Willy Schmid with the kids participating in the practical football session at the Youth Leadership Camp

Together with Scort, the FC Basel instructors Willy Schmid and Joachim Eble conducted an education day on “football and social development”. Even though the two instructors spent only a day with the camp participants, they were confident, that their training provided the camp participants with much more than just some insights into grassroots football. „Our purpose was to convey knowledge which can easily be put into practice. Today, we certainly equipped the participants with appropriate skills that will be useful for their work back in their communities.” explained Joachim Eble.

Cheikh, one of the 30 participants, who all come from French-speaking African countries and the Middle East, highly appreciated the lessons learned from the FCB coaches. “They warmly welcomed us and taught us how to use sport for the development of children. It was awesome how fast we connected and cooperated as a group, it was really cool.”

FC Basel instructors Willy Schmid and Joachim Eble conducting the grassroots football training

“In fact”, said Willy Schmid, “besides football techniques we focussed on teaching the key concept of linking and combining social skills with football on the pitch.” This idea of using football to teach social competences was first discussed in interactive workshops and practically demonstrated by the instructors. Then, in the afternoon, the participants were asked to lead themselves a football session for a group of local children, which had been a fantastic experience for both sides. The camp organiser and project responsible from UNOSDP Maren Kröger was satisfied with the outcome: “I am observing the work of FC Basel and I am quite impressed that they have no fear to get in touch with our participants. They bring them into action and convince them to get involved and to teach others. Especially now, the participants use what they learned with the FC Basel and teach kids from Switzerland various sports exercises.”

UN officials as well as the United Nations Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Mr. Wilfried Lemke visited and followed with great interest parts of the education day. The project manager from Right To Play, Jacob Murray, underlined, that it was interesting to learn how professional football clubs of The Football Club Social Alliance jointly engage to promote social development, and was grateful for the support provided at the camp. “I’d like to thank FC Basel for spending the day with us today and teaching us about not only grassroots football in the community but practical, technical skills that the youth can use in their communities. I want to thank them for taking their time to come here and spend the day with the youth. It’s a big thrill for theses leaders to get a chance to have first rate coaches and also have a team from Scort to come and really see coalition between teams from different leagues coming together to promote grassroots football.”

The Youth Leadership Camp participants and the kids had fun at the Alliance education day

In January 2013, Doha, Qatar, had hosted the 4th camp where two Alliance Young Coaches from Uganda, Sarah and Noreen were selected to participate. Also for the next camp in Stockholm, Sweden, the Ugandan Young Coach Teddy was chosen by the UNOSDP to participate. Gwangju, South Korea, will host the last camp in 2013 and continue the success story of the Youth Leadership Programme: the project was initiated in 2012 and had been conceived to support youth working on grassroots sport for development projects by giving them access to education which can improve both their own professional progress as well as their projects.

Unsere Tandem Young Coaches aus Basel, Bremen und Leverkusen posieren in der BayArena

Die erste Aufgabe der Clubs war es, aus ihrem Umfeld je zwei Tandems, bestehend aus einem Teilnehmer ohne Behinderung und einem Teilnehmer mit körperlicher oder/und Lernbehinderung,  für die „Tandem Young Coach-Ausbildung“ zu nominieren. Rojah, Mica, Beni, Marcel, Claas und Jannik sind leidenschaftliche Kicker und trainieren in ihren Handicap-Mannschaften in Basel, Bremen und Leverkusen. Auch Micha, Jenny, Max, Jo, Samuel und Simon sind Fussball-Fans. Während die einen als Sonderpädagogen arbeiten oder dies studieren, bringen andere noch gar keine Erfahrung im Umgang mit Sportlern mit einer Behinderung mit. Was aber alle Ausbildungsteilnehmer verbindet, ist ihr Interesse, bald selbst Behindertenfussball-Trainings zu leiten.

