Ambassador Spotlight: Mollie Somers

This post comes from Mollie Somers, an SWB Ambassador from New Jersey. A big thank you to Mollie for her efforts!

I first became involved with SWB in 2010 after my attendance at Julie FoudyPeninsula uniforms supporting SWB in Solola, Guatemala, 2011 Sport Leadership Academy at The Peddie School. My mission upon leaving that camp was to complete a service activity. My group leader, Kay, suggested that my teammate and I organize a uniform drive and cleat drive to benefit Soccer Without Borders. Kay had just come back from volunteering with Soccer Without Borders in Nicaragua. She said that there was a need for gently used uniforms and cleats. My teammate and I were aware that locally, Peninsula Soccer Club was in the process of ordering new uniforms. We immediately contacted the club and emailed all of the coaches about our endeavor. To our surprise, one of the club coaches that responded to our email happens to have been Ben Gucciardi's college roommate. He placed us in direct contact with Ben. By the end of our project, my teammate and I were able to collect over 70 gently used uniforms and cleats from Peninsula. Our uniform donation was sent to Guatemala with Ava Murphey who later sent us pictures of our uniforms in action.

This past spring, while a freshman at The Peddie School, I decided to work towards earning the Congressional Youth Award Gold Medal. There is a 400 hour Voluntary Public Service component to achieving the Gold Award. I decided to speak with my school advisor, Courtney Jackson, about which organization to commit to serving. Ms. Jackson,Mollie on the field for Peddie knowing that I loved playing soccer, suggested that I become an SWB Ambassador and donate my time working towards helping to spread the mission of SWB. That day, I learned that Ms. Jackson had worked with the SWB Ambassador program in college. While online to register as a SWB Ambassador, I read that Soccer Without Borders Boston, was hosting Small Goals Big Change charity soccer tournament, in June at (BB&N) Buckingham, Brown and Nichols School. Yet another coincidence, as BB&N is my grandfather's alma mater. My advisor and I had talked about hosting a tournament of our own, the next year. In my excitement, I began to tell my advisor, a former college soccer player about this new information and my hopes to help out and learn more about hosting tournaments. When I told her of my plan to get in touch with Mary McVeigh, she was surprised. Ms. Jackson then informed me that Mary had been her soccer coach at Lehigh. I did go to Boston and had a great experience helping out at the tournament.

Later that summer I again learned of some exciting news when I was made aware that two local Clubs, Peninsulia and Ocean, were slated to buy new uniforms for the club. I immediately began to get in touch with those coaches and the players looking for donations of their gently used uniforms and outgrown cleats. I also, approached the local recreation department for donations of outgrown cleats. I was astounded with the response from the clubs’ members and local recreation department. They were all so willing to give and help out the cause, and when it was all over, I ended up with over 150 uniforms and over 100 pairs of cleats. I met so many wonderful people and helped spread the mission of SWB, and have encouraged other players to become involved with SWB. After working with those in Boston, I thought that Boston would be a great place to send the uniforms. So once again, I reached out to Mary and Ben informing them of the outrageous success of this equipment drive. I shared my hopes of donating to Boston. It was a success, and on December 30, the uniforms were sent to Boston. The cleats will be sent in January.

Working with Soccer Without Borders has been an amazing experience for me, and through it I have learned Mollie and her team  about people and their desire to help, and I have been inspired by the humanity of others. Most of all have learned to make the best of every opportunity you are given, because it could become something amazing. Sometimes, you don't choose what happens to you and an opportunity chooses you. Three years ago, I never would have imagined myself as involved with SWB, as I have been lucky enough to gain so many experiences. I believe that I have been so successful with my projects because of the connections I have made and the people I have met, accompanied by my drive and ambition to see the projects through. I believe that working with SWB came to me by happenstance, almost as if everything was meant to happen. Sometimes the opportunity chose you. The experience I have had working with SWB is something I will never forget. I hope that I have been able to make an impact on those I have tried to help as much as SWB has helped and impacted me.

