Wednesday 1 July 2015

The Grassroot Soccer Project





The Grassroot Soccer Project
Grassroot Soccer was founded in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 2002 by Dr
Thomas Clark, a pediatrician, and
Methembe Ndlovu, the former captain of
the
Zimbabwe national football team.
Grassroot Soccer uses the power of
soccer to educate and inspire young
people to live healthy and productive lives.
Grassroot Soccer trains local role models –
soccer players, teachers, community
leaders – to deliver an interactive
AIDS
prevention and life skills curriculum to at
risk youth.

After having successfully joined forces to
develop a coaching training program at
the GRS facilities in Zimbabwe in 2011 &
2012, the Harvip Foundation (or “Harvip”)
and Grassroot Soccer (“GRS”) are piloting
a new programme to develop a new
generation of young leaders in
Zimbabwe. GRS and Harvip Foundation
will facilitate the acquisition of
knowledge, skills and support needed by
youth in Bulawayo to be change agents in
their communities.
The Harvip program invests deeply in the
personal and professional development
of GRS Coaches – young Africans aged
18-30 years who are trained as
facilitators to deliver GRS’s ground-
breaking behaviour change curricula to
youth. Through training, hands-on work
experience, and mentorship, GRS will over
the next three years empower 15
Coaches in Zimbabwe to be effective
leaders, educators, and health workers in
their communities.
Grassroot Soccer is built upon the
premise of the “social learning theory”
popularized by Dr. Albert Bandura that
“most behaviour is learned
observationally through modeling”. Our
facilitators serve as role models for the
youth that they deliver curricula to. The
partnership with Harvip taps into another
level of modelling. A coach who shows
potential is provided with support to
pursue his or her goals/dreams. The hope
is that this additional support will not
only enhance their appeal as role models
for the youth but that it will also help
them to become role models for their
peers. In addition, these 15 coaches will
receive the support to obtain professional
certifications that will help them follow a
career path of their choice into gainful
employment.
This concept of role model development
will ensure a continuous stream of high
quality volunteers coming to GRS, as they
will see the support and mentorship for
the long-term development and career
choices for current volunteers. The Harvip
program will not only provide GRS’
volunteer coaches with a terrific
springboard for career and personal
development but will also enable them to
become role models for their peers, in
addition to their students, and

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