Was heisst es, Young Coach im Behindertenfussball zu sein? Welche Aufgaben übernimmt ein Young Coach? Wie wird ein Behindertenfussball-Training aufgebaut? Und was muss ich Spezifisches beachten? Diese und ähnliche Themen wurden den Teilnehmern in praktischen und theoretischen Lektionen vermittelt. Die Ausbilder – Fussballinstruktoren, Behindertenfussball-Experten, Sonderpädagogen und Mitarbeitern der Sozialabteilungen der teilnehmenden Alliance-Clubs – gestalteten ein vielfältiges Programm mit viel Raum für Fragen, Spiele und Spass. Drei Teambuilding-Spiele mit Lachgarantie am ersten Morgen und schon waren die Berührungsängste wie verflogen. „Es war wieder einmal schön zu sehen, wie fast völlig Fremde in so kurzer Zeit durch den Fussball zu einer eingeschworenen Gemeinschaft werden“ freute sich Tim Müller, Bayer 04-Ausbilder und Sonderpädagoge an einer Partnerschule des Clubs.

Die Gruppe hatte sich schnell gefunden

Während der Ausbildung stand die Zusammenarbeit im Tandem im Mittelpunkt. Nicht nur theoretische Aufgaben wurden zu zweit gelöst. Auch bei der Umsetzung von Übungen auf dem Platz besprachen und unterstützen sich die Teilnehmer gegenseitig – eine fortwährende Möglichkeit, um voneinander zu lernen: „Marcel hat mir beim Einstieg mit der Arbeit mit Menschen mit Behinderung sehr geholfen. Die wichtigste Erfahrung nach den ersten Tagen ist das beidseitige Geben und Nehmen. Man bekommt von den Young Coaches mit Behinderung sehr viel zurück und über ihr Verhalten eine sofortige Rückmeldung über die eigenen Fähigkeiten, Dinge zu vermitteln“, resümierte Jo seine Eindrücke aus dem ersten Teil der Young Coach-Ausbildung. Simon erhielt neue Blickwinkel in die Trainingsgestaltung: „Ich habe von Claas viel dazugelernt. Wie er es mit der Handicap-Fussballgruppe gemacht hat, fand ich ganz beeindruckend“. Claas entgegnete: „Mit Simon habe ich viel Spass, wir beide lernen. Er lernt von mir. Ich lerne von ihm das Erklären. Von mir lernt er meine Art, wie ich mit Kindern trainiere.“

Young Coach Tandem Marcel und Jo leiten zusammen eine Trainingseinheit beim Freitagstraining des Bayer 04 Handicap-Teams

Simon und Claas setzen ihr bisher erlerntes Wissen um und unterstützen sich gegenseitig bei der Trainingsleitung

Vor der Gruppe zu stehen und etwas zu erklären war für Claas, Jannik und Joshi nicht selbstverständlich und auch nicht einfach. Als sie beim Freitagstraining des Bayer 04 Handicap-Teams eine Übung erklären mussten, sagten sie abschliessend, dass Vorzeigen doch einfacher sei als Sprechen. Und trotzdem meinte Class mit einem Augenzwinkern, dass seine Logopädin heute beim Training ziemlich stolz auf ihn gewesen wäre. Er wollte es ihr gleich nächste Woche erzählen. Ganz nebenbei fühlten sich die Young Coaches sicherer mit ihrem Tandem-Partner an ihrer Seite. „Jenny hat mir geholfen. Sie hat es mir gezeigt und dann habe ich das den Kindern vorgemacht. Es war leichter zu zweit“, sagte Joshi stolz über seinen ersten Einsatz als Young Coach. Auch Jannik war vom gemeinsamen Einsatz mit seinem Tandem-Partner begeistert: „Es war richtig cool mit Micha. Wenn ich nicht mehr weiter wusste, als wir mit den Kleinen trainiert haben, hat er mir geholfen.“

Das Werder Tandem Jenny und Joshi

Von der Mischung aus Unterricht und autonomem Lernen im Tandem profitierten beide Seiten. Die Teilnehmer ohne Behinderung konnten viel Gespür für ihr Gegenüber und die Arbeit im Behindertenfussball entwickeln. Als Mentoren förderten sie gleichzeitig die Selbstständigkeit und das Vertrauen der Young Coaches mit Behinderung. Genau das brauchen sie, um nicht mehr als Spieler einer Mannschaft sondern als Trainer oder Assistenztrainer auf dem Platz zu stehen. Ein Team zusammenzubringen, vor vielen zu sprechen, die Spieler anzuleiten und zum Üben zu begeistern – das alles gehört jetzt zu ihren Aufgaben. Mit der Unterstützung ihres Partners und der Ausbilder lernen sie, diesen Schritt auf die andere Seite der Fussballmannschaft zu machen und allmählich die Verantwortung als Trainer zu übernehmen.

