New CL17 Website
We are delighted to present our new Creating Legacies 17 website. Creating Legacies 17 (CL17) is the consultancy brand of Coaches Across Continents. CL17 is the only business consultancy brand committed to addressing the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals through strategic partnerships. Specifically, we work with:
- Corporations to build your sustainable Social Purpose and Cause Marketing strategies.
- Foundations to connect you with locally owned programs globally.
- Governments to design and implement your educational policies addressing the SDGs.
- Confederations to deliver your social impact strategies using Purposeful Play.
- Philanthropists and Private Donors (including professional athletes) to develop your social legacies.
If you work for, or own, a brand interested in having a Social Purpose please contact Creating Legacies 17 at .
Coaches Across Continents Launches Global Day of Play
Coaches Across Continents is excited to launch the first-ever Global Day of Play on the 27th of August 2021 – an annual celebration on the positive impact of play.
This year we want individuals, organisations and communities who believe in the importance of play to take the #PledgeToPlayEveryday HERE!
On the 27th of August we are asking communities and organisations to join us by holding an hour of safe, fun and inclusive play with people in your community. Please tag us @coachesacross on social media with the hashtag #PledgeToPlayEveryday.
Research has shown that young people are playing less and one of the main barriers to children and young people participating in play is a lack of time. Play is often seen as ‘silly’ and ‘non-educational’ but as Albert Einstein once said “Play is the highest form of research” and is vital in cognitive, emotional and physical development.
Organisations all over the world have already signed up and are excited to celebrate on the day. Organisations from 29 countries, out of CAC’s global network spanning 132 countries, have already taken the pledge. Groups participating range from an Australian Rules football team in Edinburgh, UK to Kusewara (which means PLAY in the Chichewa language) in Malawi.
One example is training4changeS in Stellenbosch, South Africa. International Director Daniel Thomae said “we believe Purposeful Play helps children grow as self-directed learners. For the upcoming Global Day of Play on 27th of August our futsal academy players will design and lead play sessions with their peers. We’re excited to see what these young leaders come up with.”
Jaspreet Kaur from YFC Rurka Kalan in Punjab, India tells us that “at YFC Rurka Kalan, we believe young people are the backbone of society and providing play based activities is crucial to their health and well-being. We are thrilled to be a part of the first Global Day of Play on August 27th and are celebrating with our whole community, including the schools, with lots of different activities and dancing!”
We are also delighted to have generous support from leaders in the sport for social change sector including the Aspen Institute, Beyond Sport, Laureus Sport for Good, Michael Johnson Young Leaders, REMS Brazil, Sportanddev, and streetfootballworld who will all be engaging their global networks.
Together we can work together to raise awareness of the importance of play and #PledgeToPlayEveryday
COVID-19 Recovery
In 2020, Coaches Across Continents (CAC), with the Commonwealth Secretariat, created a play-based educational resource, covering issues such as anxiety, self-esteem, and stress. 96% of CAC partners reported the mental well-being of youth they engage has been affected by the pandemic. The resource seeks to benefit any organisation, community, coach, or teacher who interact with young people. The activities are adaptable to participant numbers and restrictions (distancing, hygiene etc) so they can be used in contexts where social distancing and hygiene measures are necessary.
In many ways COVID-19 has brought the world together as we adapt to the lack of travel and group experiences by connecting online and through messaging platforms. We can increase access to sport for development by designing interactive learning techniques accessible for all such as global video sharing and collaboration, active sport for development video games, and virtual reality technology.
COVID-19 has denied people the ability to socialise, play, and move, causing everyone to re-assess what really matters. One of the key opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic recovery presents to sport and play is that its benefits have been reinforced in people’s minds. We can build back better post COVID-19 by re-emphasising sport and play’s role in the emotional and social development of young people as opposed to primarily its role in elite talent development. Coaches using resources such as our Mental Health through Sport curriculum in their work will transform the perception of play in the minds of young people, parents, teachers, and communities.
CAC’s Creating Legacies 17 and The FBA Educational Partnership
Coaches Across Continents and The Football Business Academy have entered into an agreement that will see the Swiss educational institution collaborate with our global award winning network. Through this partnership, those enrolled in The FBA’s Professional Master in Football Business will have the opportunity to learn from CAC through internships and specific projects and, by doing so, provide new ideas and perspectives that go hand in hand to support our organization’s activities and partners.
“Coaches Across Continents is excited about our official partnership with The Football Business Academy. Having opportunities to work with their Candidates will benefit our Creating Legacies 17 brand that works directly with major entities including the Asian Football Confederation, Bloomberg, CONCACAF, Nike, Pathfinder Foundation, and the United Way. We first met at a Soccerex event and had our first successful internship this past year. We look forward to many more positive exchanges in 2021 and beyond.”
– Brian Suskiewicz, Chief Executive Strategist, Coaches Across Continents
“We are pleased to now officially welcome Coaches Across Continents into The FBA Family. The impact they’ve generated over the years and across the world has been incredible, and it encourages us to see how FBA Candidates can support their great team and partners as part of ongoing developments. CAC offers a great environment for challenge-based learning which can quench the thirst of those who are most passionate about social impact through football.”
– Kristian Dobrev, Chief Partnerships Officer, The FBA
CAC and Pathfinder International Expand Partnership in 2021
CAC and Pathfinder International Expand Partnership in 2021- Running the First Ever Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and ASK for Choice Female Accreditation Program
Continuing on the incredible impact of our partnership with Pathfinder International and our Beyond Sport shortlisted program tackling Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights using Purposeful Play, we are delighted to announce the expansion of this program in 2021.
CAC and Pathfinder International will be be back in Zanzibar, Tanzania working with the Ministry of Sport, training 100 teachers from across the island in our SRHR curriculum while also equipping 20 female leaders with the tools and year round training to become CAC Accredited Coaches in Purposeful Play. Engaging women through sport has been difficult for the Zanzibar government but in partnership with CAC, they are breaking religious and cultural barriers. These elected female leaders will be the first women working in sport for development in Zanzibar.
The impact of this programming will see island wide education on SRHR, creating universal access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education on gender equality, addressing UNSDGs 3 Good Health and Well – Being, 4 Quality Education, 5: Gender Equality.
Sport for Gender Equality With GIZ
CAC is pleased to announce that we are partnering with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to deliver a curriculum and training of teachers on the subject of ‘Sport for Gender Equality’. Over the coming months we will be designing specific Sport for Gender Equality curriculum, running online teacher trainings for sport for development instructors in the GIZ network and providing feedback and evaluations to assess the impact of the project. In particular this will focus on GIZ priority countries including Colombia, Western Balkans, Uganda, Morocco, and Indonesia. It is an honour to be working officially with GIZ having had many interactions with them and their sport for development experts in the past.
About GIZ
GIZ work to shape a future worth living around the world. This is GIZ’s vision and long-term goal.
GIZ provides tailor-made, cost-efficient and effective services for sustainable development.
About Coaches Across Continents (CAC) and Creating Legacies 17 (CL17) Influence
Coaches Across Continents is a global collaboration of communities, organizations, and coaches on six continents that impact the UN SDGs and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
CL17 Influence, a division of CAC, advises governments, confederations, global NGOs, policy makers, and key donors to create their global legacies, design policies, and address the UN SDGs.
