Non-profit Grassroot Soccer (GRS)

The Football For an HIV Free Generation Initiative (F4) will build on Grassroot Soccer’s current successes, networks and partnerships in order to educate more than 230,000 youth over the course of the project and reach in excess of 3 million people on a quarterly basis with prevention and stigma reduction messages over a three-year period (2009-2011), using soccer as the universal language. F4 is brought to life through the delivery of Skillz programming at the community level, supplemental mass media messaging, and a coordinated advocacy campaign that uses soccer to promote healthy living and responsible choices among African youth.

Founded by former professional soccer players in 2002, Grassroot Soccer (GRS), a US registered NGO, trains African soccer stars, soccer coaches, teachers, and peer educators in the world’s most HIV-affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention curriculum to youth – providing them with the knowledge, skills, and support to remain HIV free. We operate our own flagship sites in southern Africa and also provide training and technical assistance to partner organizations to build their capacity to adapt and deliver the Skillz curriculum and model in their constituencies.

GRS’ programs are currently rolled out across South Africa. Close collaboration plays a major role and partnerships have been forged with the local government and like-minded organizations throughout the country. Our focus has, where possible, been on the most under-resourced areas. Thus our largest program is in Zwide township in Port Elizabeth, where our interventions have evolved into a street soccer league, in-school and after-school programs and the highly successful Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) events where the attraction of soccer and the positive atmosphere around a soccer tournament helps to break down the stigma surrounding going for an HIV test.

Numerous scientific evaluations have documented the GRS model’s effectiveness in significantly reducing sexual risk behavior, decreasing stigma, and improving students’ knowledge, attitudes, communication, and decision-making skills related to HIV. Surveying 304 students in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Stanford University’s Children’s Health Council concluded that: “The GRS Program is a culturally appropriate, internationally suitable, creative, and effective way to educate at-risk youth about HIV/AIDS and its prevention.” Similarly encouraging results have emerged from formal evaluations in Zambia, South Africa, Sudan, Liberia, Botswana, Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic. These studies have been published in academic journals, referenced by working groups, and presented at prestigious international conferences.

Using the power of soccer in the fight against HIV and AIDS, Grassroot Soccer provides African youth with the knowledge, skills, and support to live HIV free.

Building on the success of past GRS programs and partnerships, the goal of F4 South Africa over the next three-year period (2009-2011), is to educate more than 230,000 youth and reach in excess of 3 million people on a quarterly basis with prevention and stigma reduction messages, using soccer as the universal language.

This goal will be achieved through three primary strategic objectives, namely to:

promote improved health-seeking behavior among youth aged 12-18;
build the capacity of local implementing partners to deliver, monitor, and sustain HIV/AIDS prevention programming;
increase demand for and uptake of HIV-related services (e.g. VCT and Anti-Retroviral Therapy).

GRS will undertake the following activities to achieve the outlined objectives: design and deliver training courses for teachers and community role models, high level facilitators, and project managers; implement activities-based HIV/AIDS prevention and life skills curriculum in and out of schools; implement VCT soccer tournaments, providing access to and incentive for HIV-related services; develop and distribute educational materials (including an instructional DVD and Skillz magazines) focused on health promotion and promoting HIV-related services; leverage soccer role models in above activities to promote and de-stigmatize HIV-related services; mobilize support from the private sector; and facilitate the sharing of information related to the use of sport for HIV/AIDS prevention across sport-for-development organizations in southern Africa.

Name of Organization:Grassroot Soccer (GRS)
Number of Paid Staff:65
Number of Volunteers:300+
Total Organizational Expenses:$4,091,851
% of Organizational Overhead Expenses:18%

Three pillars define GRS’ innovation: using soccer and soccer players to enhance our social impact, translating research into action, and scaling through partnerships.

Since incorporation, GRS’ signature innovation has been using soccer language, skills, and players to fuel a youth-led behavior change movement. Soccer’s universal popularity makes it an ideal way of uniting young people in a common cause. Says former UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot of GRS’ innovation:

“Soccer offers an exciting platform for intensifying HIV prevention efforts across Africa, helping promote self esteem, and supporting the development of protective communication and life skills. Combining soccer with community-based programs and intensive media outreach will give a welcome boost to ongoing HIV prevention work on the continent and will be particularly powerful in the months building up to the first World Cup to be hosted in Africa.”

GRS prides itself on using rigorous research and evaluation to drive its interventions. To ensure programs remain progressive, GRS has created a research advisory council with leading experts including Infectious Disease Professor Thomas Coates and prominent author Helen Epstein. Whereas many prevention programs are driven by donors' ideologies, ”Grassroot Soccer reaches large numbers of young people with HIV education and bases its programs on the best available evidence,” writes Epstein, who visited GRS Zambia programs in 2007.

GRS' collaboration with implementing partners to amplify impact is rare among our peers. Rather than competing for funding, we share our model with like-minded organizations demonstrating capacity to sustain programs. Observes Coates, ”Grassroot Soccer’s collaborative spirit, commitment to outcome-driven programs, and multi-level approach make it an organization at the cutting-edge of HIV prevention."

It is afternoon at a Port Elizabeth Zwide Township school and the playground is buzzing with activity. Thirty kids cheer on their peers as they dribble soccer balls through a “Risk Field,” dodging cones representing HIV-related risks (e.g. multiple sexual partners). If, for example, a player hits a cone, she and her teammates must complete 3 pushups, showing how the consequences of one person’s risk can not only affect him, but also his friends, family, and community. Amongst the group is a tiny 12-year-old girl named Lungi. Like 1.5 million children in her country, Lungi lost her parents to AIDS. In one year both parents died, leaving Lungi under her older sister’s care. “I don’t care about nice clothes or nice food,” says her sister. “All I need for her is just happiness.”

Leading the Risk Field activity is GRS coach Siyavuya Ntabeni, 23, who introduced Lungi to the program. He sees her as an energetic young girl and a receptive learner with immense potential. “She can achieve the best in life and be a role model for others in similar situations,” says Siyavuya.

In July 2007, GRS youngsters were selected as player escorts for a match honoring Nelson Mandela’s 89th birthday. Lungi was one of them. Before a crowd of over 35,000, she walked onto the field beside arguably the greatest soccer player in history—Pele. For Lungi, this was a relatively small achievement compared to what she has already faced in life. “I’ve been through a lot,” she admits. “[But] Grassroot Soccer has enabled me to feel much stronger within myself, and has helped me deal with the pain of losing both my parents.”

Education
Health
Sports

GRS believes in the idea of kids helping kids. Following the Jewish values of Gemilut Chasadim, Tikun Olam, and Torah, youth in the United States can make a global impact within their local community. GRS staff like to say, “Kick locally, think globally.” Youth can fundraise for GRS programs through various school activities, including the Lose the Shoes initiative. Joining Grassroot Soccer United, a US led youth campaign, students can support GRS African programs. As the youth get older, GRS also offers one-year internships in southern Africa to recent college graduates, where they will gain valuable experience, leadership skills, knowledge, and training to prepare them for a career in global health, business, education or medicine.

Name:Ethan Zohn
Title:Co-founder
Address:15 Lebanon Street Hanover, NH 03755
Telephone:(802) 649-2900
Email:info@grassrootsoccer.org
Website:www.grassrootsoccer.org

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Jchoice.Org

Football for an HIV-Free Generation in South Africa


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