25-year-old Drew Chafetz and business partner Alfredo Axtmayer aren't in the business of making money. Instead, the young social entrepreneurs have chosen to dedicate their time, energy, and social resources to helping kids play.
Their organization, love.futbol, works with impoverished communities across the globe to construct football fields and provide safe, accessible spaces where children can play soccer. Thus far, love.futbol has helped to build three low-cost, sustainable soccer fields in Guatemala. The organization provides funding and resources for each project, but also relies upon volunteer participation, both in organizing projects and in on-site construction work.
"I am immeasurably grateful to the beautiful game and determined to give back. It is a privilege to share the inspiration in my life with children who share my passion yet face great challenges to playing soccer." —Drew Chafetz
Just another great example of youth-led initiatives making a difference and helping us play :)
Anna Phillips dedicated her time, energy, and passion to help empower girls and women in Uganda by founding the soccer program Girls Kick It. Here in Chicago, author/activist Egan Reich wrote a play to benefit another international soccer program that empowers single-leg amputees in Sierra Leone.
The Most Liquid Currency in the World—which ran at the Pinebox Theater in 2007—donated 5% of all ticket sales to the Single Leg Amputee Sports Club (SLASC).
Here's a bit of tragic history about how the club got started:
In the 1990s, the Revolutionary United Front rebel army systematically amputated civilian limbs as a part of their terror strategy in Sierra Leone’s civil war. They left behind a population who not only had to learn how to cope with the psychological trauma of war, but who also had to figure out how to live with new physical disabilities. Many chose amputee football to help with both their emotional and physical recovery.
The Sierra Leone amputee soccer team traveled to England for their first-ever international competition in 2003; they continue to practice and compete in both African Amputee Football tournaments and International Amputee Football games.
Despite SLASC’s success, money remains one of the biggest challenges. Prosthetic limbs are much too expensive for many amputees, and the rough nature of soccer often breaks crutches. The cost of equipment, transportation, and food also limits the number of participants that can join the teams.
Still, it’s inspiring to see such a positive response to such terrible atrocities in Sierra Leone.
[Below: News clip about amputee soccer in Sierra Leone]
A few days ago, I had the chance to talk to Anna Phillips, the incredible 22-year-old founder of Girls Kick It!-- a comprehensive sports program for young women in northern Uganda. Anna created Girls Kick It! with the help of Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) to empower and educate women, many of whom have been affected by war and poverty, through sports.
Me: I'm excited to get to talk to you. I've heard so much about you from the Play City team that met you at the LA Training Camp.
Anna: It was really awesome! It's so exciting to see these people just starting out with their projects. They have these great, crazy ideas-- and those are what make the best projects. It's amazing to be around that energy.
Me: You're leaving for Uganda tomorrow. How long are you going for?
Anna: For a year! I got a Fulbright scholarship to do research on the affirmative action policies for women in Parliament. My research focuses on the implications for the women's movement.
Me: That'll be really interesting. Where are you from originally?
Anna: I grew up in San Diego, but I've been living in D.C. and my mom lives outside New York, so I spend a lot of time here.
Me: How did Girls Kick It! get started?
Anna: It got started because I grew up playing sports in middle school and high school. I wrestled and played rugby. I decided to major in human rights at George Washington University after traveling to Africa the summer before I started school. It was a self-designed major that allowed me a lot of flexibility in the classes I was able to take.
Then in January 2006, I got a chance to combine my passion for sports and human rights. I went to the Global Youth Partnership for Africa's youth summit in Uganda. GYPA brought together American and Ugandan youth leaders who were interested and passionate about HIV/AIDS, women's issues and reconciliation. After the summit, I worked with GYPA to create a sports programs specifically for women. There were programs where women are involved, but nothing specifically for them. With the help and support of GYPA I was able to find amazing mentors and resources to create Girls Kick It! In particular, the advice of Awista Ayub, a phenomenal woman who created a girls soccer program in Afghanistan, helped me in the early planning stages. The sports for social change movement is relatively small, and everyone was willing to help and meet with me.
Me: How old were you when you started Girls Kick It!?
Anna: I was in college, just finishing my second year. I ended up taking a year off to work on the project.
Me: Do you spend a lot of time in Uganda to run the program?
Anna: I spent about six months there when I first started, then I was in Israel for five months afterward, studying Arabic and Hebrew. I have had the opportunity to travel with the team to South Africa and Denmark. We have incredible coaches and women who are involved with Girls Kick It! and GYPA.
Me: How many women are involved in the project?
Anna: We have served about 250 women. It's a core group of dedicated women.
Me: What ages do you serve?
Anna: We have players who range in age from 8 to 26. We have a target age, but we won't turn anyone away.
Me: Where is Girls Kick It! based?
Anna: We're based in Gulu, which is the northern region of Uganda. GYPA has offices in Washington DC and Kampala.
