Nutmeg Radio » Social Change

Come to the America SCORES New York Draw Party!

Miriti Murungi — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:04:04 +0000

Come join us tonight, Thursday, June 23 at Legends in New York City for the America SCORES New York draw party. We’ll be picking out the brackets for the America SCORES Cup this Saturday at Pier 40. Come for a few happy hour drinks, some great company, and learn a bit more about America SCORES New York.

And if you’re still interested in playing in the 7 v 7 co-ed tournament this weekend, drop us a line at info@nutmegradio.com.

Look forward to seeing you!

Fiorentina Decide That a Message is More Powerful Than a Sponsor

Clive Longbottom-Fellow, Esq. — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:50:52 +0000

Pretty awesome, Fiorentina.

Italian club Fiorentina has perhaps inteligently decided to move on from their previous shirt sponsor Toyota. But instead of going out to broker a deal with another mega-corporation with a faulty product, Fiorentina has admirably decided to go touchy-feely.

From The Sport Review:

Serie A club Fiorentina have replaced their shirt sponsor with a message intended to reach out to the youth of Italy.

The message ‘Il calcio è un divertimento,’ (football is entertainment), has been added to promote fair play and replaces the club’s previous shirt sponsor Toyota for the upcoming season.

Fiorentina vice-president Mario Cognin explained the reasons for undertaking the refreshing initiative.

“It is a way to encourage young people to approach the game without taking it too seriously”, said Cognin.

“It reflects how Fiorentina sees football.”

The decision made by Fiorentina is similar to Barcelona’s decision to go with UNICEF as a sponsor, after years of turning down corporate sponsorship opportunities. Is it good business to forgo revenue opporunities when you are underperforming financially or when access to funds can boost the quality of your team? I’m not so sure it is. But perhaps there is some business savvy behind this move. Let’s use me as an example.

Previously, I had no strong opinions on Fiorentina as a club. Now I like them a little bit more. This one gesture will likely lead to me paying a little more attention to the club. Given the choice of purchasing an Italian jersey, this year’s Fiorentina strip is now on my radar, not because the jersey is particularly sexy (in fact, it’s not), but rather because it’s something different. Basically, with this one gesture, Fiorentina has drawn my interest for the right reasons. Something that Italian football has failed to do in the past few years.

But perhaps in another room, in another country, some current Fiorentina fan is disgusted, vowing to never be caught dead in this jersey. And to that I say, “Fair enough. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One man’s delectable dessert is another man’s flan.”

Surely some financial modeling went into the decision to be sponsored by an inspirational statement, but ultimately, how this plays out commercially is anyone’s guess. Regardless of how the numbers play out in Excel, we may never be able to truly capture the financial implications of this gesture. But simply as a fan of the game, Fiorentina’s gesture is a positive one. I can’t quantify the value of reputation, but I do know that reputation does have value.

Anyway, regardless of how this plays out, I am slow clapping for you, Fiorentina. In fact, for this gesture, you deserve an enthusiastic slow clap.

Click here to see the unveiling of the new Fiorentina jersey. I hope you speak Italian.

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sOccket, The Energy Producing Soccer Ball Takes the Next Step in Development

Miriti Murungi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:33:08 +0000

A few months ago, we brought you news about sOccket, a soccer ball that doubles as a portable, energy-storing power source. Since then, the sOccket team has pushed forward, officially introducing the ball to the world at the World Cup in South Africa. Already, sOccket seems to have more promise than its distant relative, Jabulani.

Jessica Lin, one of sOccket’s Co-Founders, believes that sOccket has a role to play in energy problems that have plagued the developing world for decades. Lin says, “sOccket may not be a solution to the energy crisis, but it is a new way of thinking about problems many people face on a day to day basis … and it enables empowerment for children literally to power their own lives.”

The original prototype was capable of storing enough energy to illuminate a small LED light for three hours. The new version that was manufactured by Cape Town-based design company, Dot Dot Dot Ex Why Zed, now yields three hours of portable energy from less than ten minutes of play.

So how does sOccket actually work? The ball has an internal inductive coil. Movement of the ball while playing forces a magnet through the coil that produces voltage to generate electricity. You can then simply take the ball home or to work and plug in a lamp to do work that you might otherwise struggle to do without a reliable light source. It’s pretty simple, just like most brilliant ideas.

