City FC’s own Malaika Nichols has been selected as one of eight young people who will have the extraordinary opportunity to travel to South Africa to represent the United States at the Football for Hope Festival 2010. Malaika was selected based on her personal growth, academic performance, commitment to social change in under-resourced communities, and playing skills.
During the final week of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, while the greatest players in the game are competing for the biggest prize in soccer, the Football for Hope Festival 2010, a very different kind of international tournament, will be taking place in the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg. Youth from around the world will participate in cultural activities, workshops, and a tournament. Football for Hope is a movement that uses the power of the game for social development. It is led by FIFA and streetfootballworld, a center of expertise that supports a global network of local organizations that work in the field of youth development through soccer.
Thirty-two youth delegations from around the world will represent organizations that use soccer to strengthen under-served communities. These organizations are using soccer to address a wide range of social issues, such as ethnic violence in Israel and Palestine, environmental pollution in the slums of Kenya, HIV/AIDS education in South Africa, and landmine education in Cambodia and gang culture in Ecuador.
The American delegation includes eight young players ages 15 to 18 years old (four male and four female) plus one coach, one youth leader, and two chaperones. The players represent the Starfinder Foundation in Philadelphia, PA, Soccer in the Streets in Atlanta, GA, and programs within the Urban Soccer Collaborative national membership. Malaika will represent the DC Stoddert’s City Football Club of Washington, DC, an Urban Soccer Collaborative member organization.
What’s the purpose? During this once-in-a-lifetime trip Malaika will participate in activities designed to change the way she sees herself and others by learning about the realities of her peers from around the world. By hearing first hand from people of other cultures, she will be able to separate fact from fiction and see what other people are like and how they live. The group will develop leadership skills and, at the center of the competition, learn to resolve conflict and develop positive solutions—across cultural and language barriers. The festival will help Malaika and the other delegates develop a healthy and educated world view.
Unfortunately, this trip is costly. Football for Hope will cover each delegation’s housing and food costs while in South Africa and provide tracksuits and two full uniforms for each player. However, Malaika is responsible for all other costs, including airfare (approx. $3,200 each!) and other travel expenses, passports, immunizations, clothing for official events, turf shoes, practice uniforms, travel gear, small gifts to share with other delegations, and other incidental expenses. Please consider making a gift to help send Malaika to South Africa this summer! Your donations will be greatly appreciated and acknowledged. Please contact Cara Rooney at cara.rooney@cityfc.org if you are interested in helping Malaika’s trip become a reality.