Healthy and Peaceful Living at the Kampala Youth Festival

by Raphael Murumbi From January 3 – 8, Soccer Without Borders hosted the Second Annual Kampala Youth Festival in Nsambya, Kampala. This year’s theme was Healthy and Peaceful Living. Each day of the event, the number of participants exceeded 200, and most days, the number reached close to 300. Young people of all ages and from many different nations, including Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, came together to enjoy themselves, make new friends, and strengthen the community. Day one was focused on team-building games and a discussion about the meaning of health and its importance in participants’ lives. On day two, there was a football skill-building circuit, where participants practiced many different aspects of the game including shooting, passing and dribbling.    The main event of day three was a scavenger hunt throughout Nsambya, during which all groups of participants went to different stations in the community. There were eight stations, including two focused on the importance of fitness, one at the police station that focused on the police’s role in a peaceful community, and a station where the participants had a discussion with a doctor about health. Day four was the favourite of the participants, as it was the football tournament day, and the final day was a day of group performances about health.  Throughout the week, Soccer Without Borders was excited to welcome partner organisations from Uganda and elsewhere to take part in the festival. Two streetfootballworld network members, Society Empowerment Project (SEP) and TYSA, sent staff members to help run festival events. SEP sent one volunteer to join SWB for the entire festival, and TYSA sent eight volunteers for the second and third festival days.  We were also honoured to host three different guest speakers throughout the week. Representatives of WhizzKids United and A.D.A.A.M., both from Uganda, spoke about HIV/AIDS and substance abuse respectively, and a retired professional footballer spoke about living healthily as an athlete.  All organisations benefited from the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and expertise. SWB is especially thankful to the other organisations that joined them, and knows that the festival could not have been as successful without their support.

Equipped to Play- A look at SWB Granada's bodega system

by Mary McVeigh

In the last week, nineteen SWB Granada staff, volunteers, interns, and friends traveled from various parts of the United States to Nicaragua, poised to kick off a new year of activities. While their energy, ideas, talents, and enthusiasm are all invaluable assets to the program, they each carried with them something much more tangible: 50 lbs of equipment.  The 950 lbs of balls, cleats, uniforms, school supplies, pinnies, cones, and clothing will help re-stock a critical resource of the Granada program- what the girls call "La bodega." Cleats in the original Bodega at the first SWB Granada office

La Bodega is a room in our Community Center, Tres Pisos, where all individual equipment is stored (Team equipment, and equipment for players to borrow are housed in the Coaches room).  On the wall outside of La Bodega hangs a price sheet: 24 points = One pair of cleats or sneakers, 12 points = one backpack, 8 points = 2 notebooks, and so on.  When fully stocked, more than 15 items are available for "purchase" with points that the girls earn through participation. Every two weeks, each team has their chance to do "Cambios" where points are exchanged for items from La Bodega. You haven't seen pride until you've seen the smile of a new girl in the program who just earned her first pair of cleats. 

To keep La Bodega stocked despite exorbitant shipping costs and unavailability of most items locally, we rely on checked baggage. Two to three times each year, SWB Granada hosts a large camp, inviting 10-20 volunteers to join us for a week of special activities. The activities are incredible, unique, and fun, and the girls love getting to know the volunteers each year. The camp also serves another purpose, though. In the last six years, more than 110 volunteers at TEAM Camp have transported approximately 7,500 lbs of equipment to Granada. Thousands of equipment donors have supported their efforts to collect this equipment, and it is no exaggeration to say the program couldn't exist without it! 