According to Lin, “There is a huge need for cheap, clean, simple, off-grid energy solutions that are available for immediate use.”

And she’s absolutely correct. The reach of soccer is undeniable. The same can be said for the need for global energy solutions. Using the world’s game to extend beyond sport for the sake of sport and into solutions to address social challenges is the next stage in soccer’s development, taking it from a game that only addresses our entertainment needs to a game that also addresses our social needs.

With sOccket, soccer is no longer simply a means of exercise or an avenue to the professional game. sOccket broadens soccer’s reach to allow people to further education or even increase business productivity.

I’m sure you can think of additional applications for sOccket’s technology. That’s what makes the project so interesting. The sOccket folks are off to begin beta testing in Nigeria, so keep your eyes peeled for sOccket news. We’ll let you know when we hear of updates.

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Is the World Cup the New Measuring Stick for Public Officials?

Miriti Murungi — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:15:35 +0000

Mail & Guardian’s Mark Gevisser asks the question that several locals I met in South Africa during the World Cup asked: “If South Africa can deliver a global mega-event, why can’t it tackle its inequality with the same energy and efficiency?”

Many South Africans were proud of the show that they successfully put on for the world while wondering what else could be done if the powers that be focused on social challenges with the same level of urgency that they focused on delivering the World Cup. But this same question applies to a lot of what the world accomplishes in the name of sport and entertainment.

We’re a world obsessed with being entertained to the extent that we’ve completely lost sight of any balance between our investment in entertainment vs. social good. The amount of time, money and energy that we spend on entertainment could decisively address many of the social challenges that we have faced for decades, if not centuries. Sports and government officials update us almost daily, explaining why a particular stadium is not on schedule, while ensuring us that deadlines will be met. Rest assured, someone official will speak up every time there is a potential setback, whether that setback is about ticketing, infrastructure or security. Should it be too much to expect the same attention to matters that impact whether people have adequate housing, food, security and education? Too often it seems as if our priorities are completely backwards.

This isn’t to say that sport or entertainment in general isn’t a worthwhile endeavor. Rather, this is to say that officials need to be as dedicated to social challenges as they are to entertainment. We’ve learned time and time again that public officials can be responsive, relatively timely, and can deliver when it matters. Often, these are the same officials delivering excuse after excuse when it comes to matters that are clearly more pressing.

Well, we may have a new measuring stick for public officials. If they can do it for the World Cup or any other mega-event, they should be held accountable if they can’t act with the same urgency for the good of those in need. So South African leaders, you’re on the clock. It’s time to show that you can do for your people what you did for the world. Now it’s time to really get to work.

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Compton United’s Field of Dreams, Or Lack Thereof

Miriti Murungi — Sat, 01 May 2010 08:00:22 +0000

NWA, I’m shaking my fist at you. You put Compton on the map. Well played for that, I think. But years have passed, and your mark on the map is now overshadowing other marks. What was once the public face of Compton to the masses, or at least the first name yelled in free association, should no longer be. This isn’t an indictment of what’s in your iPod (or mine), but rather a short plea to allow yourself, ye olde consumers of culture, to be reprogrammed to make room for the new faces of Compton.

There are approximately 100,000 residents of Compton, California, a locale that sadly might not have registered with many Americans if it wasn’t for NWA’s Straight Outta Compton and 90s movies “highlighting” gang violence in South Central Los Angeles. In 1980, Compton was roughly 80% African-American. But the Compton first introduced to the masses through music and movies, much like the rest of America, has changed.

Compton is now roughly 70% Latino/Hispanic. Surprise, rest of America! Compton has not only undergone a sizable demographic shift, but also a slight shift in the roster of local heroes. Fans of Mexican clubs Club America and Chivas Guadalajara, and now MLS clubs LA Galaxy and Chivas USA, are slowly saturating the community. But even though Compton’s demographics have changed, a few things haven’t. Finding safe, productive things to do remains a challenge for kids and parents looking for alternatives. But in spite of the relatively recent influx of soccer fanatics, Compton surprisingly has no soccer fields. That’s right. Zero soccer fields. None. Nada. Mind you, this is an area two exits from the Home Depot Center, home of Landon Donovan and Chivas USA midfielder Sasha Kljestan’s mustache.

