Football for Hope: FIFA's centres for community football
Created by FIFA and streetfootballworld in 2005, Football for Hope built community centres with pitches across Africa, starting in Khayelitsha in 2008.
In the same years that streetfootballworld was bringing youth teams to Berlin for Festival 06, it was also working with FIFA on something more permanent. The Football for Hope movement, started in 2005, set out to build places where football, education and health care meet, beginning in Africa.
What Football for Hope is
Football for Hope came out of a collaboration between streetfootballworld and FIFA. Its purpose was to connect organisations already using football for social development with clubs, players and commercial partners, and to use the game to help reach the UN Millennium Development Goals.
The programmes it supports work on public health, peace-building, discrimination and integration, youth education and the environment.
The centres
The movement’s biggest contribution is the Football for Hope centres. Each one combines a football pitch with a shared community space aimed at children and young people. They are built around three things:
- Education – learning spaces, with computers and materials where possible.
- Public health – health services and health education courses.
- Football – the activity that brings all age groups through the door.
Young people from the community are encouraged to take part in designing and building their centre, so that it belongs to them. Partners in the project include Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture Network.
What happens inside a centre
The design follows a clear logic. Football events are the incentive: they bring children and young people in. Once they are there, the centre offers a stronger learning environment than many of them have at school, and health services that are hard to reach elsewhere. Poor public health is a major concern in many of the communities where centres were built, so health education courses sit next to the pitch rather than in a separate clinic.
The movement’s stated aim is to work early in young people’s lives, addressing the local social challenges they face in disadvantaged communities, so that the change carries over to the next generation.
20 Centres for 2010
To promote the movement before the first World Cup in Africa, FIFA launched the 20 Centres for 2010 campaign, which became the official campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
The first centre opened in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. It was run by Grassroot Soccer, the organisation that uses football to teach young people about HIV.
Where the centres are
The centres were built in three phases:
| Phase | Period | Centres |
|---|---|---|
| One | Sep 2008 – Sep 2009 | Khayelitsha (South Africa), Baguineda (Mali), Katutura (Namibia), Mathare (Kenya) |
| Two | Sep 2009 – Jul 2011 | Maseru (Lesotho), Kimisagara (Rwanda), Oguaa (Ghana), Qwaqwa, Edendale and Alexandra (South Africa) |
| Three | From Aug 2011 | Manica (Mozambique), Besongabang (Cameroon), Iringa (Tanzania), Ramotswa (Botswana), Mokopane (South Africa), Tarrafal (Cape Verde), Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Lubumbashi (DR Congo), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Bujumbura (Burundi) |
The Mathare centre in Kenya connects directly to Festival 06: Mathare is home to the Mathare Youth Sports Association, the team that won in Berlin in 2006.
Awards
Football for Hope received the Global Sports Forum Trophy and the Peace and Sport Award in 2010, and the Spirit of Sport Award in 2011.
FAQ
Who runs Football for Hope?
It was created by FIFA together with streetfootballworld, with partners including Architecture for Humanity.
When did Football for Hope start?
In 2005. The first centre opened in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in the phase that ran from September 2008 to September 2009.
What is the “20 Centres for 2010” campaign?
FIFA’s campaign to build Football for Hope centres around the 2010 World Cup; it was the official campaign of that tournament.
Conclusion
The Football for Hope centres moved the idea behind Festival 06 from a one-week tournament to buildings that stay in their communities. To see how the same network later raised money from professional footballers, read about Common Goal and the 1% pledge.