FIFA’s World Cup Legacy

With the end of the World Cup the stadiums of South Africa have been silenced, the buzz of the vuvuzelas has (thankfully) faded and life has returned to normal.  But in Khayelitsha the legacy of the World Cup won’t be measured by minutes played and goals scored. Success instead will be judged by lives saved. As part of FIFA’s goal to create a lasting social legacy in South Africa, the first “Football for Hope Center” opened in Khayelitsha on Dec 5th, 2009.

The Khayelitsha soccer center is just one of 20 centers that FIFA is building across the African Continent. The plan is part of FIFA’s “20 Centres for 2010″, an initiative to educate youth about HIV/AIDS through soccer. Used as a vehicle to education, soccer provides coaches/teachers the ability able to broach sensitive subjects. The soccer based curriculum has shown tremendous promise so far. Although FIFA’s project will be physically complete after the construction of the 20 facilities the centers’ real legacy will come years from now. As the students/players graduate from the centers they’ll take with them an education that will last a lifetime. With each center constructed FIFA has the opportunity to impact thousands of lives by teaching youth to make smart decisions over a lifetime.

FIFA did not go about this all alone however. GrassRoots Soccer developed the curriculum used by the facilities. The program called Skillz uses training and drills to educate youth aged 12-18 by creating connections between real life skills and soccer.

FIFA’s program is not complete yet.  Currently 7 more centers are under development and by the end of 2012 all 20 centers will be complete.

In my opinion I think that 20 Centers is just a start but I applaud the creation of a solution that is not only sustainable but will last far past the sound of the World Cup’s last whistle.

What do you think of this innovative approach to youth AIDS/HIV education?