So while soccer specific stadiums are all the rage in MLS, kids who want to play soccer find themselves scrambling around on multi-purpose, often unsafe, dirt patches or baseball outfields in relative obscurity, only two exits away from one of U.S. soccer’ s newest shrines.

Compton has long been a recognized hotbed for athletic talent by American football, basketball and baseball scouts who have been familiarizing themselves with the area for decades. Not too long ago, Major League Baseball opened a multi-million dollar training academy at Compton Community College, at least implicitly acknowledging the local pool of talent, as well as the lack of safe space, and the need for extracurricular activities for youth in the area. But that’s baseball. Unfortunately, in most urban areas, soccer remains like Kathy Griffin, seemingly always around, but consistently easy to ignore. Soccer remains an outsider in spite of continuing evidence that American football, basketball and baseball are arguably harder and harder to break into, and in spite of the fact that soccer is a game that invites 5 ‘7″ Lionel Messis and Cobi Joneses, and 5 ft. 6 in. Salvadorians like former LA Galaxy midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos to excel at every level.

Recognizing the power that soccer has in the inner-city communities and specifically in Compton, Mike Herman, Founder and President of Compton United, cobbled together a soccer club now serving over 200 kids on a shoestring budget … remember, without access to a soccer field. It hasn’t been easy, but that hasn’t stopped Herman yet.

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Herman moved to Compton roughly 15 years ago. With a background in American football and wrestling, he was a soccer novice, backing into the power of soccer after his kids took up the sport. Starting off, Herman perhaps knew a bit more about soccer than most Americans know about cricket. Years later, Compton United is slowly weaving its way into the fabric of the community. Through the years, Herman has had a front row seat to witness the challenges facing Compton’s youth. He knows very well that even though the demographics have changed, many of the underlying challenges have not.

The challenges Herman and some of the Compton United families face might not exactly resonate in other soccer communities across America. Many of us have heard of locations where employers go to pick up day laborers. Well in Compton, there is a nearby day laborer area for children where employers come to pick up kids, many of whom would rather be playing. This situation would be appalling if it occurred next door to most of us, but in certain communities, it does. That’s the reality. Missing practice or a game because of work sometimes has a slightly different connotation at Compton United. With the financial challenges facing some of the families associated with the club, retaining kids, even those who desperately want to play, becomes a common obstacle. Add family members’ immigration issues to the financial issues, and you start to scratch the surface of what makes pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps a bit more of a challenge in Compton and similar urban environments across the country.

But in spite of all this, the club, the kids, the parents, and a handful of volunteers, are still making it work. Compton United’s budget breaks down to a cost of approximately $450 per kid per season. The kids, however, are only charged $195 to participate, leaving the difference to be covered by corporate and individual donations, a hustle that takes time that Herman and his understaffed club should ideally be dedicating to the kids. The non-profit types in the audience know this game. But even at this reduced cost, $195 dollars is a lot of money for families already struggling to get by. Nevertheless, the sacrifice is worthwhile to some. Individual and corporate attention, from the likes of Adidas and the local MLS clubs, have made life easier in many respects, but many of the day-to-day challenges facing the club remain.

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Even though Compton United has no field to call home, they’re hoping to move on to fields further away.

Fifteen kids from the Compton United’s Under-15 team have been invited to play in the Hope Cup International Youth Tournament in Mamelodi, South Africa, home of South African Premier League team Mamelodi Sundowns, during the 2010 World Cup. This will be a life transformative experience for kids. In addition to playing in the tournament, they will visit the apartheid museum with local teams, participate in a community service project at an orphanage in Soweto–working with children and helping to build a soccer field, and take in several World Cup games. These are the types of experiences that add perspective to life, but are often unattainable for kids who often don’t get to leave their own neighborhoods.

The kids have been working hard to raise money to cover the trip, but are still short as the cost of the trip is more than a decent chunk of change for many of their families. If you feel inclined to chip in to contribute to a once in a life time experience for these kids, you can do so here.

Compton United does so much right. We will spend some time in forthcoming pieces focusing on the club, which in many ways is a model of how we should be addressing urban challenges. Stay tuned. And in the meantime, feel free to head over to Compton United to learn a bit more about the club. Or again, over here to help their kids embark on a trip of a lifetime.