Mica bespricht mit Max den gemeinsamen Einsatz

Micael verlässt das erste Ausbildungsmodul top motiviert und freut sich schon auf den nächsten Abschnitt Ende Mai in Bremen und seine neue Rolle als Young Coach. „Am liebsten würde ich schon am Freitag unser nächstes Training in Basel leiten.“

Die Young Coaches in der hinteren Reihe, das Ausbilderteam in der vorderen Reihe

In the morning the staff gathered in the meeting room of the Novartis Hüningen sports campus. The instructor from FC Basel 1893, which is a member of the Football Club Social Alliance, was ready to teach them some of the fundamentals of coaching and grassroots football. The enthusiasm of the new coaches was evident, and they completed their theory lessons well ahead of schedule, skipping their break and heading straight for the pitch. The weather couldn’t have been better either, as not a single cloud could be seen in the bright blue sky.

Knowing that the new coaches did not want to waste any time, Willy Schmid from FC Basel 1893/Scort and Steve Tharakan from Scort threw them into the deep end of the coaching and training programme. There wasn’t a moment when a football wasn’t being passed, kicked or dribbled. Willy only had praise for the effort they were putting in, saying that “they picked up everything quickly even though they had no knowledge of football training before today”.

It wasn’t long before the kids had arrived and had changed into their football gear. Evidently they shared the employee’s enthusiasm for the football, and wanted to make the most of the beautiful weather, as both schools made their arrival well before schedule. This was of course no cause for concern for Willy, who was keen to remind everyone of his number one rule of coaching: “Always be flexible!”

After plenty of handshakes and high-fives, it was time for the Scort staff and Willy to take a step back. It was now up to the new coaches to take charge. Within moments the peaceful green pitch became a hive of activity, as all four corners were being used for different warm-up games. André, one of the new coaches, summed up the excitement of the kids “The kids are totally motivated, they just want to play football so much and are constantly chasing us around the pitch, it’s a really great challenge!”

Just before lunch at the extremely welcoming Novartis sports field restaurant, there was time for the first short football matches, which would get the kids prepared for the tournament at the end of the day. The children chased every pass, celebrated each goal as if it was a world cup winner, and cheered the goalkeepers with every brilliant save. Although the call for lunch was a welcome one, it was hard to keep the kids in the seats for long. Not even dessert could keep them from jumping from their chairs and running back to the pitch.

After the chance to cool down and gather their energy, it was time for the Novartis employees to get back into the fray. First they were to lead the football exercises they had prepared in the morning session with Willy, to then getting the tournament started for the excited children. After the four teams were chosen and the coaches joined their sides, tactics were discussed and motivational talks prepared the players for victory. With two games being played simultaneously, it was hard to keep up with the fast-paced action. Goals were scored, feints and skills shown off, and the kids often put their coaches, who were joining in the action, through their paces on the field.

The 11 coaches were all in agreement about how great the kids were, and how much fun they themselves were having with the training sessions. Susanne, one of the coaches, said that “I’ve found it extremely interesting, as I have never done anything like this before. […] The children are having so much fun, they are full of life and are always happy to participate. I’m going to enjoy the rest of the day, it really is something special!”
Coach Denise shared Susanne’s enthusiasm: “We have absolutely beautiful weather, lots of great kids and the whole thing is just so much fun.”

Brigitte, who works at the TSM Schule in Münchenstein, also thought the day was a success, and emphasised the positive partnership between the two schools. “This year another school has joined in, which is really great because our kids rarely get a chance to make any contact with other children, especially in sporting events. We are now looking to foster this new relationship with the other school, and are looking to work together on similar events in future.”

Manuel, one of the children taking part, was also very excited with how the day went and how the end of the day tournament was going: “Today has been brilliant! I had so much fun, I set up a goal! Now I hope that we can win our last game and bring the win home with us!”

It’s safe to say that Manuel and everyone else was able to take a win home, as Willy ended the day with the announcement that all teams had done enough to take first place! With that closing announcement, and some much needed ice cream, it was time to say goodbye. Hopefully we will all see each other again next year!

