LEARN & PLAY – Equal opportunities for education and sport for all children!

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Montenegro

Start date 01/01/2023

End date 05/30/2023

Cost of the project 60,810€

Foundation funding 47,810€

Project identifier 20221116

Partners NGO Parents

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Gender Equality -

Personal development

Context

Alarmingly, 33.7% of children in Montenegro experience poverty. The UNICEF report Multidimensional Child Poverty in Montenegro (2021) states that the situation is expected to get worse, compounded by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NGO Roditelji supports children living in extreme poverty – often in informal housing, without electricity and regular meals, and socially isolated owing to discrimination. They struggle at school and often drop out at an early age. None of them have access to any sport. Without education and social inclusion, they have no chance of a better life.

Project goals

Support education and social inclusion of 1,120 children who live in extreme poverty.

Specific objectives:

1. Provide access to sport – free football training for 800 children who live in extreme poverty
2. Provide free lessons to enable 320 children to acquire basic reading and writing skills
3. Boost the children’s self-esteem, motivation and social skills
4. Promote equal opportunities for all children among the main stakeholders

Project content

Equal opportunities for education and sport for all children! The project aims to improve opportunities for children aged 6–10 who live in extreme poverty in suburban and rural areas of Nikšić municipality, by supporting their education and social inclusion through sport. The project will consist of regular football training, mentorship (teaching them grammar, reading and writing) and ending with a sports tournament. LEARN & PLAY will help them to finish school, be included in social life, and spin the wheel of change!

Sport is life-changing for underprivileged children. Sport provides them with both formal and informal education. We have shown the potential of football in Podgorica and now in Nikšić.

Activities

Football training in 8 primary schools

Selecting schools and coordinating the approach
Developing a training programme for PE teachers or licensed coaches
Providing sports equipment for children
Coordinating football training twice a week for 800 children per school
Organising visits by famous Montenegrin football players

Organising free classes according to the school curriculum

Recruiting volunteers who will help the children learn
Training for volunteers

Organising a football tournament for 16 school teams (2 per school)

Partners

Life’s A Ball

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location South Africa

Start date 01/01/2023

End date 12/31/2023

Cost of the project 48,550€

Foundation funding 48,550€

Project identifier 20220332

Partners Altus Sport

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Employability -

Gender Equality -

Healthy lifestyle -

Infrastructure and equipment -

Personal development

Context

In parts of Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg, children live in poor socio-economic conditions with inadequate educational opportunities due to a lack of teachers, resources and classroom space. With no access to online learning, these children missed out on nearly two years of schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical education is practically absent from the school system. Sports facilities are non-existent or run-down and there are few physical education teachers and coaches.

Girls find it difficult to stand up for their rights and myths about health and reproduction hold them back from reaching their full potential. The unemployment rate is very high. Many young people lack the self-confidence and skills to find employment, and positive role models are scarce.

Project goals

Empower unemployed young people by educating them in personal development and leadership, basic employability skills, and fitness and sports
Promote physical and mental activity by introducing children to various sports and brain-fitness activities
Increase positive behaviour and reduce violence, physical abuse, crime and substance abuse
Instil positive values and good citizenship through Olympism and Olympic education
Motivate people with disabilities to be active
Support educational skills such as reading and writing
Empower girls by educating them about hygiene and reproductive health, leadership and basic financial management
Promote entrepreneurship through vegetable gardens that will teach children responsibility, financial management and leadership

Project content

The goal of the project is to utilise sport to empower children to make positive changes to their lives. The project involves training young people to run sports and life skills sessions for children. At these sessions, the children will play football, cricket, touch rugby, netball and hockey and learn about positivity, resilience, hygiene, puberty and menstruation, avoiding pregnancy, healthy relationships, bullying and peer pressure, gender-based violence and financial management.

Partners

Visiting sick children in hospitals

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Hungary

Start date 12/01/2022

End date 07/31/2024

Cost of the project 134,000€

Foundation funding 20,000€

Project identifier 20220462

Partners Amigos for Children Foundation

Categories

Children with disabilities -

Gender Equality -

Personal development

Context

Children may face a range of problems when they are admitted to hospital for long periods of time. They may fail to keep up with their studies and lose most of their social interactions. Frustration and a lack of motivation can adversely affect a child's fight against chronic illness.

