Grassroot Soccer (Zimbabwe) is seeking a partnership with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to access field and classroom spaces for their Barclays Bank “Skillz for Youth” programme which was launched at Mawaba Primary School in Lobengula in June.
Barclays Bank entered into a three-year $300 000 partnership with Grassroot Soccer aimed at using the power of sport in the fight against HIV and Aids.
According to the latest council minutes, Grassroot has purpoted to buy land or for long-term leases for the project which is aimed to directly reach out to 16 000 and indirectly 100 000 children in Bulawayo.
“Grassroot Soccer therefore proposed a partnership with BCC where they would be given access to field and classroom spaces at the recreational centres (formerly youth centres) to deliver their curriculum and provide soccer practice twice a week and for only two friendly sessions.
Their programmes would actually run in conjunction with and supplement existing council programmes . . . In areas where no recreational centres exist, Grassroot soccer proposed long-term leases or preferably land to purchase so that they develop their own ground and build the requisite structures. Barclays Bank had pledged to sponsor their activities for the foreseeable future,” the report said.
The Grassroot Soccer/Barclays programme is part of the financial institution’s Spaces for Sports Initiative aimed at harnessing the power of soccer to stop the spread of HIV in Zimbabwe and the partnership also builds self-esteem and self-efficacy in Zimbabwean youth by empowering local role models and increasing community ownership and awareness.
