International Children’s Football Alliance stakeholders Slum Soccer has won the inaugural FIFA Diversity Award today. The award was created by FIFA to recognise outstanding organisations, group initiatives and football personalities that are standing up for diversity and inspire unity, solidarity and equality among all people. Slum Soccer uses football to connect individuals, teach life skills and work towards improving the living conditions of women and marginalised populations in Indian society.

The other two finalists were the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA), which promotes and fosters the worldwide growth of football for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT) while also strengthening the self-respect of the global LGBT community, and Kick It Out, of England, an organisation which enables, facilitates and works with football authorities, professional clubs, players, fans and communities to tackle all forms of discrimination.

The award was presented by FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura alongside former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf and former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger, members of the jury for the FIFA Diversity Award. The 11 members of the jury, including former football professionals and experts, have a wealth of global experience in various areas of diversity and anti-discrimination, whether related to ethnic, national or social origin, gender, disability, language, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation or any other form of discrimination.  The ceremony, which was held at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester, UK, and was hosted by CNN anchor Amanda Davies, provided the occasion for a lively discussion on diversity in sport.

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Kent and Flemish Schools remember WW1 Christmas Truces through football.

Students from Pent Valley Technology College in Folkestone and Thamesview School in Gravesend were joined by Middle School and Provincial Technical Institute from Ypres in Belgium, they played football matches to mark the centenary of the games that took place during the World War 1 Christmas Truces – in a project backed by Prince William.

The match was part of the Football Remembers project from the British Council, The FA, the Football League and the Premier League – which will see every level of football mark the anniversary in a week of commemoration.

Over 70 Students from across the four schools participated in a number of learning activities together related to the Christmas Truce before playing a football tournament which commenced after the Last Post which was played by one of the students before kick off.  The schools are currently working together in a European Funded Comenius Regio project EASIER – Facing the Great War where the students from the two countries are researching their shared history of the Great War.

Belgium pupils with their mementos from a special event

At the end of the matches all participants received medals and the students exchanged gifts, in the spirit of the Christmas Truce.  Jim Cadman, author of The Black Football Heritage Book, in partnership with The National Children’s Football Alliance, donated a copy of the Heritage Lottery Funded book to each participant.  The book features one of Folkestone’s First World War heroes Walter Daniel John Tull who was the first ever black outfield player to play professional league football.  During the First World War, he served in the Middlesex Regiment and fought at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.  He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on 30th May, 1917.  Tull was commended for his gallantry and coolness whilst fighting in Italy leading 26 men on a raiding party in enemy territory.  He was killed in action on 25th March 1918.  Each school also received a One World Peace Field Poppy Ball as a memento of the centenary event.

The One World Flanders Peace Field Poppy Ball that kicked off the first of many events to commemorate WW1 and celebrate peace.

The schools marked the occasion by tweeting a photo of the two teams standing together with the hashtag #FootballRemembers and the name and location of the school. Their image will be featured on a special website – www.footballremembers.com – where it will sit alongside photos from teams across the country, including some of football’s biggest names. The website will be a permanent tribute to the soldiers who laid down their arms on Christmas Day 1914.

The students have been learning about the Christmas Truce with the help of a Football Remembers education pack, which more than 30,000 schools across the UK received in May. It includes resources to help children learn about the Truce – including eye-witness accounts, photos, drawings and letters from soldiers some of which have never been published before.

HRH The Duke of Cambridge – President of The FA – said: “We all grew up with the story of soldiers from both sides putting down their arms on Christmas Day, and it remains wholly relevant today as a message of hope over adversity, even in the bleakest of times.”

Vicky Gough, Schools Adviser at the British Council, said: “The impromptu games of football that happened along the Western Front 100 years ago are an incredible example of how people-to-people connections can triumph in the midst of a global conflict. It’s a powerful lesson for all our children.”

Led by founders Tim Jahnigen and Lisa Tarver, the One World Play Project team is made up of passionate, driven and fun-loving individuals dedicated to bringing the transformative power of play to youth worldwide. With combined expertise from the social impact, consumer, entertainment, sports, technology and product design fields, we collaborate with partners, individuals and communities to foster play and sustain our greatest natural resource—the heroic potential of children everywhere.

We created an ultra-durable ball to bring the transformative power of play to the hundreds of millions of youth who don’t even have something as simple as a ball.

In 2010, One World Futbol Project was founded as a B Corporation. With the help of our Founding Sponsor Chevrolet, our global network of giving partners and our Buy One, Give One customers, we have distributed over 1 million balls to communities around the world.

The One World Futbol was just the beginning. The impact of our efforts showed us that the need for play was something much greater. We discovered play’s critical role in the lives of people all over the world—and where play can take us all tomorrow.

Play is in our DNA—a need as important as food, medicine and shelter. It’s an intrinsic part of our lives, regardless of geography or culture, and through play we become stronger individuals, build better communities and create a more positive future.

Today, we are changing the game and our name by expanding our mission, products and services to enable play in all its forms—anywhere and everywhere. Children worldwide will do almost anything to play, even when there’s nothing to play with or a designated place to play. So we developed a ball that would work anywhere in the world—tough enough for the roughest landscapes and durable enough to last for years of play.