Project goals

The Amigos for Children Foundation is working on a variety of approaches to introduce sports themes to the project’s hospital visits. With the assistance of the UEFA Foundation for Children we will add sports-related knowledge to the sessions, producing sports-themed exercise booklets. All volunteers are university students and recruitment will start in March 2023.

Project content

The project involves university student volunteers who visit long-term child patients at least twice a week to help them with their studies, assist with arts and crafts and improve social contact. The focus is on learning through play to the enjoyment of patients and volunteers alike.

The project will continue hospital visits to build on its eight successful years of experience. In 2022 the project welcomed a volunteer who had previously experienced the benefits of the programme as a patient. Bringing friendship, play and study to children's hospital bedsides, regardless of the patient’s gender, age or ethnicity, also has positive effects on recovery times.

Partners

Sport for Equal Opportunities in Armenia

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Republic of Armenia

Start date 01/01/2023

End date 12/31/2023

Cost of the project 13,000€

Foundation funding 13,000€

Project identifier 20220509

Partners Bridge of Hope

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Personal development

Context

The percentage of disabled children of school age who participate in sport is much lower in remote regions of Armenia than in Yerevan. In Tavush province in northeast Armenia about 450 children with physical and psychosocial disabilities attend inclusive schools, but over 80% of them are excluded from sport and physical activities due to a lack of support from family and friends, negative school experiences, a lack of knowledge of the opportunities available and issues with transport and physical access. Another barrier to participation in sport stems from prejudices within communities and among families, school teachers, peers and the media. The project strives to remove the attitudinal barriers that currently prevent or deter disabled children from seeking inclusion in sports and physical activities.

Project goals

Promote the inclusion of children and young people with physical, mental and psychosocial disabilities, and those suffering depravation, through inclusive sports and games.

Project content

Advocacy actions that target the Armenian legal framework of sport. ‘Sport for Equal Opportunities’ awareness-raising campaigns to boost the profile of inclusive sports policies and practices in the country.

Partners

Busajo Campus: promoting education and well-being through sport

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Ethiopia

Start date 02/01/2023

End date 02/28/2024

Cost of the project 90,360 €

Foundation funding 40,000€

Project identifier 20220532

Partners Busajo NGO Ets

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Gender Equality -

Healthy lifestyle -

Infrastructure and equipment -

Personal development

Context

The project is based in Sodo, a rapidly expanding city in the region of Wolaita, Ethiopia. The pace of development is generating many social problems as an increasing number of people, including many minors, migrate to the city in the hope of improving their lives and escaping the deep poverty of the countryside.

Many people moving to the city are forced to resort to marginal employment and live on the streets. Young people and children soon become targets of the criminal underworld. The situation can also be catastrophic for those who remain in rural areas as they face deprivation and poverty, often struggling to survive. There are an estimated 3,000 street children in Sodo. Many families do not have the economic capacity to meet basic needs or send their children to school.

Project goals

Combat slavery, crime and child prostitution
Improve school attendance rates
Enhance the physical, psychological and social conditions of the beneficiaries
Improve interpersonal, relationship and soft skills
Effectively treat rickets
Improve socialisation and teach tolerance and respect through sport
Promote inclusion and equal opportunities for girls and boys as well as between the children on campus and those living externally

Project content

Busajo Campus is a social and educational project for street children living in the city of Sodo and the surrounding rural areas. It supports rehabilitation, crime prevention and family reintegration. The project beneficiaries regain their dignity and build hopes for the future.

Thousands of children live in extreme poverty – many more than we can accommodate on our campus. For this reason, the project focuses on support for health, education and sport, for those on campus and in the vicinity.

A new off-road vehicle is required to reach remote villages.

Partner

SHARE: my story

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Senegal, Palestine and Burkina Faso

Start date 01/10/2023

End date 12/31/2023

Cost of the project 88,770,00€

Foundation funding 72,140,00€

Project identifier 20220581

Partners Exodos Ljubljana

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Conflict victims -

Employability -

Environmental protection -

Healthy lifestyle -

Personal development -

Strengthening partnerships

Context

We strongly believe that sport and culture should be more connected and the Share: My Story programme promotes this. Children who hope to be the best footballers in the world should learn about culture for their personal growth and to broaden their horizons. We advocate for equality for girls and boys who, although from different backgrounds, all share the same passion.