Dressed to play- The Mariposas ready for their first-ever away gameWith much appreciation for these efforts, the evolution of the equipment system has been much more nuanced than it might seem. Personally, my own thinking about the role of equipment in working across cultures has evolved tremendously over the last five years. I'm not ashamed to say that I was naive at the start, underestimating the impression that hundreds of pounds of scarce resources can make, and the strain it can place on a relationship. The goal of Futbol Sin Fronteras is to be a long-term, valued member of the community and to empower the girls in the program to identify and work toward their goals. Resources- physical, tangible, valuable resources- have an important role to play in that. However, there is no relationship more delicate than one between those who have these resources, and those who need/want them.  Finding a way to provide the equipment necessary to create a safe, meaningful playing and learning environment without creating a perception of excess, seems at times impossible. How do we collaborate as equals when resources are so disproportionate?

Though complicated, finding a way to provide girls with a means to earn the resources they need to play safely, and achieve their goals in the classroom and on the field has been a critical part of SWB Granada. Thank you to all of the volunteers at this year's TEAM Camp and to everyone who helped them meet their goal of 50 lbs of equipment. We continue to seek ways to collaborate authentically with the community of Granada and support the girls in the program, and will no doubt learn and evolve, as La Bodega has, along the way. 

From Infancy to an All Inclusive Environment

By Shea Morrissey

Four Septembers ago, the Oakland SWB Girls’ Program was in its infancy.  For a lot of reasons, attendance was sporadic and team cohesion was lacking.  Still, we had a team of girls out there playing, and they were doing it with a whole lot of heart.  As frustrating as it was for them to repetitively lose, a core group of girls continued coming back, improving the team and program every season.

This Fall, we lept over some kind of invisible threshold.  The season started similarly to years past: an incredibly committed group of outstanding returners showed up to play on day one.  If you knew these 10, you’d know seeing their smiling faces on the field was enough.  But each week, another one or two girls would show up.  Our usual 5v5 became 11v11 (with subs).

The attendance isn’t as important as what it’s indicative of: an inclusive environment.  Our team didn’t grow because of a surge of soccer-playing newcomers, but because the girls started bringing their friends into the folds.  Once they were there, they made more friends.  The veterans showed the new girls (right away) that this team is a place where it’s ok to try new things, laugh until you fall over, and even cry when you need to. Regardless of language, culture, home country or status, they’ve supported each other, daily.  With a little guidance and safe space to play, this team has created a family.  For that, and for them, I’m so grateful.

“Together Forever”
(Team Motto)

Big Questions, Common Purpose, and Collective Efforts at the Streetfootball World General Assembly

by Mary McVeigh

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the Streetfootballworld (SFW) Network General Assembly in Lyon, France, alongside 55 other Network members and the incredible SFW staff. Our peers in the Network are tackling homelessness in South Africa, preventing HIV/AIDS in Kenya, improving youth employability in France, addressing refugee inclusion in Australia, peacebuilding in the Middle East, and much more; it was quite humbling company. Ostensibly, the weekend was about the direction of SFW, networking amongst members, and finding ways to collaborate with our peers. As I left Lyon, however, what I took with me was much larger than a stack of business cards, new friendships, and a taste for soft cheeses. Rather, I keep coming back to three things that resounded in my mind: Big Questions, Common Purpose, and Collective Efforts.

Big Questions:  The founders of SFW do a truly impressive job of asking themselves, and network members, big questions.  Is there a limit to the potential impact that can soccer have on an individual, a community, a nation, the world? How does the success of our work rely on the economic, political, social, and cultural landscapes? What position are we in to advocate in those arenas? Though our programs utilize a tool (soccer) that seems clear and simple, development work is always complex. The closer you get to the ground-level where programs are delivered (read as: the kids!), the less you are able to focus on changing the systems that you are working within. The individual is your primary focus, followed by a team, the program, the community, and so on. 

As the individual faces systemic obstacles, it's easy to become disenchanted, even to lose hope.  The newcomer who stays home because he/she doesn't speak the local language. The student who drops out of school at age 12 for lack of secondary school entrance and uniform fees. The young woman whose parents will never permit her to play. The young man who is forced to leave the program at age 10 to work construction. The list is long and growing. 

