.png)
FootballPeople Weeks at SWB Uganda
"Hopefully their enthusiasm and professionalism will inspire more girls from both the Ugandan and Refugee communities to follow their lead"
top of page
Stories from
the Field
With year-round activities happening across our hubs in Nicaragua, Uganda, and the United States, there is no shortage of inspiring stories to share. Stay up to date with all of the latest news around Soccer Without Borders through our blog, newsletters, and social media.
Soccer without Borders
- Jan 8, 2020
Shiham Receives Full Scholarship to the University of Puget Sound
“Through SWB, I learned leadership skills, which have led me to having this scholarship opportunity."
Soccer without Borders
- Jan 31, 2017
Soccer Without Borders: a Global Family Full of the Deepest Love
For a year and a half, I spent my Friday afternoons with Soccer Without Borders Oakland’s coaches and high school girls. When I started volunteering with SWB in January 2015, I already had a great deal of respect and admiration for what SWB was doing. Every week, those feelings grew deeper — and along the way, love joined the party. SWB is a one-of-a-kind organization run with massive amounts of smarts and heart. It doesn’t take long to realize that. There’s a great deal of m
Soccer without Borders
- Sep 20, 2016
Reuters: Soccer helps young refugees take a shot at a new life in the U.S.
This week, global leaders are convening in New York City for the U.N. Summit on Refugees and Migrants. With more than 65 million people across the world displaced, there are few, if any, nations unaffected by this growing trend. The United States has the largest permanent resettlement program in the world, which involves a lengthy (1-2 year) vetting process before arrival in the U.S.. We are fortunate to know and serve over 1,000 refugee youth through our U.S. programs in Bal
Soccer without Borders
- Jun 20, 2016
Soccer as a Refuge: Building Community in Kampala
For World Refugee Day 2016, we interviewed Olivier Matanda, Director of Soccer Without Borders Uganda. Olivier has been with the program from the start, and is a refugee from the South Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that borders Rwanda. Uganda is home to more than 512,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, with more than 200,000 living in Kampala alone. After serving as a coach and leader, Olivier became Director of SWB Uganda in 2013 after the progr
Soccer without Borders
- Jun 17, 2016
SWB Alumna and Coach to speak at Beyond Soccer
On June 23, Soccer Without Borders' coach Hel Say will speak alongside U.S. Women's National Team members Hope Solo and Megan Rapinoe at the Beyond Soccer Player Perspectives Panel in San Francisco. Powered by streetfootballworld, the Beyond Soccer Series is an evening of collaboration, discussion, and connection that will explore the power of soccer to break down barriers and affect sustainable change in communities worldwide. The player perspectives panel with focus on the
Soccer without Borders
- Jun 1, 2016
Christian Science Monitor Features SWB's Work with Refugees and Immigrants
How Soccer Without Borders Can Help Young Refugees and Immigrants Adjust The Syrian refugee crisis has drawn attention to how difficult it can be for newcomers to adjust to different surroundings. One US organization that has been addressing this challenge, since well before the current refugee crisis, is Soccer Without Borders. This nonprofit organization works to assist newcomer youths – refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants – through a variety of tools, including soccer. It
Soccer without Borders
- May 23, 2016
NPR Features Soccer Without Borders
This article by David Lagesse originally appeared on NPR's "Goats and Soda" on May 12, 2016 Soccer Without Borders uses the world's most popular game to reach underserved youth — kids who've experienced trauma, refugee kids — and help them heal and succeed in life. Based in the Boston area, the organization operates programs in four U.S. cities — Baltimore, Boston, Oakland and Greeley, Colo. — and in Kampala, Uganda, and Granada, Nicaragua, staffed by a mix of refugees. local
Soccer without Borders
- Apr 28, 2016
Soccer Without Borders Named Lipman Family Prize Winner
Watch the video explaining the award and introducing the finalists Soccer Without Borders was named today as the winner of the 2016 Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize. Chosen from more than 170 applicants around the globe, Soccer Without Borders will receive $250,000 in unrestricted funds, as well as executive training and support from Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania. Honorees Namati and Hope Enterprise Corporation will receive $50,000 each, up from $12,500 i
Soccer without Borders
- Dec 4, 2015
SWB Uganda & the Football for Hope Adidas Exchange Programme
It was a tremendous pleasure for me to participate in the streetfootballworld Football for Hope Adidas Exchange Programme in Nairobi, Kenya from 2 to 6 November 2015. The event was focused on monitoring and evaluation, and during the conference, I presented about Soccer Without Borders Uganda. The other participants were surprised by the successful positive change that SWB has on the community, and the immediate social inclusion that refugee children experience when playing s
Soccer without Borders
- Nov 3, 2015
Connecting Refugee Youth Both on the Field and Off
