Football is the most popular sport in the world. From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the townships of South Africa, from the Women’s professional leagues in the US to North African immigrants in Paris, football is global in its reach.
It is becoming a cliché but football is loved as much if not more in Africa than on any other continent. Everywhere you go on the continent, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, you will see football’s indelible print.
English Premier League players adorn corporate adverts in Kampala, Zambians of all ages can be found every day of the week on every scrap of land in organised competitions and impromptu get togethers, and replica European football shirts can be seen in rural Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Football is everywhere!
It is this universal appeal that allows football to unite communities, break down social barriers and create an environment in which people can create sustainable social change in their communities.
People want to be involved in football, whether it’s young men watching matches on TV in bars, or kids playing in the street. It creates its own communities and platforms in which great things can happen. The football authorities recognise this and are tapping into this source of energy.
In 2005, streetfootballworld formed a strategic alliance with FIFA, the world football governing body, to increase the impact of football as a tool for social development.
The eyes of the world were on African football in 2010 for the World Cup in South Africa, and streetfootballworld and FIFA began the construction of twenty ‘Football for Hope Centres’ across the African continent, implementing football-based development programmes addressing a range of topics, including HIV/AIDS prevention, education, peacebuilding, employment, social inclusion and gender equality.
One of streetfootballworld’s members is TackleAfrica, a UK based charity working with communities in sub-Saharan Africa. TackleAfrica deliver HIV education through football coaching to young people in Africa. Working through a network of African and International partners, TackleAfrica train and support local youth leaders, coaches and school teachers to deliver uniquely adapted football drills which include vital messages to help mitigate the impact of HIV within local communities. All the learning is done on the pitch, meaning that young Africans learn essential health messages in a way that they enjoy, understand and will apply to their lives.
TackleAfrica can benefit African communities through its expertise in HIV education through football coaching training courses and programme support activity.
In addition to the main activity of training local organisations to deliver HIV education, TackleAfrica also helps partners by organising and running tournaments – often combined with HIV testing. This brings an essential, potentially life-saving activity into an environment in which Africans feel happy and comfortable.
TackleAfrica has even been recognised by FIFA who explain how their innovative coaching manual works. “Tackle Africa has developed football drills in which one player is the virus and the ball is the condom. If you have the ball you can’t be tagged by the virus.”
The situation has come a long way! In the past, kids could barely bring themselves to discuss sexual behaviour in public and they now find themselves shouting to their teammates, “give me the condom”.
Taking HIV education out of the classroom and onto the football pitch means that TackleAfrica’s coaches can reach the people that need this education the most – young Africans. With the best will in the world, youngsters would rather be out playing football than in a classroom, and so it is here that TackleAfrica do their best work.
Learn more:
- TackleAfrica is a registered UK charity and is currently active in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana.
- Visit their website www.tackleafrica.org
- Follow them on Twitter @tackleafrica – www.twitter.com/tackleafrica
- Like them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/tackleafrica
Read more from Tattooed Football here.
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