We are now One World Play Project.

Join us and together, we will turn the world into a field of play.

For every ball you buy, we donate a second ball to organizations working with youth in disadvantaged communities worldwide. With your help, we’re bringing the transformative power of play to millions of children who need it most.

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NCFA National Project Director Paul Cooper on meeting 2nd Chance

The NCFA have been in discussions with 2nd Chance regarding working with them and other agencies on a project to help people in custody and their families.

We have been extremely impressed with the way 2^nd Chance work, their philosophy and the hope, structure and future it gives not just the people on their programmes but the families, friends and local community that support them. It has a profound effect and the results have been nothing short of astonishing.

Their mission is a simple one; to inspire positive chance and achievement in people and communities across the UK and beyond.

They believe that change is a process and not just an event; therefore all their programmes support sustainable change and achievement. This is certainly no quick fix but a logical step by step approach that allows for setbacks and problems but at the same time sees them through to the end

2nd chance achieves success by using sport as a catalyst for positive chance and achievement through a range of award winning projects and services. As a growing social enterprise they have a number of programmes which includes;

Mentoring

Justice Solutions

Coach makers

Apprenticeships

Training Academy

Community Projects

As part of their Justice Solutions programme they have a sports programme called Beyond the Bars. Beyond the Bars is a range of sports academies that engage people in custody and support their desistance from crime. These academies include popular sports such as Rugby, Football and Cricket which have particular followings in different communities.

This is done through mentoring, education, training and employment initiatives which include opportunities within their business.

Their staff provide resettlement by providing a through the gate service and equipping each participant with a 2nd Chance life plan. They then provide ongoing support for all Beyond the Bars participants as necessary to ensure their long term success.

Many of the participants are found jobs within the community as coaches and part of the academy is getting the right coaching qualifications for participants in their chosen sport

The 2nd Chance Beyond the Bars initiative was a finalist for its use of Sport for Conflict Resolution in 2013 the team were invited Philadelphia, US to share best practice on a global platform.

For more information on 2nd Chance please go to;

http://2ndchanceproject.co.uk/

Slum Soccer, India’s Children’s Football Alliance will facilitate the first Peace Fields Football events in 2016, their designated areas of play will be twinned with Flanders Peace Field, site of World War One, 1916, Christmas Truces, where the famous football games were recorded by alie and German soldiers.   The Slum Soccer film produced by the NCFA highlights the importance of the organisations’ work in some of the poorest places in India.  

Children with the Peace Field Poppy Ball the One World Play Project Football that commemorates Flanders Peace Field.

One World Play Project recognise that Play is in our DNA—a need as important as food, medicine and shelter. It’s an intrinsic part of our lives, regardless of geography or culture, and through play we become stronger individuals, build better communities and create a more positive future.

‘..children are not aware of what is happening to them at times and something like the Peace Fields Project would help us to actually create an environment where they can come and play and feel safe’. Abhijeet Barse, CEO, Slum Soccer

Rueben Agboola (back row 2nd right) with school children sporting the Black Football Heritage Book

A Saints legend met with Southampton school children in a bid to crack down on racism in football at a grass-roots level, Wednesday February 25th.

Ex-Saint Reuben Agboola handed out copies of The Black Football Heritage Book which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The book documents some of the most influential black footballers in the history of the British game.   Children from Millbrook School, Bassett Green School and other local schools viewed Southampton Football Club’s rich black football players history which was on display to promote the Racism Ain’t Saintly Campaign.

The event at the Solent University’s Test Park Sports Ground, Southampton follows an incident in Paris which caused a national scandal last week when Chelsea fans were caught on camera singing offensive chants.

Representatives from Saints, Hampshire Football Association, and Sholing FC who won the FA Vase Cup at Wembley also lent their support at the event.

Organised by the National Children’s Football Alliance in association with Southampton Solent University, children and invited members of the public were given the opportunity to discuss racism in the game, as well as hear living history in the form of ex- Saint Reuben Agboola.

Reuben recalled that as a professional footballer he witnessed racism from the terraces which was often considered in the 70s, 80s and 90s as ‘just part of the game’.  Reuben, said, “I would often take corner kicks for the Saints, many times I would hear racism and on some one occasions I would have things thrown at me”.

Don John Founder of Black History Month and NCFA organiser

Don John, founder of Black History Month and NCFA’s Race, Equality and Diversity Officer said, “I want to see an end to racism in football in all forms. Football and race have had an uncomfortable relationship in recent times heightened even more so by the behaviour of Chelsea fans in Paris. Southampton plays its small part in responding to these issues by making available these copies of this acclaimed book”.

The NCFA’s Managing Director, Ernie Brennan, said, “The Black Football Heritage Book is an important resource for young people.  It stimulates more questions which is ideal for young enquiring minds.  Racism remains in the game on and off the pitch, clearly there is institutionalised racism in football at all levels – young people have a right to know that complacency is not the answer”.

For more information about Black History