Anna: The HWC is an international street soccer tournament comprised of 48 countries. The teams are made up of people who are refugees, homeless, or displaced persons. The last two years we had a co-ed team, but this is the first year we will have an all women's team. The first Women's Cup will be held in Melbourne, Australia this December.
Me: You're a great example to all the Play City activists who are just getting started in the sport-for-good movement. What advice do you have for them?
Anna: I wish someone had told me this: you are going to fail. At some point, you are going to fail and fall on your face, but you need to get back up and try again. No idea is too crazy. What if the founders of Google had given up on their idea because it was too crazy? It's about thinking outside the box and being both passionate and realistic. If you can be passionate and realistic, you will succeed. And surround yourself with smart and supportive people.
Me: Why do you think the sport-for-good movement is important in the world?
Anna: It's time to think outside the box for alternative ways to improve our world. It's not just about giving people things, it's about empowering them. It's so incredible to see more people and companies get involved in sports for good-- big companies like Nike putting in so much time and effort. It's really inspiring.
Me: How do you get your funding?
Anna: I was really concerned about money when I first started. My mentor at GYPA told me, "The money will come. Write a letter to everyone you know." That's what I did-- I told them why this was important to me and why it should be important to them, and the donations came in, whether it was for $5 or $100. If people believe in you, they'll believe in your cause. I also spoke at my synagogue and sent a press release to my local newspaper. Complete strangers donated to the project. You don't need that much money-- money will stretch. People really connect to this idea, and they open their minds, hearts and wallets.
Me: What's next for GYPA and Girls Kick It!?
Anna: We have the Women's Homeless World Cup in Australia in December. I am also looking to improving the quality of the program, not necessarily expanding it.
Me: So is rugby your favorite sport to play?
Anna: Yes, I love it. Painful, but incredible.
Me: Will you get to play while you're in Uganda?
Anna: I hope so. I'll be in the capital, so there are some leagues there. I'm bringing my cleats just in case.
Me: Do you have any final words of wisdom?
Anna: Everyone has a passion and a talent. If you can find a way to combine the two, you will be successful. My passion was women's empowerment and my talent was sports-- that's why Girls Kick It! made sense.
Today I’d like to recognize a collaborative sports effort that pushes for gender equality, teaches about AIDS/HIV prevention, builds life-skills for at-risk youth, and provides educational opportunities for women and girls in Kenya.
The team began with a few primary players: CARE (a humanitarian organization that fights global poverty) and their Sport for Social Change Initiative, Nike Let Me Play (a youth-directed program to fight global poverty and oppression through sports), and the Mathare Youth Soccer Association (dedicated to empowering impoverished youth in Kenya through sports and community service projects).
Once these three players got together to kick some ideas around on the playing field, they realized that they were unstoppable. They chose a team name—the Kenyan American Soccer Exchange, or KASE—and scored goal after goal empowering women and girls in Kenya.
The KASE Girls USA Tour brought Kenyan teams to the States to build relationships and play soccer. KASE also hosts workshops to train Kenyan coaches, build political and economic support for women’s sports in Kenya, and assist Universities in developing women’s sports programs.
* also check out my previous post detailing MYSA's amazing program in Mathare, Kenya
As kids, I’m sure we all heard this lovely insult:
“You throw like a girl.”
As a physically fit girl attending a one-room elementary schoolhouse of about 10-15 students, my usual response to this statement involved challenging the offender to an arm wrestling match or a race around the schoolyard. I would win the contest and kill the argument over inferior athletic ability.
But as the years passed, I entered larger schools and grew less confident in my athletic abilities. I hated the “throw like a girl” insult, but could never think of a clever comeback for it.
[Any ideas?]
Yes I am a girl, so I probably throw like one. I’m fine with that. But to hear guys make fun of each other by comparing their buddies to girls and women is just...ouch. It stings.
And it’s not just the throwing comments that bother me. It’s “Stop acting like a pussy” [translation: don’t act so weak or afraid] or “Quit being such a girl” [translation: don’t be so fussy or sensitive]. If you’re not supposed to act like a girl on the playing field, then where should girls play?
8-year-old Lizzie narrates in the 2008 documentary Kick Like a Girl. The film tells the story of a third grade girls’ soccer team that competes against the boys’ soccer team. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the trailer looks fantastic.
You say I throw like a girl? I say wait until I rally my band of third-grade rebels together and we’ll throw you down.
The Most Liquid Currency in the World—which ran at the Pinebox Theater in 2007—donated 5% of all ticket sales to the 
A few days ago, I had the chance to talk to Anna Phillips, the incredible 22-year-old founder of 
Today I’d like to recognize a collaborative sports effort that pushes for gender equality, teaches about AIDS/HIV prevention, builds life-skills for at-risk youth, and provides educational opportunities for women and girls in Kenya.
8-year-old Lizzie narrates in the 2008 documentary 
