Legacy in Soweto
Our last day in South Africa began with a visit to a legacy project in Soweto.
The impressive Nike football project is based in the heart of the famous township and opened just two days before the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s opening game. It’s a hugely impressive operation that aims to bring at least 25,000 young people aged between eight and 21 years old through its doors each year.
But this is so much more than a football coaching centre; it is a true community facility. Everyone employed at the centre is from the township itself and as well as football coaching, the project offers HIV screening and counseling. Over 5 million people in South Africa are infected with the HIV virus and using the power of football young people are engaged in education and understanding of the disease in order to prevent its spread.
Football coaches from across Soweto are taught proper techniques and structures and there is an overall holistic approach, aimed not at just producing better footballers, but better people too.
A boot loaning facility means that even those youngsters from the poorest backgrounds can still train in appropriate footwear and make the most of this fantastic facility.
As we continue our tour we see a familiar face amongst the children – Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand is paying a visit and helping out with some coaching – he too is hugely impressed with what we’ve seen and the project is a great example of how football really can change lives.
Before we head to the airport for our long journey home we take in more of Soweto, including Nelson Mandela’s house. We learn in detail about the past struggles of this country and its people and a visit to the Hector Pieterson museum is a powerful reminder of how far South Africa has come in recent years. Hector Pieterson was a 13 year old child shot by police during protests in 1976 in Soweto. It was his death that marked the beginning of the end of the apartheid system and was a catalyst for profound change across the country.
If you imagine that only two decades ago this country was banned from competing in international sport because of its laws on apartheid then it is all the more remarkable that the FIFA World Cup – the biggest sporting event on the planet, is being held so successfully in South Africa.
As the national anthem rang out in the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on our first day here, just before the host nation took on Uruguay, we looked around to see black and white standing side by side, loudly and proudly singing their national song – this is the legacy of the 2010 World Cup. South Africa deserved to host this tournament and if England is awarded the honour to carry the mantle in 2018, then I have no doubt that England will be worthy hosts of this festival of nations.
