An Innovative Solution: Using Soccer to Combat HIV/AIDS

SFL taps into the excitement of soccer to capture the attention of young people in an environment where they feel comfortable exploring serious and sensitive issues. Designed for girls and boys ages 10 and up, this peer-driven program has been tested, launched, and replicated in rural and urban environments and is currently engaging thousands of youth all over Africa. Through the excitement of soccer and the power of teamwork, SFL provides an opportunity for young people to learn life skills that help them to make smarter choices.

By far the most popular sport in the world, soccer allows SFL to reach large numbers of youth in an engaging and effective way. Soccer sets the stage for effective learning about HIV/AIDS because it allows boys and girls from all backgrounds and social status to leave their identities on the sideline and enjoy "the beautiful game." SFL's mission is to mobilize the world-wide soccer community to fight the spread of AIDS in the developing world. The approach uses the power and popularity of soccer to break down cultural barriers, educate young people, and bring communities together around this important issue. In addition soccer provides natural role models and educators in the form of coaches, pro players, teachers and peer educators. The teams and leagues that exist through soccer provide a natural infrastructure that can be sustained with little or no resources.

What is the SFL Product?: A Joint Soccer Training and HIV/AIDS Awareness Experience

Sports for Life (SFL) organizes soccer training clinics for young boys and girls in Africa. The soccer clinics are taught by US and African certified coaches, many of whom have played professionally. During the soccer clinics, usually lasting anywhere from 3-5 days, the youngsters receive practical training on the tactics, techniques, and game situation nuances of soccer. Training sessions are very professional and focus on individual and team skills development. Training is complemented by intensive and fun scrimmages, games, and tournament play. As part of SFL, private donors also have arranged to ensure that each youngster receives soccer shoes, socks, a new ball, and meals during the clinic. In most instances, this may be the first time these kids have ever owned their own soccer shoes and ball. But there is a catch:

In order to attend, each child with the permission of their parents, must agree to HIV/AID prevention and awareness session each day before soccer begins. The awareness and prevention training is educational, interactive, and has been successfully field tested in prior clinics with great success. It is highly developed and skills oriented. Its that simple. We combine soccer training with an educational experience to foster awareness about HIV/AIDs to high risk youth in emerging markets. After the clinics are over, the youngsters walk away with new skills, awareness, new friendships, and most importantly a sense of pride, accomplishment, and self-worth. Sports for Life works!!!

SFL develops resiliency in young people, providing them with the tools necessary to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. SFL's participatory games and activities create 'coach-able moments' that inspire discourse and discovery among its participants. These exchanges encourage open dialogue about health topics between boys and girls and allow SFL coaches to teach from the game in an engaging and effective way.

SFL Expansion & Global Impact

In 2010 the world will be watching as South Africa hosts the world's largest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, for the first time in Africa. SFL recognizes this as an opportunity to use its approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and care to mobilize African youth. Furthermore, the World Cup provides SFL a unique opportunity to showcase the power of sport to positively affect the behaviours of young people and engage the communities in HIV prevention. Over the next four years, SFL will structure its programs around FIFA World Cup events, creating a sense of excitement and competition as well as a sustainable model for engaging Africa's youth. SFL will extend the reach of the world's largest sporting event to everyday youth, giving them the chance to participate in the excitement of the 'beautiful game.'

HIV prevention must have support at all levels in order to succeed in protecting the next generation from this deadly epidemic. The spread of HIV/AIDS is an enormous problem that can only be solved by mobilizing global resources and taking programs to scale to reach as many people as possible. Soccer is a truly global phenomenon with local application that allows SFL to achieve scale. SFL is building a wide network of organizations and implementing partners, both public and private, that share a common desire to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

As the final whistle blows and a new champion is crowned at this year's World Cup, SFL and its partners will already be scaling up their programs in anticipation of the next tournament. As the world's eyes turn to South Africa and the African continent in general, SFL wants soccer to be seen in a new light, as more than a powerful mode of entertainment, but as a vehicle for change.

For more information, please contact:

Ian Oliver
(202) 884-8220 voice
ioliver@aed.org email
www.sportsforlife.net

Sports For Life is implemented through a partnership between the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) and Grassroot Soccer, Inc. (GRS). HCP is a communication initiative based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. GRS is an international health organization that educates and empowers youth through HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs taught by professional soccer players, educators and youth leaders. A majority of GRS staff are former or current soccer players who have played professionally in Africa.

Currently, SFL is engaging boys and girls in Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia and is planning programs in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa.

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