How gov’t, Fufa and Uefa are determined to help street kids gain football skills

By Our Reporter

Sport world over has unimaginable power to redeem and transform society as it has been witnessed over time.

In many places football has been pursued as a tool for social change and as a result, players began to build relationships off the field, leading to a decrease in violence and an increase in social mobility among the positives

Football is the most popular sport and with almost half of the global population interested in football, the sport is a potential driver for social change.

Football speaks to many people. It is sort of a universal language. Young people are attracted to it and motivated to participate regularly and long enough to build a trust base and work on behavior change. It is only a tool but very powerful.

In the recent past FUFA has committed resources and efforts which have been used in the beautiful game to reach out to the underprivileged or minorities in communities. .

The now annual clothes and other assortment collection campaign associated with Stanbic Uganda Cup, the pre 2018 Christmas visit at the UWESO children’s home in Wakiso district, the FUFA Cup of Hope- a football competition for Luzira Upper Prison inmates among others are some of the notable examples.

These have continuously received enormous support from different sections of society and most importantly have been noticed by government.

Consequently the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has partnered with FUFA and UEFA to embark on a campaign code named ‘Football in Community Project’ to help get the children off the streets.

The exercise will help in the rehabilitation, transformation and possibly re-unite them with their families though football by introducing the kids to various skills.

The project is coordinated by FUFA Excom member Ronnie Kalema and Sumaya Kiwanuka among other secretariat staff.

On Saturday last week after a week-long training of coaches facilitated by UEFA instructors on how to work with kids, a total of 22 local instructors from different regions of Uganda were passed out and will help work with the kids  at the different designated centers for the Football in Community Project.

While officiating at the closure of the trainers training course-FUFA CEO Edgar Watson expressed his delight in the work already done with over 92 kids currently under rehabilitation at a FUFA centre in Mutundwe.

At the centre the kids are introduced to the different skills and aspects of the game such as playing, officiating, commentating, fair play among others in addition to other aspects of normal social life.