Back On-Field With Green Kenya
Our longtime partners Green Kenya have been back on field impacting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) using CAC’s Purposeful Play! Check out the blog below written by David Mulo, Founder of Green Kenya, and part of the CAC Instruct team!
60 hours, this is the amount of time we have spent on field running Kenya programs. We have played at least 21 games with Green-Kenya, Far East Basketball and Futaball Mas addressing 7 different UNSDGs, that is, SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being SDG 4 Quality Education, SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities, and SDG 13 Climate Action. The programs took place in some of the most challenging environments, like Kibare, which is one of the largest Slums in Africa and Mathare where majority of residents live below 2 dollars a day.
The on field training took 3 days per organization unlike previously where we conducted training for 5 days, this was due to strict Covid-19 protocols. We facilitated education around the UNSDGs on-field by engaging coaches through discussions and having vital conversation through different games.
During the 3 programs, we had a huge number of youth leaders attending the program, out of 128 coaches who attended that training, 90 of them were youth leaders, the high number of Youth leaders was steady in all the programs.
We also had an emerging Community Impact coach during the on-field training by the name Titus Musyoka, who is a community Coach at Green-Kenya, Titus has been committed to impacting many Children in Mukuru Slums since 2019 and he has been part of CAC training in Kenya since then. The emerging young leader was part of the implementing team in Nairobi and we believe he learned new skills that he will use to impact many young people not only in Nairobi but in different parts of the world.
We believe that our partners, through the youth leaders, learned that they would have to apply what they learned during the training because they hold the key to the future of teaching through play in there communities, they would have to stand in the gap to be counted as change agents through the power of play.
The on-field in Kenya impacted 4512 Children directly, out of these 2915 were boys and 1597 were girls 128 Community Coaches, that involved Physical education teachers.
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
Coaches Across Continents Joins SocaLoca Network and Platform
We are excited to be joining the SocaLoca network! SocaLoca is the single mobile platform for fans, players, clubs, scouts and academies. Developed with the core mission of democratizing football through providing the tools needed to organize the sport in communities and countries where footballing infrastructure is not always available. The core mission is to provide each and every footballer in the world the opportunity to engage with football activity in and around them and to explore their potential to the fullest. The App aims to organize football so that talent from anywhere is identified and has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
“Coaches Across Continents is delighted to be a part of the SocaLoca network. Not only does it allow us to further unite and connect with football enthusiasts around the world, but it provides a platform for us to share our impact and stories while connecting with industry leaders to deliver social purpose initiatives using football and education.” – Innovate Team, Kylla Sjoman
Check out SocaLoca at the link below and download the app on your mobile device from the Google Play Store or Apple Appstore free of charge to connect with football enthusiasts around the world!
SocaLocaFootball – https://www.socaloca.football/
X-cellent X-SUBA (Jinja, Uganda)
July 13, 2019. CAC’s Jamie Tomkinson (and Michael Johnson Young Leader) is leading programs this month in East Africa. Follow along as he implements Purposeful Play and Education Outside the Classroom in Uganda and Kenya.
X-SUBA is in their first year of partnership with CAC, and as such our first visit has everyone full of enthusiasm. During the programme we adapted many traditional CAC games to use hands rather than feet, as most of the coaches were from a netball or basketball background. They were thankful for this and it has helped them see how they can use CAC curriculum more in their day to day sessions. From the start, we developed a coach personal development policy which brought up some really good discussions about self-reflection and improving our own practice. Throughout the week we focused on coaching guidelines, feedback during practice coaching sessions, and learning how to use CAC’s Workplace platform to continue developing throughout the year. We also had a great session on creating and adapting games and it’s fantastic to hear that X-SUBA will be delivering these in their own communities in the near future!
My personal highlight was during one of CAC’s environment games addressing UNSDG#13: Climate Action called “Pick up and Get Clean.” Once all the cones etc had been picked up, they then stated running around the field collecting actual trash from all over. While this was no doubt down to competitiveness, we used this demonstrate the impact this game can have and provide and enthusiasm to kids to ‘pick up and get clean’. Everyone was running around collecting trash, we then referenced this back to our own lives and how often do we daily walk past rubbish and not pick it up because it ‘isn’t our job’, when in fact, it’s everyone’s job. We then collected all the trash and put it in a nearby rubbish bin! #WhatsYourLegacy?
A total of 30 participants had their first experience of Purposeful Play and will now go onto to deliver Education Outside of the Classroom to 1.5k in the beautiful town of Jinja, Uganda.
All-Star team impacts Bangladeshi and Rohingya
This past month CAC headlined phase two of our Bangladesh initiative as the Official Social Responsibility Partner of the Asian Football Confederation. Along with professional coaches from the English FA, Chief Executive Brian Suskiewicz delivered coaching education and Football Fun Festivals in three locations in Bangladesh, including the Kutapalong Rohingya Refugee camp, home to nearly 1,000,000 individuals including 500,000 children.
“We are using football to ensure and protect the rights of some of the most vulnerable individuals, children in refugee camps and underserved Bangladeshi children throughout the country.” – Brian Suskiewicz, CAC CEO
This initiative provides grassroots coaching expertise to both Bangladeshi and Rohingya coaches, aligning with CAC’s new Community Empowerment to Ensure Human Rights Guiding Principles, which were released on World Refugee Day. In addition to the aforementioned refugee camp, training sites included the town of Cox’s Bazar and the Bangladesh Football Federation House in the capital, Dhaka.
Along with Alena Moulton, Kevin Coleman, Taff Rahman, and Anwar Uddin, the CAC/English FA team educated 174 coaches who will impact 21,390 children, while also hosting three Football Fun Festivals around the country. This is the second phase, concluding the first year of the initiative. Further plans will continue the partnership well into 2020. Other partners include the Jaago Foundation and the UNHCR in Bangladesh. Of special note, the Jaago Foundation had 50+% female participation during this initiative, which was the first time over 90% of them had played football!
For further information, please read the project overview from December, 2018 or contact CAC at .
Beginning in Bangladesh
December 10, 2018. Dhaka, Bangladesh. This past week we implemented programming through our partnership with the Asian Football Confederation. We are in Dhaka, the capital of the 8thmost populous country in the world. In addition to the AFC, we are also working with the Bangladesh Football Federation and the Jaago Foundation (UNSDG17: Partnerships for the Goals). Our work will benefit thousands of underprivileged children throughout Bangladesh by empowering Jaago volunteers to use CAC’s Education Outside the Classroom methodology and curriculum.
We believe, football (sports) is the one of the most powerful tools to bring a positive impact for any nation. This is something, which represents youth, energy & friendship all together. – Jaago Foundation
With a strong background in classroom education and extracurricular activities for disadvantaged children, the Jaago Foundation is a natural partner. 42 volunteers came to Dhaka from across the country, and we implemented a curriculum that will address UNSDG #3: Good Health and Well-Being and UNSDG #4: Quality Education; while also implementing a strong program to address Safeguarding Children in Sport. This is especially relevant, especially after our global work last month for Universal Children’s Day.
“I am a passionate traveler, I often go to rural areas in Bangladesh to teach tribal children. They don’t speak Bengali but through football I connect. Now, I can teach them health and lifestyle through CAC games as football is a global language.” – Rafat (Kazi): Jaago, Dhaka.
Stay tuned next week as our AFC/BFF partnership will bring us into the world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, home of over 900,000 refugees including half a million children under the age of 17.
