African Women Into Football

In 2008, leading female football player and national team member Eudy Simelane was “correctively raped” and murdered in South Africa as a punishment for being an openly gay woman and a powerful role model.

The negative attitudes and violence faced by female footballers in disadvantaged communities in Southern Africa are manifestations of wider injustices in their own communities.

Coaching for Hope believes that football can promote gender equity as well as personal development. We have developed a Coaching Women and Girls training module to enable volunteer coaches to plan, deliver and evaluate sessions that teach life skills and empower girls to deal with challenges positively. We are also training 90 new coaches in South Africa and Botswana, who will organise regular football activities for 2,000 girls aged 11-28.

On 12th October 2011, we launched our new Women and Girls Programme at The FA's prestigious Pitchside suite. Compered by Jacqui Oatley of the BBC, England head coach Hope Powell and England women's team captain Faye White descibed to the 60 guests how football can be used to empower girls and young women. Hope Powell has already coached with us in South Africa and expressed her desire to do so again. The event was a great opportunity to discuss opportunities for future collaborations and share some of the fantastic work we're doing with our partners in South Africa. As a result of the evening we have been invited to submit an application for funding to Women Win and Elaine Penrose of law firm Hogan Lovells will be visiting our programme in South Africa to see how their pro bono programme could help our partners achieve gender justice.

Download more information about the launch event (opens as a PDF) or contact Jane Carter for further details.

Open the event invitation (PDF)

 

FA support for Coaching for Hope continues to 2012

The FA Group has announced its four major charity partners up until the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, and once again we are delighted that Coaching for Hope has been selected.

The selected charities went through a stringent selection process that attracted a record number of applications.

As well as a substantial five-figure financial donation from The FA's Community Shield Fund, The FA will continue to support us by providing signed England shirts for auction, mascot places, Wembley Stadium Tours, exposure in The FA’s matchday programmes, tickets for England internationals and an annual fundraising event at Wembley Stadium.

FA Vice Chairman Barry Bright said: “We have chosen partners who make a massive difference to the lives of adults and children both nationally and internationally, with the theme of football at the very core of their excellent work.”

Jane Carter, Coaching for Hope Director, said: “We are very pleased to be selected as The FA's international charity partner. We share a common vision and goal; to make football accessible to as many people in some of the poorest communities across the world.”

 

FA Young Leaders visit South Africa

In May 2010, 13 Young Leaders from Birmingham, London, East and North Riding County Football Associations embarked on a 10-day tour to deliver coaching sessions in schools across South Africa. The trip, which was funded by the British Council and supported by The FA, gave Young Leaders from the UK and South Africa a chance to share their experiences. The UK participants quickly learned to adapt their sessions to new and challenging situations - having only one football, no cones or bibs and sometimes only a patch of dirt to play on. Taking turns to coach, they exchanged ideas for warm-ups and drills and found out more about each other’s cultures, learning songs and dances from the school children.

A visit to the HIV Treatment Action Centre in Khayelitsha and the opportunity to meet local families in their homes highlighted some of the issues that have an impact on the lives of children in South Africa’s townships.

Drawing comparisons between the UK and South Africa, the group saw similarities in the invisibility of women’s football and prejudice towards female players. In both countries women and girls struggle to gain the respect they deserve, but in South Africa the negative attitudes they face can be more dangerous and women often risk their lives to play the sport they love.

The group now looks forward to a visit from the South Africa Young Leaders in 2011 and will no doubt be following South Africa’s progress in the World Cup ever more closely now.

Read more about the Young Leaders visit on www.thefa.com

 

£33,000 boost from The FA

The FA has donated £33,000 to Coaching for Hope as a show of continued support. The generous donation was a direct result of proceeds from The FA Cup back in May 2009 - £1 was donated to Coaching for Hope for every match programme sold. The money will go towards the work we are doing in the build up to the World Cup and will build the skills and capacity of local coaches to lead football sessions that convey important social messages about sexual health and substance misuse. We are extremely grateful to The FA for their ongoing commitment to our work.

FA shares skills with female coaches in Mali

The FA has recently shown its support for our programme by building our capacity to deliver top quality football coaching to the women we work with in West Africa. In November 2009, we ran a course in Mali for some of our most dedicated female coaches. The FA supported this by providing two of their most experienced female coaches - Tracey Kevins and Laura Harvey. Both coaches did a tremendous job of delivering the course and supporting our women coaches to deliver HIV crossover sessions and football coach education.