracurricular education offered by TUMO learning centres

Project content

  • Establish a sports hub in Gyumri
  • Organise sports-based ‘learning labs’ with international experts that bridge tech, design, and sport
  • Run regular tournaments
  • Act as a community space for public use of the new football pitch

 

Partner

This Is How We Football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga
Start date 02/01/2026
End date 03/31/2027
Cost of the project €225,907
Foundation funding €100,532
Project identifier 2025001834
Partners Oceania Football Confederation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Girls and young women in the Pacific continue to face structural and social barriers, including limited access to safe and consistent sport opportunities, unequal participation in decision-making, and challenges related to health, education, and social inclusion. OFC’s This Is How We Football (TIHWF) programme is specifically designed to address these barriers by creating safe, consistent, and empowering football environments. Through targeted capacity building, pathway development, and community-based delivery, the programme ensures that girls and young women not only access football but feel supported to remain engaged, build confidence, and develop as leaders within their communities.

TIHWF drives sustainable change at individual, organisational, and community levels. Delivery is underpinned by strong regional messaging, nationally led implementation, training and education for coaches and facilitators, policy alignment, and embedded safeguarding and early prevention practices. This approach ensures that delivery is locally owned, culturally relevant, and socially impactful, while contributing to OFC’s long-term vision of an Equal Oceania, where women and girls can thrive both on and off the field.

Project goals

  • Deliver an adolescent girls’ football programme that provides safe, inclusive spaces for girls to play, while embedding key messages of gender empowerment, life skills development, health education, and awareness of gender-based violence prevention and response.
  •  Train coaches, youth leaders, and Women’s Development Officers (WDOs) to be advocates for gender equality and broader social change, equipping them with the skills to challenge harmful gender norms and foster respectful relationships both on and off the field.
  • Develop and implement safeguarding systems and procedures that ensure safety, inclusion, and gender sensitivity at all levels of football participation—from grassroots to elite pathways—creating a culture of zero tolerance towards violence and discrimination.
  •  Strengthen community partnerships and referral pathways by working with local service providers to ensure participants and their families have access to support services related to health, wellbeing, and violence prevention.

Project content

  • 1x in country Training workshops for program facilitators in each Member Association
  • 2x 8-week TIHWF programme delivery in each Member Association
  • 2x competition activations – OFC Women’s Champions League and OFC U-16 Women’s Championship
  • Distribution of equipment to every Member Association for the delivery of the programme
  • Distribution of player packs to every participant to support programme delivery and engagement
  • Ambassadors in each Member Association to drive participation, engagement, facilitation opportunities and role modelling for participants
  • Ongoing online promotion of the programme through OFC Social Media platforms

Partner

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Ti Mouvman Fun-Da-Mentals (‘little movement fundamentals’)

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Canaries, Soufrière, Vieux Fort and Dennery, Saint Lucia
Start date 03/02/2026
End date 02/29/2028
Cost of the project €138,270
Foundation funding €81,172
Project identifier 2025001807
Partners Sacred Sports Foundation Inc
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Saint Lucia, like many developing small island states in the Caribbean, is experiencing a steady decline in physical activity among children. This trend is particularly evident in underserved communities, where schools experience limited resources, reduced access to trained physical education teachers, and competing academic priorities that often result in physical education being deprioritised. At the same time, children’s lifestyles are becoming increasingly sedentary due to screen use, a reduction in the number of safe play spaces, and fewer structured opportunities for movement.

When foundational movement skills, coordination, confidence, and positive attitudes towards physical activity are not developed early, children are more likely to disengage from sport altogether, which increases their long-term risk of obesity, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, and poor mental health. Saint Lucia already faces a high burden of lifestyle-related diseases in adults, including obesity and diabetes, underscoring the urgent need for early preventive action.

Project goals

  1. Increase access to safe, structured, and inclusive physical activity for children aged six to ten in underserved communities in Saint Lucia.
  2. Improve fundamental movement skills, agility, balance, and coordination, as well as overall physical literacy, among participating children.
  3. Encourage positive attitudes towards physical activity and lifelong active lifestyles from an early age.
  4. Support children’s mental and emotional well-being by building confidence, resilience, teamwork, and social skills through sport.
  5. Promote equal participation opportunities for girls and boys.
  6. Strengthen school and community capacity to deliver sustainable physical activity and education programmes even after the project ends.

Project content     

Ti Mouvman Fun-Da-Mentals will deliver a structured, school-based physical education programme across 16 primary schools in underserved communities.

Key activities will include:

  • Regular structured physical activity sessions that are age-appropriate, inclusive and aligned with the children’s developmental needs.
  • Fundamental movement and motor skills activities, including jumping, hopping, skipping, balancing, running, throwing, catching, kicking, dancing, obstacle courses and active games. These activities build physical literacy and confidence in movement.
  • An introduction to football through play, using small-sided games and basic skills exercises to promote teamwork, communication and enjoyment rather than competition.
  • Inclusive programming, with strategies such as mixed-gender activities, girl-friendly coaching approaches and targeted encouragement to ensure that 50% of girls participate.
  • Providing training and simple activity guides for mentors, coaches, teachers and community stakeholders, enabling schools to sustain quality physical education beyond the life of the project.
  • Community engagement activities, including parent and guardian movement days and physical activity events, to strengthen local support for active lifestyles.
  • Monitoring and simple progress tracking, including attendance records, participation levels and basic motor skills assessments, to ensure quality delivery and continuous improvement.

Together, these activities will ensure that children not only move more, but move better, and that they build confidence and experience sport as a positive and integral part of their everyday lives.

Partner