To see more photos from the Novartis Community Partnership day check out our Flickr page.

After the fantastic results of the previous project of 2010/2011 in Sri Lanka, and the great attitudes of all Young Coaches and local partners involved, the Alliance partners were eager to get started with another Young Coach education programme in the country. The main local partner, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) suggested holding the project on the remote east of the island in tropical Batticaloa and Kalmunai.

Even though they were faced with soaring temperatures and humid weather, the European football instructors quickly took to getting the most out of the Young Coaches through the vigorous training and education sessions. Patrick Haidbauer, instructor from FK Austria Wien, could tell that the Young Coaches were putting in a huge amount of effort, and were achieving positive results within a short amount of time. “During the first module, the Young Coaches displayed great developments in different areas on and off the pitch.” Willy Schmid, the instructor from FC Basel 1893, reaffirmed the Young Coaches’ willingness to learn, saying that “The Young coaches are very interested, positive and yet very surprised at the variety of training methods such as planning, organizing, monitoring, corrections and necessary technical and social skills.”

The FFSL has chosen this project location for specific reasons. The people of Batticaloa and Ampara, the two focus districts of the Sri Lanka project, have faced many struggles in the past years. In 2004 the coastline of the two districts was severely damaged by the South Asian tsunami, and the enduring civil war only ended recently, after nearly 26 years, in 2009. “So because of this reason the football had gone down. With the resumption of normality in 2009 we have been developing football over here”, states the president of the Batticaloa Football Association N.T. Farook. With the influence of the Young Coaches, now equipped with football and social knowledge and skills after completing the first module, training and football activities can now take place in these areas.” Farook believes that their new abilities will help with the development of football in the region and “spread everywhere in the Batticaloa and Ampara district.”

One part of the Young Coaches’ education involved understanding how to prepare and carry out Fun Games events and Football Festivals. By teaching the Young Coaches how to organise events of their own, they can ensure that the children frequently share opportunities to interact with others of their own age. Most importantly, they have a chance to play games and have fun. After two days of studying the planning process, the Young Coaches’ new skills were put to a test. First they had to organise a Fun Games event for 60 local girls and boys. A day later, they had to plan and carry out a Football Festival for an even greater number of children. This also gave them their first experience of arranging football activities of this scale, and they will now know what to expect in future. Patrick Haidbauer was delighted with the result: “Especially noteworthy were the extremely well organised two football events, in which a total of 140 kids took part. The thematic areas, which were edited by the instructors, were implemented excellently and over 100 laughing kids proved that the Young Coaches have a great potential to promote grassroots-football in their region.”

Young Coach Gowvury, who studied physical education in Jaffna and works for the Red Cross in Batticaloa, is fully motivated by the programme and shares Mr Farook’s expectations. “We have this great opportunity with Scort and the clubs. We are really surprised that foreigners come to teach […]and promote our training and coaching attitude[…]We will never forget what they taught. And we will do our best in the future in football coaching.”

Fasloon, an English teacher from the city of Kalmunai, also believes that his Young Coach education and the Alliance project will have a positive impact in the area and supports the football federations’ efforts. He explained how there had been no opportunities to train as a grassroots coach before the start of the project: “Before we have arrived here (in the programme) we didn’t know how to treat, how to teach the children and kids. After we have arrived here in the Scort programme we got many information through practical and theoretical sessions. Now we have got a clear idea how to start our grassroots level activities.” Fasloon is looking forward to using all the new skills and to setting an example for the underprivileged children in his community. “Being a role model for children is very important. They are in the learning position. So,[…]Whatever the teacher says, they will follow, even if it is wrong. So we have to be clear and improve our skills and knowledge and behaviour. The kids will follow us and we will be a good role model. I like to be a role model, this is why we are here.”

Fasloon played an important role within the coaching education programme as he is the only participant who speaks English, Tamil and Sinhalese. Most of the participants have only basic English skills and the group is a mix of Tamil and Sinhalese native speakers. So, there was no common language between most of the instructors and Young Coaches, and the group needed to rely on the interpreters Bertie (Tamil) and Kosala (Sinhalese), as well as on the support of participants like Fasloon, to communicate with each other. Although the instructors had to teach at a slower pace, so that the translators could explain the theories to all of the Young Coaches, it allowed everyone to communicate effectively and ensured that no one was at a disadvantage. Bertie and Kosala also translated explanations of the training session activities, which guaranteed that the Young Coaches could complete their tasks and form great inter-team relationships.