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Barcelona Is More Than Messi: Nutmeg Radio’s Q & A with Ghana’s Keta Sandlanders

Miriti Murungi — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:01:08 +0000

Barcelona is branching out into Ghana, even if they don’t know it.

Yesterday we introduced Keta Sandlanders. Today we bring you our exchange with the Sandlanders team, specifically Sandlanders Chairman and Founder Frank Cole and Vice-Chairman Paul Jones. We covered everything from the club to Barcelona, development, a young Fabregas/Pienaar, and the upcoming World Cup.

Enjoy …

Several major international newspapers have reported on Keta Sandlanders’ unique model in the African game (The Guardian (UK) and Financial Times). What’s makes your approach in Ghanaian/African football unique? What was the inspiration for the development of the Keta Sandlanders’ club model?

The model is unique in Ghanaian/African football as we will be giving everyone in the local community the opportunity to get involved in the running of the club and any profits made will be reinvested into the club and local community in line with our constitution. Too often in African football (as in other aspects of society) supporters feel detached from management/ownership and there is a lack of support for clubs because supporters don’t trust the owners. The co-operative structure is completely transparent and democratic and we hope to build a big fan base by allowing people to take a share in the club on a ‘one member one vote’ basis. We are promoting the club through our website to get international fans involved and in the long term we will encourage these fans to support development projects that go beyond football. The inspiration was Barcelona’s motto that it is ‘more than a club’ and the Sandlanders’ aim to become a vibrant social and economic community in Keta.

I like the spirit of the Barcelona ethos. How has the community in Keta taken to the community-oriented approach to the club?

We are still in the early stages of raising community awareness of the co-operative. The last couple of years have been spent building a team and setting the co-operative up and the next few will be spent working to promote the co-op and engaging members. As the organization matures we will begin our own development projects in the area which will be decided upon and run by the local supporters.

How do the Sandlanders compare to other First and Second Division sides in Ghana?

There are many teams competing in Ghana’s lower divisions and in general terms the quality is good but the infrastructure of the clubs is poor. Teams often run for one season investing everything they have before folding and sustainable structures are rare. We hope to boost our fundraising potential through website revenue and a mixture of public funding and commercial sponsorships to develop our infrastructure (training facilities, ground etc).

What has the response been in the rest of Ghana to the Sandlanders’ model? To your knowledge, is this a model that other clubs are considering?

Everyone we have come across likes the idea but it will take a lot of hard work to make our model successful to encourage other clubs to run in a similar fashion. We aim to show that lots of people working together is more effective than working in isolation.

It’s surprising that we still have to prove that working together is more effective than working in isolation. What projects are underway at the club, and how has the local community responded to the club’s initiatives? Going forward what projects are in the pipeline?

Our main efforts at the moment are on developing the co-operative. In the next year we will have an office for the co-operative where people can register with the club and we are also working on funding to develop a community pitch on the site of a former sports park in the town which is in a beautiful location on the coast but has fallen into disrepair since it was last used in the 1960s.

Why did you decide that a soccer club was in the right position to take on development projects in the community, rather than local or international NGOs?

Soccer clubs are very well placed to get the attention of the local community. They are a popular cause and people will often be more likely to join a football community than say an agricultural community. Once we have this attention, the club will be able to work with other NGOs in the local area who may have different areas of expertise. A profitable football club can invest in local businesses to make itself more sustainable and can work with other NGOs to start its own development projects. The most important thing is that the popular appeal is used responsibly.

Well said. So let’s look back a little bit so that we can project forward. The club was founded in 2002. Given the progress that has been made in the past eight years, where do you realistically see the club in five years?

The last 2 seasons have been spent stabilizing the club so that we can compete effectively in Ghana’s Division 2 and we have made a good start to this season. In the next 5 years, our main aims centre around developing the co-operative, our infrastructure and our community links. We believe that a more successful team on the pitch will follow these off-field improvements. If we are playing in Ghana’s Premiership in 5 years with a community pitch of our own and a popular, active co-operative running the club that would be a real achievement!

Let’s turn to players. Are most of the players local lads with ties to the community?

