Building Resilient and Sustainable Football in Kenya

Soccer is a vehicle for social transformation in the world. Football has resulted to skill development in many communities across the globe and has contributed to enriching and transforming individuals.
However, soccer has emerged as a unifying factor, even in the moment of socio-economic crisis. Football has bridged racial and tribal divide and brought people of other nation into a union of oneness.

Most young people are ready to defy some of the challenges prevailing in the community today such as unemployment and economic hardship, which has reduced them to the level of desperation. They have given up and have buried their talents and indulge in activities such as drug abuse, prostitution, gansterism and banditry. It can therefore not be argued
that idleness breeds crime and other numerous malpractices that can only lead to the destruction of individuals and their communities.

We are working in a disadvantaged community where most footballers are school dropouts and many parents could not
afford to provide basic needs to their children. Therefore, our main objective is to create a resilient and sustainable football academy/club in Njiru, Nairobi by promoting education making football a career, promote sustainable livelihoods for parents, and life skills training to young people to reduce the crime rate, early pregnancies, and their mental wellbeing.

Project activities
. Reduce school dropouts; offering full scholarships to participants
. Promote a healthy lifestyle and life skills training among the participants through lively training on how to avoid drugs
and substance abuse, depression, anxiety, STIs, STDs and early pregnancies, child abuse among the girls
. Empowering poor parents and young people who can't go back to school to be social entrepreneurs.
. Selling talents to local and international clubs.
. Intensive Soccer, refereeing and coaching skills training

Expected results
1. Enhanced retention of vulnerable youth and children in school: Through full scholarship and close monitoring
of participants' progress.
2. Increased opportunity for participation in sports: Mobilize young people to register in our club within the
community.
3. Reduction of early pregnancy: through life skills training young people will be trained on how to avoid engaging
in sexual intercourse
4. Creation of football as a career: sell good players at a fee.
5. Reduction of insecurity
6. Improvement of life outcome