Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is an adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives.
History
Grassroot Soccer became a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization in 2002. Founder Tommy Clark conceived of the idea after playing soccer professionally in Zimbabwe where he witnessed both the devastation of HIV and the fanatical popularity of soccer. Together with a group of friends who had similar experiences, he and co-founders Methembe Ndlovu,
Ethan Zohn, and Kirk Friedrich created Grassroot Soccer. The core group traveled to Zimbabwe in 2002 and with the support of advisory board member, Albert Bandura, consultants and local stakeholders, developed and piloted an interactive soccer-themed HIV prevention curriculum that was first implemented in Zimbabwe in 2003.
Activities
Grassroot Soccer has partnered with corporations and organizations such as the
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Established in 1961 and reorganized in 1998 ...
(USAID), the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...
,
Elton John AIDS Foundation
The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and s ...
, Nike, and many others. When the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced its 20
Football for Hope Centers, it chose Grassroot Soccer to run the first one, located in Khayelitsha, South Africa, a suburb of Cape Town. On July 13, 2010, Grassroot Soccer announced a partnership with
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...
in their initiative Get Active! which aims to fight childhood obesity throughout the country.
Effectiveness
Studies by Stanford University's Children's Health Council, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Cape Town, as well as others, suggest that the GRS curriculum is very effective. A study on GRS published in the ''British Journal of Sports Medicine'' concluded, among other things, that "over 90% of the children provided positive attitude responses to the health-education programme".
[Fuller, Colin W.; Junge, Astrid; Decelles, Jeff; Donald, James; Jankelowitz, Ryan; Dvorak, Jiri, "'Football for Health' - a football-based health-promotion programme for children in South Africa: a parallel cohort study",]
British Journal of Sports Medicine
, August 29, 2010
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
HIV/AIDS organizations in the United States
International medical and health organizations
2002 establishments in the United States
501(c)(3) organizations