There is a good mix of local players and players from elsewhere in Ghana. In the past we have had players from as far away as Togo, Nigeria and Ivory Coast but the main focus will be on developing players from the Keta area.

Are there any young players at Keta Sandlanders who should be on our radar? What are their attributes and what players would you compare them to?

The club’s stand-out young player is a midfielder called Charles Abotsi. He is 17 and has been played at Ghana’s regional trials (the pool of players from which Ghana’s U-17 team is drawn). He is a small player but has terrific control, passing and movement and is a little like a Fabregas or Everton’s Steven Pienaar.

Being a little like Fabregas or Pienaar isn’t a bad thing to be. Raising these two names provides a nice segue into my final question. Obviously all of Ghana is eagerly awaiting the first World Cup in Africa. Give us a prediction. How far will Ghana go in the tournament?

Ghana have a tough group but they have also developed a real winning mentality in the last year and had a good African Nations Cup powered by several youngsters who won the U-20 World Cup. With these young players and a fit Essien and Muntari, Ghana should make the last 16 at least.

And there you have it. Click here to learn more information about Keta Sandlanders and join the movement. For the price of a pint (at least in New York City or London), you can be an owner of one of the coolest clubs around and do some good. It’s that simple!

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Ghanaian Club Keta Sandlanders Showing How Football And Responsibility Can Co-Exist in Africa

Miriti Murungi — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:30:33 +0000

Division 2 Ghanaian club Keta Sandlanders, based on the coast of Ghana’s Volta Region, is one of the more interesting clubs around, not necessarily because it has trophies busting through the clasp of some varnished trophy cabinet, or because the Sandlanders have produced Ghanaian talents that are now household names, but because of the club’s vision of what the Sandlanders could be.

Over the years, countless academies and clubs have set up shop across the African continent with the express purpose of developing young players, or so they say. Some have been successful, while others are purely parasitic. But even in the midst of the successes, it’s hard to ignore the rampant shadiness that hovers like a dark cloud over parts of African football.

At times, it’s hard to turn your head away from the legacy of resource mining in Africa. Taking a look back, there’s an eerie parallel between the mineral mining that took place in Africa during colonialism (and still continues), and mining the continent for young football talent. Both practices exist, not necessarily because of some charitable desire, but rather because of a basic recognition that Africa is resource rich, and it’s resources are readily exploitable at low costs. Cynical, perhaps. But there’s a track record to support some cynicism. In 2008, the Guardian’s Dan McDougall reported the following:

There are an estimated 500 illegal football academies operating in Accra alone. Thousands more are spread across Ghana. Many are run by the roadside; most have no proper training facilities. With biblical names such as ‘Sons of Moses’ and ‘Lovers of Christ’, each will have its own tatty bibs or T-shirts to distinguish it from the others. At the children’s side, egging them on to run, pass, think quicker, will be a legion of unlicensed agents and coaches. Ninety per cent of the academies we visited in Accra and Abidjan – the principal city of Ivory Coast – were run by local men with limited experience of the game. Most described themselves as former footballers; but none was able to produce proof of his career. They are intent on finding one thing only: the next Essien or Didier Drogba. The next multi-million-pound golden ticket.

McDougall’s article highlights rampant abuse by a diverse cast of characters. The culprits are foreign and African, rich and wannabe rich, individuals and corporations, but all are tied together by one common goal: to uncover diamonds for monetary gain under the guise of helping the youth. But all mining isn’t bad per se. It just comes with some responsibility, or at least it should.

Miners extract valuable resources from communities. Therefore, there’s a responsibility to give back to the community from which resources are being extracted, especially when the extraction is really just for monetary gain. However, responsibility has been an afterthought. So what remains is a mining culture cloaked by sophisticated PR campaigns, duping passers-by into believing that everyone has the heart of Mother Teresa.

African youth academies and clubs are easily manipulated for personal gain and image development. Nothing creates a more compassionate public profile than helping out poor African kids, right? Have you ever asked yourself why everyone wants to put their hand into soccer academies in Africa? Why not science academies or other academic academies that are likely to have a greater impact than soccer? I’m not questioning the value of soccer academies, but the prevalence of academies does raise questions about why they exist and what they are doing. In many ways, the African youth academies have become the football equivalent to African babies for celebrities. Be rich, help Africans, take resources, and send out a press release about how compassionate you are. It’s brilliant stuff, really. But what is really being done?

