Beyond Sport

Award Entered:
Sport for Conflict Resolution Award
Parent Organisation:
Spirit of Soccer
Project Host Nation:
Cambodia / Iraq
Overview of Project:
Spirit of Soccer uses football as a medium to educate children in countries affected by war of the dangers of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Using a unique curriculum, SOS uses football drills to teach children simple safety messages of how to avoid and deal with landmines and ERW. Specially printed footballs, posters and comics featuring football stars and safety messages are distributed as part of the coaching. Having originated in Bosnia working with children from different ethnic backgrounds in villages affected by the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, Spirit of Soccer established a project in Cambodia working in communities dealing with the legacy of decades of conflict in South East Asia. In 2008 Spirit of Soccer delivered its first coaching course in Iraq, working with schoolchildren from both Sunni and Shi’ite communites, and aims to establish a permanent project there in 2009 with the objective of delivering MRE education to 8,000 children in schools and IDP refugee camps in the next 12 months. Also in 2008, SOS delivered a training project focusing on drug and alcohol awareness to schoolchildren in Moldova from communities on opposite sides of the disputed Transnistria region.

Beyond Sport: Utilising the power of sport to help the lives of others.