Happy Holidays from the Kickabout Team!

We are getting closer and closer to departure day. In just a few short weeks, Lorrie and the rest of the team will be heading over to the UK to pick up the cars and start the journey across Europe, through the Middle East, and on to Egypt to officially launch Kickabout: Africa 2010!

As we finalize plans and preparations, we would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and happy new year. We would also like to let you know that in addition to supporting us through the Plus 3 Network , you can now make a tax-deductible donation to the Kickabout Expedition Fund online through our fiscal partner, the LAFC Foundation. (See below for more details.)

The Kickabout team would like to thank everyone for their support in helping Kickabout: Africa 2010 become a reality. We cannot wait to get on the road and help celebrate and support our great partners throughout Africa. Check back soon for new updates, new challenges, and new details about our coming adventure.

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Grassroot Soccer Joins Kickabout Africa Partnership

(LOS ANGELES, CALIF.) – Kickabout Africa is honored to announce Grassroot Soccer as its third Signature Partner. Grassroot Soccer is a leader in the sport for development and HIV prevention fields, with flagship sites in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as partner programs in Tanzania, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Namibia. Kickabout will visit several project sites and organize friendly matches and tournaments to celebrate and highlight the great work being done by Grassroot Soccer. The Kickabout team will also work to raise money for those local projects through Kickabout’s partnership with the Plus 3 Network.

“We are so excited to welcome Grassroot Soccer as our third Signature Partner. They have proven how the power of soccer can change lives,” says Kickabout founder Lorrie Fair. “With their HIV prevention programs operating across southern Africa, we are very proud to give our support to this wonderful organization. I cannot wait to see firsthand the impact Grassroot Soccer has had in their communities.”

“Grassroot Soccer is pleased to partner with Kickabout to bring attention to the power of soccer in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Bill Miles, COO of Grassroot Soccer. “We are excited to work with Lorrie and her team, and bring awareness to the great work of our coaches and staff and the hard work of the kids in our programs.”

Established by former professional soccer players in 2002, Grassroot Soccer delivers an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth in the world’s most HIV-affected countries. Grassroot Soccer has educated more than 300,000 kids via its ‘Skillz’ curriculum and is a leader in the sport for development movement. Visit: www.grassrootsoccer.org to learn more

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Right To Play Joins Kickabout

2 November 2009

Los Angeles, CA – The Kickabout 2010 is proud to announce a new Signature Partnership with Right To Play, one of the largest and most successful sport for development organizations in the world. During our adventure through Africa, the Kickabout will visit several Right To Play projects and highlight the work they are doing in refugee camps, rural communities, and urban areas throughout Africa.

Right To Play is an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play trains local community leaders as Coaches to deliver its programs in countries affected by war, poverty, and disease in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Right To Play President and CEO, Johann Koss, “Right To Play is excited to be part of the Kickabout’s mission to use football to bring awareness and funds to help marginalized children. Lorrie and her team are evidence of how athletes are using the power of sport to transform lives and impact entire communities.”

“We are thrilled about this partnership because we have seen firsthand the amazing work Right To Play are doing for the world’s refugees and internally-displaced persons,” Lorrie, Founder of the Kickabout and Right To Play Athlete Ambassador, "Many of these children have been displaced on account of war and violence, and Right To Play are empowering and educating these youth though sport, helping to give them an opportunity for a brighter future. We are so excited to visit the project sites, play football with the children, and hopefully highlight their wonderful work in refugee camps around the world."

Click here to visit Right To Play and learn more...

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Coaches Across Continents and the Kickabout

The Kickabout is proud to announce a new partnership with Coaches Across Continents. From Lorrie, "We are so proud to partner with Coaches Across Continents as they are one of the most experienced organizations in football for social development in the world. As we seek to highlight their wonderful work done on the ground, I have no doubt the world will embrace their mission as we have and hopefully support the sustainability of their efforts in education through sport."

Winner of the Beyond Sport Prize for Best New Project, Coaches across Continents uses soccer in developing communities as a vehicle for an educational process that creates a new generation of leaders equipped to make considered decisions based upon informed ‘choice’ rather than unexamined tradition.

"We are delighted that Kickabout will be visiting some of our programs in Africa in 2010 and bringing their amazing enthusiasm and ability to use football to educate young people. Lorrie is a wonderful role model for women around the world and her skills and passion for sport and development will impact thousands of people. We are excited to be working with such a great initiative," says Nick Gates, Global Strategist for Coaches Across Continents.

Click here to learn more about Coaches Across Continents

More Kickabout news coming soon...

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Kickabout on Facebook and Twitter

Yep, we're shooting at the entire net...

The Kickabout has wandered onto Facebook and we love making friends! Follow the latest and greatest (and even get a head start) news from the Kickabout on Twitter (@thekickabout). Click on the links to learn more and become an active part of The Kickabout! Share with friends, tell us about great projects in Africa, and don't be afraid to be in touch.

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Adventure. Advocacy. Action.

THE INSPIRATION

Every four years, the world's attention turns to the FIFA World Cup - a magnificent spectacle and a celebration of the world's game. From all corners of the globe, thirty-two nations supported by millions of fans join together and chase the most famous trophy in sport. In 2010, the world's largest sporting event is coming to South Africa; a historic moment sure to inspire an entire continent and reveal a new side of Africa to the rest of the world. Kickabout was born of a desire to bear witness to this incredible experience and of a belief that the FIFA World Cup in Africa provides a unique opportunity to help those that help others.

Football is more than a game in Africa. It is a source of immense national passion and pride and, at the same time, a unifying force on the most diverse continent on the planet. From Senegal to Somalia, from Egypt to South Africa, football is the link that spans political divides, bridges religious differences, and brings together people with nothing in common except a love for the beautiful game. Football in Africa goes beyond even that. For the better part of a half-century, organizations, communities, and dedicated individuals have worked to harness the power of football to fight disease, ensure equal access to education, empower the disadvantaged, protect the environment, heal those affected by war and violence, and promote economic development.

KICKABOUT MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

Kickabout seeks to shine a light on the positive and inspirational side of African football - and to ensure that this side, where football is utilized as a powerful tool for social change, is nurtured and celebrated, after the final whistle in Johannesburg. We will use whatever means necessary to travel overland from the UK to Cape Town, South Africa and achieve three goals:

1) Celebrate African football at every stop we make;

2) Honor Africa’s humanitarian and sports heroes;

3) Support for the most courageous and innovative sport and development projects in Africa.

THE GAME PLAN

The game plan is simple. A team of six individuals will overland from the UK to South Africa, visiting as many countries and communities as possible. With boots on and footballs in hand, we do what we can to help those that selflessly serve others to build a better today and a better tomorrow.

Working with Kickabout Signature Partners – Coaches Across Continents, Grassroot Soccer and Right To Play - we'll visit some of the innovative and successful sport for development projects in Africa and organize community matches, free clinics, and football festivals. We'll also search out, discover, and highlight those local and grassroots projects that do not have international recognition, but need and deserve support.

Along the way, we’ll use a variety of media and outreach platforms to not only tell our story but to also turn inspiration into action. In partnership with Plus 3 Network, Kickabout will motivate our friends and fans to get out there and get active on their own Kickabout 2010 expedition.

To contact the Kickabout team, learn more, request an interview, or to see if Kickabout can visit your program or project, contact Brian Gonzales at brian@thekickabout.org

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