UEFA Foundation for Children extends its support to communities and schools in Jordan.
With the help of the Jordanian Ministry of Education, the Jordanian Football Association and streetfootballworld, the UEFA Foundation For Children and the Asian Football Development Project have provided training in non-violent communication and negotiation skills to 21 physical education teachers and football coaches, both men and women, in order help them to build positive relationships between students.
Early March, the one-week course involved teachers and coaches from 12 schools in the city of Karak, south of the capital, Amman. It provided them with the knowledge and skills necessary to run regular football activities for children and to use the sport as a platform for building self-esteem and encouraging social cohesion by facilitating interaction among children of different origins.
The course was led by streetfootballworld instructor Hiba Jaafil (former captain of the Lebanon women’s national team and current U17 and U19 coach) and former Jordanian national women’s internationals Maryana Haddad and Zina Al-Sadi still playing in the Jordan national team.
After the course, a tournament was held for 100 children from the 12 schools (50 boys and 50 girls, all aged 10 or 11). Through football, a language understood by all, children of different origins came together, cheered each other on, helped each other to win and built lasting friendships.
The programme will be extended to 24 other schools in the south of Jordan over the course of the year. In various joint activities and special events, children from the different schools will play alongside each other in mixed teams rather than against each other, to encourage mutual understanding and acceptance of cultural differences and break down stereotypes and other barriers.