SWB Greeley was recently featured in an article for The Culturist, highlighting how refugee youth find common ground in soccer! "In a rural, agri-industrial town called Greeley, 50 miles northeast of Denver, Colo., a group of 30 or so students gather for practice on the black top behind Prairie Heights Middle School. They’ve just traded a day in the cramped confines of a classroom for a cool October afternoon outside. Their coach, Abby Smith, impressively manages to wrangle u
Soccer without Borders
- Oct 27, 2015
Expanding our Girls Empowerment Program
For the past eight years, Soccer Without Borders Uganda has become increasingly engaged in the conversation around improving access to education for refugee youth. Over that time, SWB has been serving the growing refugee community in Kampala, Uganda by initially offering soccer (football) programming and life skills classes, and expanding to offer English classes to refugee youth who are excluded from opportunities for formal education. A primary focus for SWB is on engaging
Soccer without Borders
- Oct 16, 2015
Soccer Program Helps Refugee Kids Fit In At School
SWB Baltimore was recently featured in an article in the National Journal, highlighting the role our program plays in helping newcomer youth adjust to life in the United States. With a 65% increase in refugee resettlement in Maryland over the last 10 years - the majority being in Baltimore - the need for programs specializing in tutoring, learning english, and building confidence in refugee youth is high. Read the full article here! #Baltimore #usa #refugee #refugees #immigra
Soccer without Borders
- Oct 14, 2015
Sport Can Achieve the Goal of Healing
Last week, SWB staff and supporters gathered in San Francisco to discuss how the global refugee crisis is closer to home than many people realize: there are hundreds of thousands of refugees already living in the United States, and 100,000 more are slated to arrive in the next 11 months. Nearly half of these refugees are children who have either lost their families or whose families have fled similarly tragic circumstances, searching for a safe haven and a way to move forward
Soccer without Borders
- Aug 26, 2015
What does youth leadership look like?
Day 5 at the annual Oakland Refugee Community Soccer Camp is a special day. Throughout the week, campers are divided by age/gender, and each day they learn a soccer skill and a life skill. On Day 5, the campers then work together across age groups and gender for the Olympics. On this day, older youth teach younger youth on their Olympic teams, reinforcing the skills they learned throughout the week. It is so inspiring to see the way older youth step up as leaders and take car
Soccer without Borders
- Jun 26, 2015
SWB Founder named White House Champion of Change
Nearly 10 years ago, Soccer Without Borders was born out of Ben's vision for an alternative educational space where the interpersonal environment was safe, compassionate, and influential enough to address the most pressing challenges facing marginalized youth. He thought that a soccer team, as one of the world's few universal languages, could become that space. As a passionate soccer player and coach, Ben was determined to construct a program in which this natural platform co
Soccer without Borders
- May 19, 2015
Baltimore was just starting to feel like home
It isn’t often that a high school senior gets to see his name in print in one of the top 10 newspapers in the US. Even more rare is the chance to see your essay about living in Baltimore during a time of community crisis and national attention, circulating to homes all over the country. But that is exactly what Soccer Without Borders participant Glory Aganze Barongozi got the chance to experience this Sunday, when his opinion piece I love the thought of leaving Baltimore, but
Soccer without Borders
- Feb 23, 2015
SWB Greeley Welcomes New Director
It is with great pleasure that we introduce Ryan Plourde as the Director of Soccer Without Borders in Colorado. Ryan joins the program after completing three years of Peace Corps service in Ethiopia, where he oversaw the implementation of the Grassroot Soccer HIV/AIDS prevention program, the Peace Corps' Camp GLOW program, and the distribution of more than 22,000 One World Futbols across 5 regions. Ryan's understanding of East Africa will undoubtedly serve him well in Greeley
Soccer without Borders
- Oct 14, 2014
Introducing Casey Thomas: Welcoming a new Director to SWB Baltimore!
Soccer Without Borders is excited to welcome Casey Thomas as the new Director of SWB Baltimore. Casey brings extensive grant management and program implementation experience, having coordinated out-of-school programming for youth from more than 80 schools across Baltimore while working for the public school system. An SWB Baltimore volunteer for the last two years, Casey's professional experience is underpinned by a master's degree in Sustainable International Development fr
Soccer without Borders
- Jun 18, 2014
World Refugee Day
Today, June 20, 2014 is World Refugee Day. World Refugee Day was established by the United Nations to honor the men, women, and children who have been forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, violence and conflict. Did you know? According to the UN, as of mid-2013 there were 11.1 million refugees globally, which includes 600,000 additional refugees in the first half of 2013. There are currently about 262,000 refugees living in the U.S. today. More than 70% of S
bottom of page