KIA Street Soccer Programme kicks-off

The KIA Street Soccer programme, in association with Foodzone, will target both boys and girls under the age of 13 and give participants in four main urban centres of South Africa the opportunity to get active, develop self-esteem and equip them with the knowledge to stay healthy for the rest of their lives. Through the KIA Charity and Care initiative, the KIA Street Soccer programme is aimed at disadvantaged children from around South Africa who will be given the opportunity to participate in street soccer leagues, as well as an accompanying health education programme.

This will include three phases:

The first is the health-education programme, which will focus on three core areas that have been identified by the South African government as being of vital importance:

• Nutrition - what to eat and how to eat healthily, drinking plenty of clean and safe water.
• Hygiene - washing hands, keeping your body clean and covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
• Being Active - how to lead an active lifestyle in order to prevent obesity.

The KIA Street Soccer league

The second phase is the KIA Street Soccer league, which will take place in communities around Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg for over two months leading up to the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Respective PSL clubs in the four areas, namely Ajax Cape Town, Orlando Pirates, AmaZulu Football Club and SuperSport United have joined in the programme to impart their technical expertise for the coaches and to nurture any promising talent.

The KIA Street Soccer league and the accompanying health-education sessions will act as the qualifying factors for phase three of the programme, whereby KIA will be distribute up to 4000 World Cup match tickets to the KIA Street Soccer participants.

The objectives of the KIA Street Soccer Programme include:

• Emphasising to children the value of sport and physical activity in building a bright future.
• Using sport and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as a vehicle for building self-esteem and educating children about the importance of health and nutrition.
• Develop and nurture individuals to serve as future role models for their communities.

Best knowledge, skills and values

Brad Bing, MD of Sporting Chance, was delighted with the roll-out of the programme: “Sporting Chance has been planning the KIA Street Soccer programme for over a year now. We have aligned ourselves with high-profiled PSL football teams, sponsors and partners to ensure the best knowledge, skills and values of the programme will be achieved by the youth of our country.”

Marketing manager Vinola Pillay said: “Together with Sporting Chance we hope to achieve several things. Firstly, we want to emphasise to children the value of sport and physical activity in building a bright future. Furthermore, we want to use sport and the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a vehicle for building self-esteem and educating children about the importance of health and nutrition. More importantly, through these programmes we also want to provide opportunities for sporting achievement and personal development for as many children as possible.”

In addition to the three phases set out by Sporting Chance, the Dis-Chem Foundation has donated 16 000 health and hygiene products, which will be distributed to children participating in the project