It is in this rough and tumble world of academy and club football that Keta Sandlanders stands out as an example of what could be. Exporting young talent and winning major trophies are not high on the Sandlanders’ immediate list of priorities given that the club has only been in action for a few years. Sure, like any club, the Sandlanders are fighting for promotion. But the club’s greater focus is properly on creating a responsible, sustainable model based on a member-owned structure, community-oriented growth, technology, and a strategy to lead community development projects in Keta.

The Sandlanders have built community and development into their model. The club will increasingly use its website to promote local industries in Keta and to give visitors a taste of daily life. The area has a beautiful coast line and strong tourist potential. Keta occupies a sand spit between a lagoon and the sea (hence the Sandlanders name) and has suffered greatly through the impact of erosion, but a coastal defense scheme completed a few years ago has made the area viable for development once again. The club has long term plans to develop these types of community projects. In fact, one-fifth of the money raised is contributed to sustainable community development programs in Keta. These aren’t side projects, but integral components of the club’s DNA. That’s not just admirable; it’s also responsible.

It is helpful to juxtapose Sandlanders with the Red Bull Soccer Academy as a comparison point. No, not the one in New York, but the Red Bull Academy in Ghana’s Volta Region. The mission of the Red Bull Academy, according to Hermann Kern, the Academy’s General Manager, is to provide “its products with all the academic requirements, so that they can express and make intelligent decisions as they strive to reach the top in both their soccer and academic pursuits.” Members of the community around the Academy are allowed to use the Academy’s IT facilities, and Red Bull has provided a decent drinking water facility, which probably makes more sense than providing a Red Bull energy drink facility.

As wonderful as Red Bull’s initiative is, it simply serves to highlight why the Sandlanders approach is so admirable. Although providing a service for the community is all well and good, we shouldn’t conflate a development academy’s side projects with the desire to really invest in community transformation. Being a neighbor is a nice gesture, but it isn’t always enough.

But is it a club’s responsibility, especially one headed by major foreign investors, to develop communities? In my opinion, yes. Over the past few decades, I’ve seen too many examples of wealthy investors moving into neighborhoods thinking that their presence is good enough. But every new footprint in these communities comes at a cost. If clubs think responsibly and truly want to make a long-term difference, clubs can be uniquely placed to lead development projects.

Even though the Sandlanders are not yet on the level of major African clubs such as Ghana’s Hearts of Oak and Egypt’s Al Ahly, clubs around the world could learn a thing or two from the Sandlanders. In an era marred by financial mismanagement and quick-fixes, the Sandlanders approach can go a long way to proving that success doesn’t necessarily have to come from corporate greed or resource manipulation. There are other models to explore how success and responsibility can co-exist.

We caught up with the Sandlanders team, specifically Sandlanders Chairman and Founder Frank Cole and Vice-Chairman Paul Jones, to talk, well, Sandlanders of course. Tomorrow, we’ll share a few highlights from our exchange.

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“Rocket Man” Elton John Supports Grassroot Soccer Initiative

The Chairman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:48:09 +0000

Last week , Elton John spent his 63rd birthday in South Africa endorsing an HIV initiative supported by one of our favorite non-profit organizations, Grassroot Soccer (GRS). The initiative, Football for Hope, is a movement created by FIFA and StreetFootballWorld, a football development network. The goal (no pun intended, well maybe a little) is to open 20 centers across the continent that would use football as a platform to educate African youth about important social issues, such as HIV prevention, children’s rights and the environment.

The Khayelitsha Township Center that Elton visited is the first of 20 that FIFA plan on building across the continent as a lasting legacy of their first World Cup on the continent. It is fitting and indicative of the great work that GRS is doing that they were selected as the first host center organization.

It is good to see that socially conscious stars like Elton John remain steadfast in their support of initiatives that strive to help disadvantaged communities around the world. As Elton so eloquently put it:

“Soccer stars are the most powerful role models for young people today so it’s fantastic that organizations like Grassroot Soccer are harnessing that power to educate young people about HIV.”

To learn more about Grassroot Soccer, who we featured in our Football For Change segment, please visit them at the GRS website.

