Update Newsletter

Nurturing the next generation of African leaders and footballers.

Fall 2012

Dear Friends of Ubuntu Football,

What a difference 6 months makes! Previously, Ubuntu was essentially a football academy program between 5pm-7pm four times a week. This year, we feel as though every moment of every day is spent investing in the lives on our playersfrom school pick-ups at 7am to packing lunches every night! Best of all are occasional calls from the principal's office (inevitable when you are the "parents" of 17 extremely energetic boys!). What's so encouraging is that this kind of full-time input is exactly what youngsters need in order to become the great men, leaders and footballers of tomorrow, which is the mission we've embarked on with your support. You will remember that the major focus of this year has been extending our mentorship through football into the classroom, and in our previous newsletter you saw photos of the boys all in uniform, ready for their first day at school. With every passing day it has become more and more evident

that this step was absolutely crucial. Sun Valley Primary and Silvermine Academy have partnered with us as fully as we could have hoped, providing exceptional individual attention to each boy's academic progress, emotional well-being and character development. Our boys have been pushed and assisted to a whole new level of learning and have responded brilliantly. At times each of them has had to confront and work through challenges that they might otherwise have simply side-stepped. And, this entire process of education and learning to overcome adversity has been within the context of steadfast belief in each individual's potential and

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value. From our experience, it seems clear that these 3 principleslearning, embracing challenges and being valuedare part of the foundation on which great lives are built. On the football field, our players have continued to excel, earning recognition and admiration across Cape Town, not only for their success, but also for the spirit and style they bring to the football field. The Strandfontein Under-13 tournament is the unofficial start of the junior season in Cape Town, and attracts the very best talent from various leagues across the city. Our boys, playing for the Fish Hoek under-13 side, made it all the way to the final beating extremely strong sides like the Old Mutual and Mr. Price Academy sides en route. We lost the final game but our boys were excellent throughout, and by the end of the weekend countless coaches and spectators had stopped us to say that they have never seen such excellent football from under-13 players, which was a great credit to the way our boys played. One of our players, Wandile Sicholo, was named player of the tournament, which is a remarkable accomplishment given the fact that he was up against the best players in the province, including the likes of Ajax & Santos. The official league season has gotten off to a great start for our under-13 and under-14 players, and recently the Fish Hoek under-13A's further established their credentials as one of the teams to beat in Cape Town by winning 2-0 against the Ajax Under-13A side. Ajax are arguably the most successful junior development organization in South Africa, and had won all of their league games so far this season so this was a fantastic achievement for our boys. We'd be delighted to have you come down and watch the boys in action any Saturday, and our home game against Hellenic at 10.40 on Saturday June 2nd should be an excellent one to watch

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(also home on June 23rd). Please feel free to contact us for directions or later fixture details if you'd like to join us any time. Away from the academy, our Football Forward grassroots mentorship through football in Ocean View has been growing almost every week and has become a very popular place for kids between 6 and 12 years of age every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. The goal of Football Forward is to provide a healthy, safe alternative to the streets for youngsters after school. Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon we have around 65 kids coming down for some great coaching, nearly an hour of non-stop game time and a ten-minute lifeskill lesson. While the Academy focuses on an intensive footballing and educational mentorship of exceptional young players with the hope that they will grow up to become iconic leaders of the future, Football Forward is our way of building strong, broad-based connections within local communities. Some of the younger players we see every week may go on to become part of the academy one day, and hopefully all of them will learn values that will point their lives in the right direction. As always, we're so grateful to youour supportersfor being such a vital part of this team. All of this has been made possible by your generosity, and we look forward to sharing this journey with you for years to come. With thanks from the Ubuntu Team.