Project goals

Our project encourages social, sporting and artistic bonds, promoting the talent of young people and strengthening their physical, cultural and intellectual capital.

Specific objectives

Provide young people from different countries with new training and cultural skills, enabling them to express their voices through art.
Connect sport with cultural activities, the physical with the imagination, for the surrounding communities: families, neighbours, schoolmates.
Empower small clubs and NGOs in their efforts to inspire creative teamwork.

Project content

Creative camps in three countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Palestine

My story – a workshop in documentary filmmaking
Urban dance and movement – a workshop in urban dance

Location 1: Dakar, Senegal, 10–21 January 2023

Location 2: Jenin, Ramallah, Palestine, 1–14 July 2023

Location 3: Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, 1–11 December 2023

Creating and updating project website and social media accounts, producing PR content

1 December 2022 – 31 December 2024

Completion of the professional documentary film My Story

30 March 2024

Setting up and developing local football clubs

20 January 2023 – 31 December 2023

Partners

Tackling the Blues

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Merseyside, Liverpool - England

Start date 02/01/2023

End date 02/01/2024

Cost of the project 160,821€

Foundation funding 88,836€

Project identifier 20220531

Partners Everton in the Community

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Healthy lifestyle -

Personal development

Context

Inequality is a serious problem in severely deprived areas where people are exposed to multiple risk factors, including mental illness, adverse childhood experiences and limited opportunities. Liverpool is the third most health-deprived area in England. Children and young people frequently have to wait a long time for treatment and a high proportion of youngsters with mental health issues do not receive any treatment at all.

The Tackling the Blues project seeks to address the complex social determinants and inequalities associated with mental health and illness. This is done by applying mechanisms for social inclusion and equity, namely by providing local schools with services that they would not otherwise have access to.

The project develops the youngsters’ knowledge and understanding of positive mental health strategies and resilience, which may render intervention by mental health services unnecessary. An external review by RealWorth calculated that Tackling the Blues had a societal value of £7,354,000, which suggests that it is having a significant impact for its beneficiaries.

Project goals

- Reduce inequalities and support children and young people in severely deprived areas by offering insight into the importance of positive mental health

- Support schools in the introduction of a whole-school approach to mental health

- Provide inclusive activities for children and young people, such as art, sport and education

- Adopt a mentoring approach to help pupils into full-time employment

Project content

- Weekly sessions will be delivered in the top 10% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) where deprivation is a serious problem and access to sport is limited.

- The project helps schools introduce a whole-school approach to mental health. Consultation with partner schools identifies relevant issues and how the project can offer support.

- Sport, art and education promote significant benefits for children’s mental and physical health. These activities will be major deliverables throughout the Tackling the Blues project.

- The project will provide students at Edge Hill University with opportunities for knowledge exchange so that they can improve skills and experience in planning and implementing mental health projects based on sport, art and education.

Partners

Junior Camp

Location and general information

Ongoing

Location Poland

Start date 12/01/2022

End date 12/01/2023

Cost of the project 105,000€

Foundation funding 50,000€

Project identifier 20220904

Partners European Amputee Football Federation

Categories

Access to Sport -

Children with disabilities -

Gender Equality -

Healthy lifestyle -

Personal development

Context

The benefits of participating in sport for children are universal. In many countries, disabled children have limited access to sport even though it is their basic human right. Providing children with the opportunity to participate in a range of physical activities improves their well-being, enables them to socialise with their peers, develops social skills and enhances mental and physical health. It is important to reduce the inequalities that disabled children face as much as possible.

Project goals

- Offer equal access to sport

- Increase skill levels

- Disseminate the concept of junior amputee football

- Provide cultural exchanges for children, parents and coaches

- Develop new junior projects in the participating countries

- Increase participation in physical activities

- Increase the number of girls involved in sport

Project content

Junior Camp is a training camp for children, aged 5–16, with unilateral amputations or limb defects. Participants from all over Europe and further afield attend Junior Camp and are afforded the opportunity to play football, speak the universal language of sport and develop new skills. It is also a chance for coaches to exchange knowledge and consider developing subsequent programmes. In addition, the camp gives parents the opportunity to strengthen their bonds with their children.