To learn more about the Elton John AIDS Foundation, please visit them at the EJAF website.

Football’s Enduring Spirit

The Chairman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:03:23 +0000

The two-part video below from CNN of Diego Maradona’s recent visit to South Africa and the Maceira United football club in Angola points out the impact that football has on people’s lives. The video is a testament to the game’s power as an uplifting force in people’s lives across the world.

Maradona’s visit to South Africa came amidst the growing debate about the country’s ability to successfully host the World Cup. Although this video does nothing to put the debate to rest, aside from Diego’s vote of confidence amid a small army of security personnel, it does shift the focus back towards the game, the people who shape it. It’s a welcome sight to see that Diego has not become removed from the countless fans that still adore and idolize him, as many lesser stars so often do.

The story on Maciera United Football Club of Luanda provides a stark, but often needed reminder about the state of the world. We truly do live in a world split into two camps, those who have and those who don’t. It is shocking and somehow heartening to see kids playing football without shoes on a dirt road in the middle of Luanda. These kids obviously don’t subscribe to the notion of victimization. Far from beaten by the hand life has dealt them, these kids show a resiliency that belies their age. For them football offers hope and allows them to dream of a better tomorrow.

It’s great to see that playing football is a simple pleasure that doesn’t discriminate. Rich or poor, the game is a focal point in the lives of many people around the world, which uniquely enables it to transform lives. Sometimes it takes Diego Maradona and a group of kids to remind us about that.

Football For Change: Colombianitos

Clive Longbottom-Fellow, Esq. — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:04:06 +0000

Colombianitos is a Colombian non-profit created to help child victims of armed conflict in Colombia. Founded in Atlanta by a group of Colombian professionals in 2002, Colombianitos started in one of the poorest parts of Bogota, and has since expanded into four other Colombian cities, Cartegena, Puerto Tejada, Barbosa, Sincelejo, and Medellín.

Through the Colombianitos Football School, the organization uses football to tempt children away from drugs and crime that plague their communities. The Colombianitos football curriculum teaches children self control, decision making, values, and ethics through the laws of the game. But participation is not free for the kids. The kids are required to attend school and comply with a set of behavioral requirements. If the kids can comply with these requirements, then participation is free.

Parts of Colombia have been embroiled in conflict for the better part of the last four decades. A history of fractious politics, armed conflict, and illegal drug trade, has led to years of unpredictability, especially for children whose lives have been, and are still being, touched by a combination of these influences. For many Colombian children, there is a void of positive influence. Colombianitos steps into this void to provide direction to children who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

Colombia is like many of its South American neighbors when it comes to football. Football is as much a part of the nation’s identity as Catholicism. Football’s unique place in society makes it a perfect medium to capture the attention of children who have been surrounded by poverty and conflict, and show them that there is another way.

Drugs and violence too often dominate the Colombian narrative in international media coverage. For years, movies and media coverage highlighted drug cartels. The tone set by years of drug coverage has clearly seeped into the Colombian narrative, and to this day, seems to be the underlying story behind anything that the international media deems worthwhile to cover in Colombia. You can expect to read about Colombian players in the mainstream media when they are victims of violence that fit within the “violent Colombia” narrative. Previously, iconic figures like Carlos Valderrama opened doors for coverage outside of this stereotypical narrative. But when there are no iconic figures like Valderrama, it’s easy to fall back into the typical storylines about the country.

Colombia is so much more than drugs and violence. The country has miles and miles of absolutely stunning scenery. Colombian musicians Shakira, Juanes, and Carlos Vives are just the front line of an incredibly dynamic music scene that includes amazing cumbia, reggae, salsa, and rock artists. Add Colombian football to the equation and you just start to cut into what makes Colombia a culturally vibrant nation full possibilities.

Focusing on programs like Colombianitos shows that Colombians are on the front lines of showing what tomorrow’s Colombia will look like. Colombianitos recognizes that tomorrow’s Colombia starts with today’s children. Tomorrow’s businessmen and women are now learning life skills at Colombianitos. But don’t be surprised if the next Valderrama comes out of the program as well.

Visit www.colombianitos.org to learn more about how Colombianitos provides Colombian children the opportunity to maximize their potential.