South Africa

The first Coaching for Hope school in Southern Africa was held in December 2007. Over 30 coaches and youth workers from across Southern Africa travelled to Cape Town to participate in Coaching for Hope’s training course at the Marsh Memorial Children’s Home.  The participants came from a mix of local NGOs working to empower young people through sport as well as children’s homes, street kids centres and The South African FA.  Many had taken overnight buses from rural regions to get there and four were even flown in from Zambia, courtesy of our local partner Kicking AIDS Out.  The training was facilitated by top UK coaches from Spurs, Everton and Queens Park Rangers football clubs, as well as a local trainer from our key partner in the region Sports Coaches Outreach (SCORE). England women's coach Hope Powell also worked with the coaches to improve their skills.

The aim of the course was to enable participants to use football as a tool to empower young people in their communities. It included a mix of technical football coaching sessions, debates about HIV and AIDS, and life skills sessions.  All coaches who attended the course received a training manual to help them put what they learned into practice.

Tom Pitchon who manages Coaching for Hope’s new programme in Southern Africa was impressed with the level of participation, “the best thing about this project for me was the quality, positivity and energy of the local coaches and the strong support we received from local organisations working in similar fields.  Finding out how Coaching for Hope can add most value to the existing sport and development movement in Southern Africa is an ongoing process that needs to have strong local partnerships at its core. By bringing people from so many different communities and organisations together under a shared goal, this first course has helped lay the foundations for vital local partnerships that will be at the heart of all we seek to achieve out here.”