Partner

A long-term partnership with PluSport

For A Long term partnership with PluSport

For the third year in a row, we are supporting the Goal Plus – Play Football project, helping PluSport make football even more popular among disabled people.

Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo. The whole world knows who they are. Football is the most popular sport on our planet and, helping PluSport will make access to sport, and football in particular, easier for everyone, regardless of any disability.

Access to football, promotion of health and education of children and teenagers are key priorities for the UEFA Foundation for Children. Urs Kluser, the foundation’s general secretary, says: “We are proud to support disability football. This sport gives people pleasure, enables them to meet others and facilitates their social integration.”

In 2018, we included the Goal Plus project in a fascinating photographic exhibition showing the benefit of football in our activities with children and how it is used as a factor of social positive change.

In April, PluSport representatives will have a unique opportunity to celebrate the partnership during the UEFA Youth League (the Champions League equivalent for U-19 club teams) finals in Nyon-Colovray at the end of April, when participating players from all over Europe will join in various activities with disabled athletes as part of social awareness projects. PluSport will be in attendance with a blind football team and an inflatable training pitch, showcasing blind football to players and spectators alike.

We are proud to support disability football. This sport gives people pleasure, enables them to meet others and facilitates their social integration.”

- Urs Kluser, the foundation’s general secretary

TIPS – a tool for the uses of the new technologies with children with ASD

TIPS – feedback from the use of the new technologies with children with autism spectrum disorder symptoms (ASD)

On the occasion of the world autism awareness day, FIRAH and its universities and stakeholders European partners publish TIPS.

This booklet in done in a question and answer format. It gathers answers of children and adolescents with ASD, to their parents, and to professionals working with these children on the use of new technologies. The questionnaires included questions on the digital tools and method of use, the different areas (educational, communication, logic…) in which they were used, appropriation, and specific questions on verbal communication and social interactions. The questionnaires were filled in by 111 professionals, 137 parents, and 90 children or adolescents with ASD, from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Tips was created through the autism and new technologies program led by FIRAH and the UEFA Foundation for children.

Read about Tips

Eagles book their place at the 2018 IBSA Blind Football World Championships

The members of the Solidarité Aveugle (Blind Solidarity) project have been rewarded for their perseverance. The Eagles will fly to Spain to represent Mali at the 2018 IBSA Blind Football World Championships.

Visually impaired footballers from all parts of Africa donned their blindfolds and battled it out at the recently held IBSA Blind Football African Championships. Among them were the Eagles of Mali, all members of the Solidarité Aveugle (Blind Solidarity) project run by the French Libre Vue association, who set the tone with a 12-0 victory over Cape Verde in their opening match. “We went with the aim of bringing the cup home and qualifying for the 2018 World Championships,” said Mali forward Bandiougou Traoré.

Efforts rewarded

Qualifying is one thing, but the opportunity to play is another. The Mali team’s participation in the second edition of the IBSA Blind Football African Championships in Cape Verde was no foregone conclusion. And Mali is not alone. Sending a team to an event like this is expensive and, without the support of the relevant authorities, often more than small associations can afford. Financial difficulties prevented Ivory Coast from taking part, for example. Fortunately, however, thanks to the efforts of the Libre Vue association, it was a different story for the Eagles. Having already secured funding from the UEFA Foundation for Children, Libre Vue also set up a successful crowdfunding campaign to fund their participation.

Blind football, an effective tool for social integration

The battle was not in vain, as the Mali team’s determined approach saw them finish in an impressive second place and thus qualify for the IBSA Blind Football World Championships to be played in Madrid from 5 to 18 June 2018.

The Blind Solidarity project gives visually impaired youngsters from Bamako an opportunity to discover blind football and its values, and to increase their self-confidence. A total of 150 young people aged between 7 and 25 participate in the project, which runs five training sessions each week. For Bandiougou Traoré, who has been playing blind football for five years, playing in such a competition is a dream come true. “It’s an honour, it’s something I’m really proud of!” he says. As well as requiring commitment, endurance and concentration, blind football helps to send out a strong message of integration and social cohesion by changing perceptions of disabled people. When they represent their country, blind footballers are not defined by their disability: they are players and nothing else.

PluSport player escorts take centre stage in the Super League

On Sunday 30 April, 22 children and teenagers from Axpo PluSport football teams accompanied the players of Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Lugano onto the pitch at Letzigrund stadium ahead of their Super League tie.

