On July 7th, Nike and Six Points hosted UI participants from Jenner, Libby and Reavis to watch Spain play Germany in the World Cup Semi Finals. Overall, the event was incredible. The kids came to Six Points to enjoy lunch, watch the game, and play several exciting rounds of foosball. Nike provided vuvuzelas for the kids so that they could cheer on the teams as if they were in the stadium in South Africa.
At halftime, the participants engaged in a Skype conversation with South African youth who were watching the game in the home country. The kids took turns asking questions to learn about differences across the globe. The South African children even taught our kids the South African celebration dance and the UI participants sang the United States National Anthem. Great times were had by all!
Thank you to Six Points and Nike for their ongoing generosity!
Here is background on our new friends in South Africa:
Every weekend the Chris Campbell Memorial Field in Khayelitsha hosts some 2000 Khayelitsha young people in 5-a-side league tournaments. The Chris Campbell field is a project of the CTC Ten Foundation, and it was setup to use soccer as a means of empowering young people in Khayelitsha through sport and life skills development. Khayelitsha is South Africa’s fastest growing urban centre, and also Cape Town’s biggest township, home to some 1.5million people. Khayelitsha is a suburb young in age, and young in population, with very little available to entertain and occupy young minds.
The CTC Ten Foundation’s various football centered projects fill a large vacuum and is making a significant impact. The field itself is a Fifa level 2 grade artificial pitch, with a clubhouse. On Saturdays and Sundays the project, coordinated by a young man called Ryan McGongigle, run 5-a-side leagues for young children, and in the evenings they run a night league aimed at the older teenagers and young adults as part of an anti-crime campaign.
The teenagers that will be participating in the Nike exchange event on Wed 7 July are all teenagers that during the World Cup school holidays have been involved in daily football workshops, education and tournaments. More information can be found here.