At the end of the project a surprise was waiting for the excited Young Coaches. To continue their work after the first module each Young Coach received 10 One World Futbols, which were donated by One World Futbol Project in cooperation with Chevrolet. Like their Young Coach colleagues in Uganda, this group of new Young Coaches in Sri Lanka can now, thanks to these balls, conduct grassroots football activities independently in their communities. It was a great end to a first module that yielded many positive results, in which any initial challenges were quickly dealt with – a big thank you to our local partners who supported us with perfect local coordination during the project’s kick-off. Everyone is excited to get started with the second module in Kalmunai, which is anticipated to take place during the summer…we can’t wait!

You can see more photos from the first module on the Scort Foundation Flickr page.

One of the main problems that the Young Coaches of the Alliance are facing while carrying out football activities is that good, durable footballs are often not available in their country. If they are available, the playing turfs are commonly too rocky for normal footballs, meaning that they often rupture and become unusable. The self-inflating One World Futbol (OWF) balls are designed to resist these naturally occurring hindrances, and are built to be used on every kind of playing surface. Naturally, when The Football Club Social Alliance announced the partnership with One World Futbol Project last November, this was great news. Upon hearing the news, we immediatelly received an email from a Ugandan Young Coach: “Warm greetings from the children. The children were very excited and delighted about the news of the balls that are coming our way.”

The balls from OWF have now been distributed across Uganda to the local partners of the Alliance. Each of the 31 Young Coaches has been given 15 balls they can use for football and social activities in their communities. We have received very positive feedback from the Young Coaches:

Young Coach Badru is school teacher and sport coach with The Kids League in Kampala. Each Saturday and Sunday, when the children are not at school, he organises football activities for them in his community Kyebando Central. He says that, since the recent arrival of the OWF balls, things have become much easier. “I like the balls because they don’t give me a hard time putting in pressure, their colour also attracts the children and again they don’t get spoilt and damaged very fast.” Also, the “number of children per ball has reduced, which gives each child chance getting access to the ball since they like it so much.”

Noreen, Albert and Shabella are Social Workers, working for SOS Children’s Villages Uganda, and active Young Coaches. Using the OWF footballs, they are able to organise weekend activities for the 150 kids in their community in Northern Uganda. The children can now play without worrying about damaging the footballs: “We don’t have to worry about thorns pricking them hence causing damage to the balls. The balls are also attractive in colour and children find this very interesting, especially as they love bright colours.” Thanks to the OWF footballs, the Young Coaches have had a much easier time gaining parents approval for their games and activities: “Whenever we call on community children, their parents are supportive of our programme because we now appear well equipped too”.

Young Coaches Sarah and her friends Wycliff, Bbira and Andrew Bosco, who work for Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry Uganda, have been able to use the OWF balls for activities with 550 children from their community’s schools. Many more kids from outside of the schools have also had the chance to play with the balls. Sarah greatly appreciated the balls and thanks the OWF Project, The Football Club Social Alliance and Scort for the generous donation. She thinks the balls are especially enjoyable for the younger kids: “They are durable, favourable to the young ones […] and the kids say that they bounce better. They make a difference because they are light to kick and favourable on rainy days.” Like Badru, Sarah observed that the kids love to play with the OWF balls for another reason: “The colour attracts the kids”.

Young Coach Camillus is very grateful for the donation, which has been of great help for his activities. “I now have the materials to use during the training.” Camillus is a teacher and a sport coach and he uses the balls during football training and physical education lessons in the school. He supervises children in classes of a minimum of 70 children and is extremely glad to now have more material. “The balls are very excellent, in good right sizes for the children and I no longer suffer with pumps to inflate them. They have made football more lively to all boys and girls since they are light, smooth and in a very exciting orange colour.” Camillus believes that the balls have positively changed the image of football in the school, as many more children are now involved in the sport.