Many young football fans dream of lining up on the pitch alongside their favourite players. On 30 April, that dream came true for 22 disabled children and teenagers thanks to PluSport, the umbrella organisation for disabled sports in Switzerland. The lucky player escorts were selected from the Axpo PluSport teams of FC Zürisee Juniors, FC Turbi, FC Wiggenhof and Ponte Kickers Zofingen. The initiative was made possible with the support of Grasshopper Club Zürich.

“It was a fantastic experience for the children,” said Anita Fischer, the PluSport project manager. “And their coaches and parents were very hands-on in preparing the children’s big moment on the pitch.”

And what about the children, what did they think of it all? “It was super cool,” according to Naomi König (14), whose sister, Saskia (16), said: “I thought it was a unique experience, something really special.” Others, such as Tobias Ruf, would have clearly preferred to play themselves!

The UEFA Foundation for Children welcomes this initiative, which shows once again that football is open to all. Aside from the joy it spreads, football enables disabled children to stay active and it gives them strength to tackle the challenges they face in day-to-day life.

çATED pour tes dents: a programme to help children with autism improve their dental hygiene

The UEFA Foundation for Children supports applied research projects designed to improve communication and education for autistic children in Europe.

In 2015, the foundation’s board of trustees decided to award its entire annual solidarity fund of €1m to the International Foundation of Applied Disability Research (FIRAH). FIRAH works in close cooperation with a number of partners, particularly universities in various European countries and national and international associations for autistic children and their families.

The foundation’s financial support for FIRAH will last for four years but has already made it possible to develop a project entitled ‘çATED pour tes dents’ (çATED for your teeth). The independence of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), notably regarding their oral health, is a specific research domain and an important real-life issue for families and professionals.

The çATED app was developed by researchers, engineers, professionals and parents of autistic children. It enables the children to be more independent and more confident and to organise themselves so they can complete their daily tasks. A visual timetable provides a representation of the day that the children can fill in themselves with their parents, organising and adapting it according to their needs and how they do things. This customisation makes it easier for the child to take charge.

The app also makes it possible to break a complex task down into simpler sub-tasks, making it easier for children to learn how to brush their teeth, and helps them to integrate doing so into their daily routine after each meal.

The app also makes it easier to prepare for and carry out one-off tasks that could cause anxiety, such as going to the dentist.

The çATED pour tes dents project is led by the University of Nantes in cooperation with the disability organisations ADAPEI 44, Agir et Vivre l’autisme and Chrysalide de l’Être.

A series of videos providing more information about the project and how people can use the app in their daily lives is available on the çATED pour les dents YouTube channel.

Three new research projects were chosen in 2016 and are about to start. The projects are:

The development of an evidence-based practice evaluation tool to support technologies linked to ASD.
The development of a software program that involves training, cooperative social interaction and motor learning, with the objective of developing children’s social, interaction and cooperation skills.
e-GOLIAH, a project providing digital games that help children improve their joint attention and imitation skills, two abilities that are key for their first social interactions and communication. This project involves a more natural way of taking action, as it focuses on children under five and is used at home with the involvement of the children’s parents.

Improving communication and education for autistic children in Europe

Location and general information

Context

The UEFA Foundation for Children has decided to allocate its annual support grant for 2015 to a project designed to improve communication and education for autistic children in Europe. This project, submitted by the International Foundation of Applied Disability Research (FIRAH), has been approved by the Board of trustees of the foundation. Inspired by the innovative approach of the project, the UEFA Foundation for Children has adopted the words of Mahatma Gandhi to use as the slogan for the project:

Be the change that you wish to see in the world.

Thus the project to improve the lives of autistic children and their families, and to give them hope for the future.

What we are doing

The FIRAH is working with a number of partners to run this project: representatives of international and national associations for autistic children and their families; educational, social and medical services that come into contact with autistic children every day; and universities and research centres.

The project has three pillars:

Facilitating access to the latest educational material and equipment such as robots and tablets, adapted to the specific needs of autistic children and their families.
Training families and professionals working with autistic children so that they can help autistic children make use of new technology, with online guides and training available to families and professionals.
Developing applied research projects to assess the impact new technology (robots, tablets, etc.) has on the every lives of autistic children in order to improve the equipment and apps available. All such research projects will involve the children, their parents and professionals to deliver concrete results based on the needs and expectations of autistic children and their families.

