South Africa 2013 is the fifth time the PFA have been to Cape Town for international CSR work.
This year's delegation is led by Director of Community John Hudson, his two able Community Officers Dennis Leman and Dave Palmer, Head of Equalities Simone Pound, Player Welfare/Education Officer Michael Bennett (his counselling skills are already proving very handy) and team mascot and best footballer of the bunch is Rachel Yankey, England and Arsenal (and England's most capped outfield player).
The work we do out here in South Africa has a strong football in the community focus. The history of apartheid in South Africa has left a tragic legacy of townships segregated by colour. These impoverished settlements sit amidst areas of extreme wealth and under the spectrum of the beautiful Table Mountain. Cape Town is a beautiful place to be but the deep and complex racial divisions in the city are hard to accept, and one we will always challenge. Whilst area's and townships are still classed as "black and coloured" how can apartheid truly be over?
Our work out in SA began in April 2009, before the FIFA World Cup when football focus was at fever pitch level and vuvuzela's were blown morning, noon and night. We ran a series of coach education workshops in the town-ships with some of the men and women who coached the local youth teams. Since then we have brought a delegation each year to build on our unions core foundations of community, coaching education and equality.
Last year our group consisted of an Academy player from each of the clubs in the Premier League. We took them into the townships, ran some coaching sessions and community programmes and made an impact into their thinking and philosophies as Ambassadors of the game and the next generation of global role models.
This year, there is a focus on Women and Girls football and along with charitable partners Coaching For Hope we are delivering coaching sessions and education workshops to empower women and girls; some of whom have many difficult challenges to overcome including HIV/Aids, rape, drug abuse, early pregnancies and poverty.
Our day began at 8am when we landed at Cape Town International after a 12 hour flight (economy class please note we turned right on the plane). After a quick breakfast at the hotel (Southern Sun Waterfront) we barely had time to unpack before we were off on our first visit and met by a familiar face Edwin Stein, brother of Brian and Mark and the first ever black manager in the Football League. He was born and lived in Cape Town until he was 12. His father was a political activist during the apartheid era and had to flee with his family to the UK as South Africa's notorious secret police wanted to incarcerate him on Robben Island with other political prisoners who had done nothing wrong but speak out against apartheid.
The Stein brothers (one of footballs legendary families of brothers in the game note also the Sodje's, Neville's and Wallace's) have started a foundation in their mother and fathers name and memory. The Isiah and Lilian Stein Foundation was established with assistance from the PFA to help communities in England and South Africa be educated and inspired through football.
We met at Heatherdale Primary School, Edwins old school which was not dissimilar in layout to Robben Island. Unlike Robben Island it was full of love, harmony and happiness. We were greeted by the young learners (aged between 5-11 years old) who were keen to demonstrate their singing abilities with an amazing rendition of South Africa's national anthem, God Save the Queen (not quite as catchy as the SA anthem it must be said) and the most beautiful song written by their music teacher Marvin (who did actually look just like Marvin from JLS) about their dedication and commitment to education and learning. It was a joy to witness.
Rachel Yankey ran a coaching session afterwards with 40 or so of the girls in the school yard which would was covered in gravel and in the middle of the school compound: a warm up, technical drills and finished with a match and included much laughter. Encouragement was shouted by their wonderful teachers, most of whom had been working at the school for over 35 years and all of whom were truly inspirational. Dennis and Dave also ran a coaching session with the boys at the same time and the teachers all said it was a day the children would remember forever. As Rachel runs a number of coaching sessions at primary schools in North West London, we are arranging for some school partnership working and the children from the UK to learn more about the kids in SA and vice versa.
From Heatherdale we went to an evening reception at Athlone Stadium hosted by Coaching for Hope with key partners and people who are working on the ground making an impact in their own communities using football as the tool to educate, empower and inspire.
For more information on Coaching for Hope: www.coachingforhope.org
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