SWB Teams Up with One World Futbol Project

SWB has recently teamed up with One World Futbol Project, makers of the innovative, indestructible soccer player. Learn more about the partnership benefiting youth in Oakland, CA and Kampala, Uganda here: http://www.oneworldfutbol.com/2013/05/using-soccer-to-help-refugees-and-immigrants-transition-and-succeed/

We look forward to continuing to collaborate with our friends at One World Futbol Project, and thank them for their support!

Professional teams to support SWB this summer

This summer, we are incredibly excited and appreciative of the professional teams who will welcome SWB program youth and coaches to their games!

SWB Greeley will head down to Denver to support the CO Rapids as they take on the Seattle Sounders on June 14thSWB Chicago will be honored at halftime of the Schneider Soccer featured match on June 29thSWB Nicaragua Exchange participants will head to the Boston Breakers vs. Sky Blue game on June 30thThe 3rd annual Girls in the Game Clinic will take place on July 20th at the Home Depot center before the Galaxy vs. Whitecaps gameSWB New York will cheer on Thierry Henry this July in New Jersey.

Reflections from the Urban Soccer Symposium

by Mary McVeigh

Every year, soccer coaches, clubs, associations, organizations, and supporters come together at the Urban Soccer Symposium (USS) hosted by the US Soccer Foundation. During this four-day event, we are able to examine and share best practices for delivering effective programs and growing exceptional organizations. SWB Founder Ben Gucciardi has presented at the Symposium in the past, and SWB Baltimore's Jill Pardini was among the presenters this year. Personally, I had the pleasure of attending this event for the first time this year and could see what an incredible effort the US Soccer Foundation and Soccer Shots put forth to realize their vision.

While listening, sharing, observing, and experiencing these workshops, speakers, and trainings, two particular themes emerged for me:

1. When working with youth, relationships are everything. 

2. A lasting impact requires a long-term investment.

Etan Thomas, a retired NBA player, drove home the first point in his closing address on Monday, "If you want to work with youth, you have to build a connection first. If there is no connection, they aren't going to hear you."

His voice resonated as I attended a youth development workshop by the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation, which reiterated the same, "Every young person needs maybe just one adult, one person who believes in them. That's what coaches can be. "

The idea of connection, trust, and showing youth that you believe in them is not revolutionary, but given the circumstances in which many of programs operate, it does not happen by accident. With this idea top of mind, I thought about the ways that programs can prioritize this connection:

-Low coach-to-participant ratios.

-Retaining effective program leaders over time.

-Recruiting program leaders and coaches from within the community they serve.

-Providing avenues for young leaders to emerge out of the program.

-Investing in on-going training for coaches and leaders.

-Ensuring that program youth have a voice and that their voice is heard.

...to name a few. The list is long, and takes great care and intention to implement consistently and effectively.

With that trust established, there is still a question of how to maximize the impact of your program in the long run. Long-term impact means a long-term investment, which requires patience and a true appreciation of the process it takes to get there. In his opening speech, Darrin Smith (retired NFL) said of his Super Bowl championships, "It wasn't winning the Super Bowl that was significant, it was the process leading up to it. The lifting weights, the playing in the hot sun, the relationships...the process was what mattered."

That process isn't always glamorous, nor is the perfect outcome immediately clear or always achievable, but the commitment, cooperation, effort, problem solving, and conflict resolution along the way are skills that youth can apply to any goal, any field, any arena. 

As I made my way back to Boston from the Symposium, these two themes echoed in my mind and reaffirmed my commitment to the SWB's core values: authenticity, focus on the whole person, and process-oriented. Without the first two, we could never build genuine relationships and earn the trust of those whom we aim to serve. Without the third, we might let the desire and pressure for outcomes trump the process. Our daily actions, patience, investment and belief in our young people are most important. Only through these means will we inspire the ends: growth, inclusion, and personal success. 

Healthy Me, Healthy World

by Allie Horwitz, Team Leader, SWB Granada

Here at Fútbol Sin Fronteras, we just wrapped up our first week-long taller (workshop) of the season. We kicked off a series of workshops themed “Healthy Me, Healthy World” with a week focused solely on nutrition and a healthy body. On Tuesday, we received an awesome nutrition lecture and presentation from the head of agriculture from a nearby technical school, Opportunity International. Saúl presented the food pyramid and explained what foods are best to eat as female soccer players (No milk before practice, grains give you energy!). He then led the girls through several dynamic grouping games, which they raucously enjoyed!

On Thursday, we began the activity with a fun review game of the pyramid. We quizzed the girls on what they had learned Tuesday, and if they answered the question correctly, they had to place one of six food items in the correct section of the food pyramid on the wall. It turns out that cucumbers are actually a fruit!

