
TEAM SIMUNYE (Xhosa for "We are one") - AYK CRIME PREVENTION LEAGUE
I have been back in Cape Town for about 3 weeks now and have just now found the time to sit down and update you on how things are going with the Project! Things are moving so fast!
I would like to formally announce our new intern, Amy Cawley (picture above), who has been here since August, working with Grassroot Soccer's Programs Team, helping develop the FIFA Football For Hope Center in Harare, Khayelitsha. In addition to working as a Grassroot Soccer Field Intern, she will work with Amandla Ku Lutsha and myself in the creation of future community development programs at the Chris Campbell Memorial Field.
As most of you know, I was home for a few months networking with local organizations at home and catching up on some family time. While I was home, I had the great opportunity of delivering presentations to a number of people, informing them on the progress/status of the Project. I wanted to give you all an update on the progress of the project, highlighting past events and updating you on the progress of current programs.
Just to highlight some things to see how far we have come with things. Here is a bit of a timeline of our project.
Franklin and Marshall Men’s Soccer Team decide to make a “Soccer and Service” Trip to South Africa.
The CTC Ten Foundation was created in Fall 2007
January 2008 The Campbell family, with the guidance of Amandla Ku Lutsha, decide on the Ikhusi Primary School as the site for the Chris Campbell Memorial Field
August 31st, 2008 Ryan McGonigle goes over to SA as an Intern with NGO Grassroot Soccer
September 25, 2008 - Field Construction Begins
December 4th 2009 - Construction Finished
January 1st 2009 - Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha Created
January 23rd 2009 - Chris Campbell Memorial Field Opening
February 17-18th 2009 - Grassroot Soccer Uses field for TOMC (Training of Master Coaches) involving coaches from all over Africa (Zambia, Namibia, SA, Zimbabwe)
February 21st 2009 - AYK Begins Crime Prevention 5-a-side League
February 25th 2009 – Grassroot Soccer/F-MARC (FIFA-Medical Assessment and Research Center) use the field to evaluate efficiency of using football to promote health concept
February 28th 2009 – Khayelitsha Local Futbol Association (LFA) begin using field for Under 12-14 Boys and Girls Club Soccer Games
March 6th 2009 – Grassroot Soccer/Nike Demonstration
April 6-10th 2009 - Grassroot Soccer Holiday Programs
April 6-10th 2009 – Amandla Ku Lutsha/Coaching For Hope Coaching Clinics
April 14th 2009 – Western Province Field Hockey begins weekly use of the field Tuesdays and Thursdays
May 1st 2009 - Amandla Ku Lutsha/AYK 24 Hour Tournament (Sponsored by United Nations Office on Drug and Crime)
May 13th 2009 – AJAX Cape Town begins running weekly HOTSPOT Clinics on Field
June 6-7th 2009 - Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha League Tournament
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une 13th 2009 - Sonke Gender Justice/Amandla Ku Lutsha One Man Can Tournament (Educational tournament with gender-based violence/xenophobia workshops for men)
June 16th 2009 - Amandla Ku Lutsha/AYK Youth Day Co-Ed Tournaments (Reaching out to Under 11 and Under 13 year olds)
July 7-10th 2009 Amandla Ku Lutsha/Coaching For Hope/AYK Amajitas Against Violence Tournament (Co-ed educational tournament with violence prevention workshops)
July 14-17th 2009 –Soccer 4 Hope Life-Skill Holiday Camp
July 31st 2009 – Women’s Open 5-a-side begins weekly 3-5pm on Fridays
August 9th 2009 – Amandla Ku Lutsha/Grassroot Soccer Women’s Day Event
September 24th 2009 – AYK Heritage Day Women’s Tournament
October 24th 2009 – Western Province Hockey Event
WOW! When I started trying to make this timeline, I never realized how much has actually happened over the past year! The success of our project can greatly be attributed to the hard work and dedication of all those involved, from the initial donors of the project to the Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha.
For those that our unfamiliar with the project or are just now tuning into this Blog, I will explain more about the details of the project and how things are run on the ground. The CTC Ten Foundation along with Franklin and Marshall College and various other donors are responsible for helping to fund the creation of Chris Campbell Memorial Field in memory of Christopher Thomas Campbell.
Amandla Ku Lutsha (Xhosa for “Give Strength to Youth) had applied to for the creation of a turf field in Khayelitsha to help them run their soccer leagues focused on helping young children in disadvantaged communities in Africa. With the goals of both organizations falling along the same lines the CTC Ten Foundation has partnered with Amandla Ku Lutsha as the on-the-ground Managing Partner of the Chris Campbell Memorial Field.
Ryan McGonigle, Franklin and Marshall Graduate 08’ went to South Africa as a “Field
Intern” under Grassroot Soccer with the goal of facilitating the construction and development of the field while using GRS as a resource to provide a life-skill base. Working directly with Leo Reid and Florian Zech of Amandla Ku Lutsha, the field has developed into a thriving community center.
In order to ensure the community embraces the field, a Field Management Committee has been established, meeting monthly to discuss past and upcoming events and programs at the field. This committee consists of representatives from the local ward, school, and community, as well as the head of the Local Futbol Association, Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha, Leo Reid of Amandla Ku Lutsha, and myself. This committee has played a large part in reducing the problems that may have otherwise occurred around the field. In addition to managing the Field, the goal of the committee is to ensure the community is aware of and has the appropriate input into the daily programs on the field.