The project will be implemented chiefly in six European countries in order to keep it relatively local and focused on the real needs of families.

The children, their parents and professionals will be involved in evaluating the results.

Our partners

UEFA Foundation for Children supports World Autism Awareness Day

World Autism Awareness Day takes place on Saturday 2 April, and the UEFA Foundation for Children is lending its support as part of a long-term project aimed at helping to improve the lives of autistic children and their families and giving them hope for the future.

As part of its activities on behalf of children across the world, the UEFA foundation allocated its annual support grant for 2015 to a project designed to improve communication and education for autistic children in Europe. The innovative project is being coordinated by the International Foundation of Applied Disability Research (FIRAH).

The slogan for the project comes from Mahatma Ghandi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” To this end, FIRAH has entered into partnerships with international and national associations for autistic children and their families, as well as educational, social and medical services. All of these partners have regular contact with autistic children to help bring happiness into their daily lives.

The FIRAH project is called Autism and New Technologies, and is being implemented for a four-year period in six European countries – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Partners include around 30 institutions using new technologies for autistic children aged between 2 and 18, in addition to university partners and associations in the six countries.

Three pillars underpin the project:

Facilitating access to the latest educational material and equipment such as robots and tablets, adapted to the specific needs of autistic children and their families.
Training families and professionals working with autistic children so that they can help autistic children make use of new technology, with online guides and training available to families and professionals.
Developing applied research projects to assess the impact of new technology (robots, tablets, etc.) on the everyday lives of autistic children in order to improve the equipment and apps available. All such research projects will involve the children, their parents and professionals to deliver concrete results based on the needs and expectations of autistic children and their families.

The children, their parents and professionals will be involved in evaluating the results of the Autism and New Technologies project.

“The UEFA Foundation for Children is delighted to give its backing to this project of considerable importance,” said the chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees, former European Commission president José Manuel Barroso. “Autism represents a great challenge for modern society, and I have no doubt that the deployment of new technologies in this area will bring significant results not only for FIRAH and its partners in their pioneering work, but also for autistic children and their families.

“The Autism and New Technologies project promises to be a resounding success, and the UEFA foundation is happy that football, as a powerful social force, can support these activities in accordance with its key mission to help improve children’s lives.”

Tonga’s Just Play programme reaps rewards

Tevita Telini was not born with a disability, but in primary school he had an operation on his head that went wrong. Consequently, he lost all his strength and struggled to walk or stand without assistance.

Some 90% of disabled children in the Pacific Islands do not attend school. Negative perceptions surround people with disabilities, who are not given the respect or equality they deserve and are often excluded from physical activity, which increases their risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Luckily, Tevita attended the Ofa Tui Amanake (OTA) disability centre in Tonga, where the Just Play programme is run once a week.

Tevita took part in Just Play every week and attended weekly workouts with the Tonga Football Association to build up his strength. When he began, a 2kg weight was too much for him to lift while standing up, and he could only do one sit-up before he was exhausted. Tevita’s lack of fitness and inactive lifestyle put him at a higher risk of developing NCDs. However, he is very determined and worked hard to build up his strength at the OTA centre and through Just Play.

His hard work paid off when, at the age of 31, he was selected to represent Tonga in the 2015 Special Olympic Games in Los Angeles. After two years of training, Tevita was capable of lifting 20kg, and could complete three sets of 20 sit-ups. His tenacity has also earned him a place at the 2017 Special Olympic Games, where he will compete in the javelin, shot-put and discus.

Not only has Tevita improved his lifestyle, built up his strength and lowered his risk of developing NCDs, he has also become a role model to aspiring disabled and non-disabled athletes around Tonga. He has proved that with hard work and determination, you can overcome obstacles and achieve something great. Tevita and many others who have participated in Just Play have changed perceptions surrounding disabled people in the Pacific Islands, proving that they deserve respect just like everybody else.

While Just Play is a sport for development programme that targets children aged 6 to 12, the programme has no age limit for participants with intellectual disabilities. Just Play is managed by the Oceania Football Confederation, with support from the UEFA Foundation for Children, the Australian Government, the Australian Football Federation, the New Zealand government and UNICEF.

To find out more about Just Play programme