Next, we had our own mini-market. At each stand, we explained a different fruit or vegetable. We talked about its nutrients and benefits and then offered the girls an opportunity to taste the food in some delicious form. In small groups, girls rotated around the room to learn what each station had to offer and tasted each food excitedly (minus perhaps the beets). To finish the night, each girl received a bean in a cup as they left that they are now growing in their homes and giving it plenty of sunlight and water!

To cap off the week, we took a short trip to the nearby Diria Mirador where we enjoyed a short hike. Saúl accompanied us and explained a little bit about the flora and fauna that flourish in and around Laguna de Apoyo. This final activity gave a grander perspective to our nutrition taller. We interact with our natural environments in what we eat and in everything we do, Saúl explained to the girls. The hike provided for a physically active opportunity, of course another important element of a healthy body.

The girls enjoyed learning not only about healthy foods, but also a bit about agriculture and growing something of their own. They learned several useful ideas for making healthy meals and snacks with their families. And finally they experienced how everything we eat is connected to the greater natural environment. A healthy you is a great first step to contributing to a healthy world! 

A Visit to SEP and TYSA

by Katy Nagy, Team Leader at SWB Uganda

Sara, Festus, Katy, and George 

Last week, Sara and I traveled to western Kenya to visit two of SWB Uganda’s fellow Streetfootballworld East Africa network members. After meeting them at the Streetfootballworld conference in Rwanda last September, and we were fortunate enough to have volunteers from SEP and TYSA join us during our Youth Festival in January. After hearing so much about the incredible work that SEP and TYSA are involved in, we decided that it was our turn to visit them.

Our first stop was Oyugis, Kenya to visit Society Empowerment Project (SEP). We were welcomed with open   arms by the Young Leader (and our good friend), George, who was excited to introduce us to the rest of the SEP staff and to show us what SEP does. During our visit, we helped run a training at the Nyahera Girls’ school, we spoke to the girls about the way lessons that are learned on the pitch can be tranferred into their lives off the pitch, and we helped to plant about 200 trees on SEP’s farm during Earth Hour (now called “The Soccer Without Borders Forest!”). The best part of the visit to SEP, though, was the opportunity to talk to the staff and participants about the organization, to learn more about all that SEP does, and to feel welcomed as if we were already part of the community.  We spoke to participants who have benefitted greatly from SEP’s programs. We spoke to participants who would not be able to go to school without SEP’s support. We spoke to participants who have gained coaching skills and are now able to coach younger participants. It was impressive to hear about the impact that SEP has had on the community, and to know that its influence in the community is only growing as the organization grows.

Sara, Katy, and George planting trees

After 3½ days at SEP, it was time to say goodbye to our friends in Oyugis and to head to Kitale to visit the Trans-Nzoia Youth Sports Association (TYSA). Again, we were reunited with our friends who we met in Rwanda and at our festival in January. The TYSA staff was immediately welcoming, and we were eager to learn all we could from them. The two days we spent in Kitale were filled with visiting schools, playing games, talking to staff and participants, learning about the amazing work that TYSA does, and enjoying our time with our friends. TYSA is currently in the process of expanding its reach by partnering with many schools in the area. We had the opportunity to visit some of those schools and to play games with the students. Those visits made it very clear how important TYSA’s work is. One school that we visited was a government-supported primary school with over 100 students in each class. We also visited a secondary school and joined a meeting of parents, students and teachers. We listened to the students speak about the difficulties they were having with their studies, and we were able to speak to them to give some advice. At the end of the second day, we visited a children’s home to play some games with the kids. After the owner gave us a tour and explained the way poverty, illness, drug abuse, and other factors in that area create a need for the children’s home, we organized some games and activities for the kids. The home is simple, but it is so important. It was further proof of TYSA’s impressive reach and commitment to the communities in the area.

Throughout our visit to TYSA, it was clear that the organization’s inspiring work is made possible by its leadership and staff. Gichuki, the program director, places much emphasis on empowering the staff to take ownership and become leaders. It is clear that that has become part of the organization’s culture, as their goal is to train teachers in the schools to lead the soccer/physical programming on a daily basis. It is this emphasis on sustainability and empowerment that most impressed and inspired us while we were in Kitale.

We left Kitale and headed back to Kampala after a week of learning and a lot of fun in Oyugis and Kitale. We were sad to say goodbye to our friends at SEP and TYSA, but we are also excited to take what we have learned back to Soccer Without Borders. Each of the organizations taught us so much, and we have gained an appreciation for the value of partnerships and networks of organizations that exist across borders and cultures.