While dynamic programs and their leaders can sometimes these overcome obstacles, they often have little time remaining to find solutions for the root causes. Thus, as you move away from the ground-level, it is imperative to examine these larger systems, seek solutions, and advocate for those on the ground.  SFW embraces its role; its vantage point and reach are uniquely positioned to advocate for our work at the highest level, where systems are created. What I learned in Lyon was that not only are they in the position to do this, but they sincerely consider it to be a critical part of their mission. Advocating at the highest levels of policy and decision making, they've already turned the heads of international governing bodies such as FIFA and the EU. We (SWB) are proud to be a part of a network that not only maneuvers within the system to deliver effective programs, but simultaneously examines the system, and seeks to better it.  

Common Purpose: Thinking big is only possible when you have a shared purpose for which to advocate. That common purpose, for me, was one of the most refreshing parts of the weekend. I wasn't immediately asked to justify the why, what and where of SWB. Why soccer? What else do you do? Where does the money go? Don't get me wrong, these are important questions, but for me the inspiration comes in the who and the how. 

Without knowing your "who", not just demographically but personally, it is not possible to design a "how" that can truly have an impact. The people I've met through SWB are some of the most creative, dynamic, intelligent, generous, hopeful, and hard-working individuals I've known. Moreover, they take great pride in making the most of what they do have, and feel the same hesitancy to accept charity, the same demand for quality, and the same desire to put their best foot forward that is so innately human. The difference between myself and them is that for reasons outside of their control they were born into a situation with very different, and very significant obstacles. These obstacles force them to make real choices, between pride and hunger, between basic needs and education, between traditions and the opportunities of the modern world, and between short-term necessities and long-term goals. 

Getting to know the "who" is one of the great privileges of my work, and in Lyon I found that sentiment to be the same across the world. What was left to discuss, then, were the details of the "how." How can we best design a program that serves the needs of our who? Most importantly, how do we achieve this in a way that is respectful of the pride, needs, and traditions of those whom we aim to support?

Collective Efforts:  In order to be as intentional as possible about the how, the Network got practical. We discussed forming working groups around specific issues that cut across all geography and populations so that real progress can be made on areas of our common purpose. I had the honor of being a part of the first such group, which spent the better part of Saturday discussing how to best use the Network to address gender issues. As experiences were shared from programs in Mali to South Africa, to Kenya, to Nicaragua, to Colombia, to the United States, a path forward emerged for the upcoming year. The mandate is daunting: to make the SFW organization and network a leader not only in sharing best practices around gender, but also by setting an example with its own practices, structures, and resources. The list of action items and recommendations is long, but underway. 

Feeling proud of the day's work, I was brought back down to reality of the road ahead in the most fitting of scenarios:  a small-sided soccer tournament.  Network members and SFW leadership headed out to the beautiful 6v6 fields of Sport dans la Ville and, under threat of snow and frostbite, organized ourselves into four teams. Of nearly thirty players that night, just four were women, and none of the other three came from network member programs.  It gave me pause to think that if our fields, representing the leaders in sport for development from 50+ countries, were this unbalanced then there is a long way to go. 

The next night, an man representing a SFW network member from Eastern Europe approached me in the lobby, "few women in the game, you played very well." I thanked him and tried to change the subject, but he continued, "you can tell a lot about a person from their play." He knew just how to peak the curiosity of this Sociology student.  "So what does my play say about me," I asked half-joking.  "You know just what you want to do and what you are capable of, nothing more, nothing less," he explained. 

That moment summed up for me the many layers of takeaways from the weekend. First, change can happen one person at the time. That person may be a young player in our program, a donor with the power to impact the entire organization, or a bystander waiting to see positive change. Second, soccer has the potential to create social change unlike any other medium (I'd even argue any other sport- but that is for another time) because it reveals a person's true self, and forces those selves to work together toward a common goal. Third, if that collective effort, and shared purpose can be channeled to address the big questions of our generation, then we are well on our way to positive change.  For my part, SWB will continue to contribute what we can to that effort, to the best of our abilities and resources...nothing more, and certainly nothing less.