The OWF balls have not only benefitted the disadvantaged children, but have also been used in other areas where sports are necessary for social rehabilitation. “We gave 5 footballs to the football teams of the Moroto prison.” states Dirk Ullerich from Welthungerhilfe. “They have a pitch inside their compound…a good name for the team might be ‘footballers without borders’.” Welthungerhilfe also distributed many of the balls to primary and secondary schools in the Karamoja region, one of the poorest areas in Uganda where many violent conflicts are still taking place.

A new batch of OWF balls has been sent to Sri Lanka, where The Football Club Social Alliance’s new project will be starting at the end of March 2013. The young women and men, who will be trained as Young Coaches by the instructors of FC Basel 1893 and FK Austria Wien, have not yet been informed about this delivery. We are sure that they will be excited to receive 10 balls each, which they will use to initiate football activities after the 1st education module in Baticaloa and bring joy to kids across the region.

FIFA Futbol Mundial
In December 2012, the FIFA Futbol Mundial TV crew joined us in Uganda while we were working on our third module of the project. It was a great occasion for everyone involved, from the Alliance instructors from SV Werder Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the Scort Foundation to the local partners. It showcased the success and impact of the Football Club Social Alliance’s education programme in an understandable and detailed way. It also provided international recognition of the hard work that the Young Coaches are putting in on a daily basis, and we hope that the clip can inspire more young adults to get involved in assisting within their communities.

‘The Alliance‘– Screened in the stadium
In November 2012, our Hamburg-based partner agency deepblue networks’ designers finalised the image film about the Alliance. This short animated video gives a quick, but comprehensive look into how the Alliance member clubs work together to achieve their primary goal: to educate and inspire young committed women and men to become Young Coaches and role models within their community. The film premiered in November 2012 at the Weser Stadion during the game between the Alliance partner clubs SV Werder Bremen and Bayer 04 Leverkusen to a crowd of 36’000 fans. The English version of the trailer was played at the Loftus Road Stadium after the link to Queens Park Rangers was announced, and was witnessed by 18’000 R’s fans. Since February 2013 it has been a permanent feature during FC Basel 1893 home games, being shown on the main screens to an average of 29’000 fans per game.

English version:

German version:

Together we inspire
A short trailer for our upcoming film ‘Together we Inspire’, which follows the training and education of the Young Coaches by the Alliance instructors during our international projects, was recently published online. The film also focuses on how the Young Coaches use their newly acquired knowledge to provide activities and education for the kids in their communities. Director Joel Sames has used his talents to record some fantastic video footage, which really manage to capture the interaction between the instructors and the Young Coaches, as well as the emotions of everyone involved.
Joel will most likely be joining up with the Alliance in June 2013 to film the 2nd module of the upcoming Sri Lanka project. This footage will then be used for the final version of the film.
Watch now and get an insight into what you can expect from the finished movie!

Be sure to check out Joel Sames personal website to see some of the other great projects he’s been working on.

“Wär nid gumpt ….”
Our final video is a little ‘extra’ that was recorded during the third education module in Uganda. This is definitely one for the German-speaking Football/FC Basel fans!

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Sarah, social worker at Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry Uganda (NACMU), is one of the 31 young women and men currently being educated by The Football Club Social Alliance to become Young Coaches and role models for disadvantaged children in Uganda. She and Young Coach Noreen had been selected by the UNOSDP to participate at the 4^th edition of the “Youth Leadership Camp” (YLC) in Doha, Qatar, from January 14 to 25, 2013. The YLC brings together youth from African countries and the Middle East in order to teach them the best practices in using sports as a tool for positive change in their communities.

After her participation at the Youth Leadership Camp, Young Coach Sarah is even more convinced that she can have an important impact as a role model for underprivileged children. Read her inspiring story!

        

I would like to appreciate and thank Mr Wilfried Lemke …

the Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on Sports for Development and Peace for his generosity towards the underprivileged by organizing the camp which teaches youth who work with underprivileged basic human skills and for organizing this year’s fourth youth leadership camp in Doha. I have always been and will always be humbled to be part of the Scort Foundation and The Football Club Social Alliance that believed in me to the brilliant ideas of contributing to the world through sports not just as a leisure game like I used to think but as a tool to inspire change in a variety of development areas like health and peace among others.

It was an honor interacting and sharing with my other participants from the different continents like Africa and Middle East on how …

… we can continue being change makers/role models that we are because sports is a virtual tool that speaks out to all people in different jurisdictions and its enjoyed by both the young and old.

