PLAY SOCCER is a network of nationally established nonprofit organizations (PLAY SOCCER Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Zambia and South Africa) affiliated under PLAY SOCCER International, the umbrella organization in the USA. The PLAY SOCCER goal is sustainable grassroot development through sport. Its year-round 48 week holistic curriculum teaches health and social life skills and football through weekly activity-based educational sessions. The program begins with young children to encourage early childhood development and life long learning. Local youth are trained as volunteer instructors, building their leadership and skills, maximizing volunteerism and community service as pillars of the organization. The program is recreational, open to all, and geared to mass participation in the most disadvantaged communities.
SPIRIT OF SOCCER works in some of the most devastated post-conflict areas on earth. They focus on three areas: Social Integration and Peace Building, by training coaches & players from both sides of a conflict to work together; and on saving lives by reducing child casualties caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). In 1993, Spirit of Soccer founder Scotty Lee went to Bosnia to help deliver food and medicine to frontline villages and towns affected by the devastating civil war in the former Yugoslavia. In 1996, he returned to Bosnia on a coaching trip sponsored by Arsenal Football Club. During this visit, a group of children playing football near Sarajevo Airport accidentally set off a landmine. Three of the players were killed, four others were maimed. All of them were under ten years old. Spirit of Soccer was born and has since reached thousands of children, saving lives across the world.
GRASSROOT SOCCER provides African youth with the knowledge, life skills, and support to live HIV-free. Using an innovative HIV prevention and life-skills curriculum, they utilize the popularity of soccer to increase their impact. Soccer teams and leagues are ubiquitous structures in even the most impoverished areas. By working within this existing structure and by training role models – pro players, coaches and youth players themselves – to get the message out about healthy behavior and the risks of HIV, Grassroot Soccer has been able to dramatically increase awareness, change behaviors, and turn the tide against HIV.
FC UNITY aims to provide a platform for development and education through a series of soccer-based programs. In partnership with regional and global organizations, the programs bring together people from different ethnic, religious and social backgrounds to overcome their differences and learn to work as teams. FC Unity promotes unity, cross-cultural acceptance and understanding, community cohesion and ultimately a more peaceful co-existence through developing youth leaders who can take these principles into their communities.
SOCCER IN THE STREETS is a US-based non-profit organization that develops soccer, educational and life-skills programs for "at-risk" kids in underserved communities. Since its inception in 1989, it has positively changed the lives of over 125,000 kids in more than 75 U.S. cities. The experience and skills learned through its programs better prepare youth for life and create positive opportunities. It is committed to improving the quality of life for kids, their families, and their communities through its youth development programs using soccer.