Throughout this past year, we have experienced tremendous success working with the community. The Chris Campbell Field has hosted a number of field hockey, rugby, and soccer events as well as facilitated the work of local NGO’s such as Coaching For Hope, Soccer 4 Hope, loveLive, Grassroot Soccer, Sonke Gender Justice, and Amandla Ku Lutsha, to name a few. The Field has also been featured in numerous media outlets including CNN, BBC, ESPN, eTV, The Cape Times, Cape Argus, The Big Issue Magazine, lovePSL, and Vuvuzela Magazine. So much has happened over the past year and we are currently in the planning stages for what programs we are looking to have for next year.
Here is a current status update on how some of the programs are going around the field.
The Local Futbol Association will finish up their league in the upcoming month as the December holidays are coming up. The LFA is the governing body of “club” soccer in the Khayelitsha and is tied directly into SAFA (South Africa Futbol Association) They have used the field on a weekly basis since February involving over 500 boy and girl participants each Saturday and Sunday from 8am-5pm.
Western Province Field Hockey just hosted their end of year event at the Field as boys and girls continue to come out on Tuesday and Thursday nights to participate in our hockey program.
AJAX Cape Town has finished with their HOTSPOT CLINICS until next year. We are looking forward to next years HOTSPOTS and partnering with them on future events at the Chris Campbell Memorial Field.
THE AMBITIOUS YOUTH OF KHAYELITSHA!
“Using our passion for soccer and love for our community to create a financially stable business focused on alleviating crime and alcohol abuse in Khayelitsha.”
The Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha (AYK) are a group of 12 young men between the ages of 20 and 28 who grew up together in Khayelitsha. After leaving school they struggled to further their studies or find a sustainable income. In 2008 while sitting outside a Medical Knowledge Institute in their area they were invited to partake in a workshop on HIV by the facilitator. On completion of the course they realised that with innovation they could become more responsible for their livelihoods by looking at creative ways of creating an income and developing their community. For many years while playing soccer on street corners they would see tourists pass by on busses and found it strange that these tourists never engaged more interactively with local people including themselves. The idea was born to create a platform for tourists to interact with the community in a way that is fun and expose them to township experiences that are authentic. The AYK work in direct consultation with Amandla ku Lutsha and myself as we are looking to help them develop into a self-sustainable organization around their tourism program and community development initiatives.
The Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha Crime Prevention League has continued on its third leg of the season and will finish up with an end of season event on the 21st of November. Running on Friday and Saturday nights from 6pm-Midnight, the league has seen a considerable amount of success, which can primarily be attributed to the community embracing the use of soccer as a crime prevention tool. The league is currently managed by a committee, which includes representatives from each team in the league who work together to ensure the league is run diplomatically and encouraging consistent participation from the teams. The AYK have done well to run the league in a fashion that they have encouraged feedback and participation from local teams so as to improve the management of the league. Although in the end, the AYK is responsible for the league, it is important that the teams and local community have a significant input so that more teams will join and embrace the concept of a Crime Prevention League, bringing youth out of the shebeens and off of the local street corners.
AYK Tours is the formal business title for the tourism service provided by the Ambitious Youth of Khayelitsha. The AYK Tours will develop a sustainable income from the tour operation that will create jobs and provide an income for its members. This experience offers guests the opportunity to play soccer with the locals and takes them on a short walking tour of their area. The tour happens after the fun filled games and members of AYK take guests to significant sites in their area that allows them to interact with locals. Guests also have the opportunity to drink African beer, taste local foods and play games at the local game shop. The tour gives guests insight into education, housing and health and how it is experienced by the youth of Khayelitsha. The tour ends with a personal touch as guests visit the house of one of the members of AYK.
In partnership with local NGO’s, the AYK have facilitated a number of “Educational Soccer Tournaments”. These tournaments encourage participants to engage in life-skill/educational workshops in addition to playing in a competitive soccer event. Instead of a registration fee, participants agree to go through these workshops in order to be eligible to play in the tournament. Crime prevention, gender-based violence, xenophobia, and basic life skills are some of the topics that have been addressed at these tournaments. The target age group for these tournaments often changes with the topics that are being discussed and we have found that participants, regardless of their age, are very enthusiastic about attending these workshops.
Upcoming programs at the Chris Campbell Memorial Field
November 14th 2009 – Interactive Sport Youth 5-a-Side Tournament
November 21st 2009 – AYK Crime Prevention End of Year Tournament
November 28th 2009 – AYK “Tour”nament targeting local tourism companies raising awareness for AYK Tours
December 19-20th 2009 – Freeway Football Khayelitsha Cup 5-a-Side Tournament
Potential Future Programs to look out for:Girls Primary School League
Boys Primary School League
Father-son and Father-daughter Tournaments
Community Development Workshops
The CLUBHOUSE CONSTRUCTION begins November 2nd 2009 and is looking to be completed by December 18th, 2009.
The creation of the Clubhouse will enable us to enhance our educational tournaments as well as develop potential tutoring programs for the local community. We will use the clubhouse to serve as an informational center for the local community where the youth can receive tutoring and easily access life-skill programs facilitated by local NGO’s.
Additionally, we hope to be able to facilitate the use of international students to help create and develop numerous educational programs that will reach out to the local youth.
If you would like to follow the progress of things at the field, please continue to check out our website CampbellCenter.ning.com or follow us on Twitter under the name “SoccerAfrica” or "CTCTenPrograms".
Hope you are all doing well and I will try to keep monthly updates coming! Please respond with comments or suggestions so I can give better updates in the coming months!