This experience I acquired during the leadership camp in Doha, where participants or fellow friends from different countries came together to share their own experience.

I learnt different skills in sports, how to communicate to the children and more extra sports during the camp like Judo, boxing, Table tennis, Swimming, Volleyball and basketball and not forgetting the football sessions with coaches from Liverpool Football Club.

This was one of my best moments being a lady coach and the extent at which girls in Africa and my country are being neglected especially in sports related activities.

Sharing and teaching my fun songs and games

An interaction with our facilitators Fadi and Samer (Right to Play), Mariona and Jacob (Pralympic movement),Heather(boxing),Maurizio(FIBA). Dwaty (table tennis), Sherif (volley ball), Phoebes and Steve (Liverpool) made me realize the importance of sports to the underprivileged groups of children and people whose lives have been transformed through their various programs like the three themes of Liverpool (health & wellbeing, community & enterprise and aspiration & opportunity) which aim at giving back to their funs and community and how I can use some of those skills back here in my country.

Boxing and swimming lessons

Then there was Paralympics where I learnt a strong saying ‘Disability resides in Society not in a person’ from my facilitators Marinna and Jacob that took us in this session and to prove it right Jacob Guilera who happens to be disabled with one hand taught me the first ever swimming session while at the desert in the sea and it was amazing knowing lots of things that people living with disability can do and are capable of.

Sports is important in improving lives of children who are disabled, and reducing the impact of their disability and its through sports that children acquire the skills necessary to reach their full potential as an individual.

Like they say every good thing comes to end, the youth leadership camp finally ended on the 25^th January, 2013.

I felt like the role model that I am because my two weeks absence was felt by my workcolleges who put a welcome back home note on my computer and as if that was not enough some of the children at Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry together with their new music trainers and fellow young coach Andrew dragged me out of office saying they had a surprise for me at the play ground and guess what, a performance with their new instruments to welcome me back from Doha.

The best welcome back that made me feel wanted and my services

I thank the Scort Foundation for the opportunities they give to young youth, Noreen Omony for representing our country with me and Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry Uganda.

Sarah

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Other Young Coaches who had participated at a Youth Leadership Camp:

Noreen at the YLC in Doha, Qatar

Mary at the YLC in Magglingen, Switzerland

Phillip and Archilleo a the YLC in Hennef, Germany

More information about the Young Coach education programme in Uganda:

1st education in May 2012

2nd education in July 2012

3rd education in December 2012

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Noreen, social worker and project coordinator at SOS Children’s Villages Gulu, Uganda, is one of the 31 young women and men currently  being educated by The Football Club Social Alliance to become Young Coaches and role models for disadvantaged children in Uganda. She and Young Coach Sarah had been selected by the United Nations Office for Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) to participate at the 4^th edition of the “Youth Leadership Camp” (YLC) in Doha, Qatar, from January 14 to 24, 2013. The YLC brings together youth from African countries and the Middle East in order to teach them the best practices in using sports as a tool for positive change in their communities.

Back in Uganda, Noreen is enthusiastic about sharing her new knowledge with others. The camp was an exceptional experience for her and a source for many new ideas about how to positively impact the lives in her commune. This is her story about her participation at the YLC in Doha:

I want to start by thanking…

the Scort team and the Football Club Social Alliance for the Young Coach education programme which gave me the chance to participate at the 4^th UNOSDP leadership camp that took place in Doha.

It was most definitely a once in a life time experience that I am most privileged to have been part of, to have gotten the opportunity to meet all those …

wonderful participants who are so passionate about their work with children yet desperately trying to have an impact in their communities despite the limited resources and challenges that they encounter.

Not forgetting the awesome facilitators who were so knowledgeable, patient with us and committed towards ensuring that by the time we leave the camp we are better empowered to face our communities with our heads held high.

I was privileged to meet Mr. Wilfried Lemke the Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on Sports for Development and Peace. He is very down to earth, so inspiring and a father figure. He shared with us his vision for the Youth Leadership Camps, which is to…

… mould young people to be community leaders who are looked upon as heroes in their communities instead of elite celebrities who live so far away and have little or no impact on the lives of people at grass roots level.