Soccer + Life Skills for 1,000+ Youth in Cameroon

In Cameroon our life skills and girls’ empowerment activities are thriving, engaging more boys and girls than ever before, thanks to continued support from FIFA Foundation and a new grant from the United Nations Development Programme in Cameroon! 

Due to the ongoing crisis in Cameroon, there are more than half a million internally displaced persons in the Southwest and Northwest Regions of Cameroon, with tens of thousands living as refugees in neighboring Nigeria. With support from UNDP, we expanded our Sport for Good programming to serve youth in 12 different neighborhoods in three cities: Kumba, Bamenda, and Mamfe, specifically targeting neighborhoods with a large influx of new youth who have been forced to flee their villages in nearby rural areas.

To support this growth, we expanded our team, bringing on 5 new Community Leaders (bringing that number of part-time employment for young adults to nine total) in addition to our eight full time staff. Currently, our educational soccer leagues engage more than 1,000 youth.

We’re focusing on promoting social cohesion and life skills through the beautiful game, using our youth-led model that we’ve developed over the years. Our training workshops and the structure of our training sessions and league play increase the skills and confidence in teenagers to be role models to younger kids in their neighborhood. 

We believe that every kid deserves a role model - someone to look up to and learn from. In this way, role models create a positive influece and a ripple effect in their community. Your support will ensure more teens get the training they need to become a role model.

Please consider a financial gift to Open Field this holiday season to support youth whose lives will be forever changed by your contribution.