A Goan Non-Profit Is Empowering Its Youth One Football At A Time

A Goan Non-Profit Is Empowering Its Youth One Football At A Time
Photo courtesy: Forca Goa Foundation

When in 2016, Iceland stunned the world with its breakthrough performance in the Euro Cup. There was one question on everyone’s mind — how did the smallest country (by population) to ever qualify for the European Championship go on to give such stiff competition to football-crazy nations like England and Portugal? In a dizzyingly swift climb, Iceland moved up 100 ranks, from 133 in 2012 to 22 in 2016, according to The Times Of India (Mumbai Edition).

Inspired by the monumental transformation in Iceland’s football culture, FC Goa president Akshay Tandon planned to launch a similar model in Goa. “We are launching the Forca Goa Foundation and we have been looking at global models of how small countries, various regions have transformed because of sport. The best case study that we found was Iceland. What Iceland did is unprecedented. They have 179 full-size pitches and one full-size pitch for every 128 registered players in the country. Everyone in Iceland is connected to the game. This I feel is something only Goa can do,” Tandon told The Times Of India.

Goa is indeed one of the few states in an otherwise cricket obsessed nation where football reigns supreme. India’s smallest state, Goa boasts of a rather high number of football fields — over 206 — and around 200 clubs certified by the Goa Football Association. The Forca Goa Foundation aims to unite the larger Goan community with their shared love for the game, and channel this common passion into creating positive change like social development and empowerment. They explain, “We want to build a culture around football. We want to be able to leverage the love for football to overcome all other boundaries currently impeding the development of Goa.”

Currently, the Forca Goa Foundation engages over 5000 youth from underprivileged or low-income backgrounds with its various initiatives across the board. They strive to promote football at the grassroot level. To achieve this, they have built ties with 16 rural schools across the state to provide football training to around 1500 of these kids aged 6-14, completely free of cost. Equipment and nutrition are both provided for, and there are at least two All India Football Federation certified coaches in every school to oversee the proper implementation of the weekly program. Along with this, they also host workshops that tackle social and economic issues that have a direct impact on the children’s lives. This is paramount, as it creates a safe space for them to talk about things like gender inequality and waste management. In addition to this, the foundation also conducts Pop-Up Football Festivals in the form of tournaments for kids who attend schools that aren’t a part of the Grassroot program.

The advantage of these tournaments is two-fold — the kids get unrestricted access to the sport complete with proper equipment and a professionally organised setup, and it helps the Forca Goa Foundation scout talent from rural areas that would otherwise have been overlooked. The Pop-Up Festivals work with around 50-150 kids in each tournament. So far, they have been successful in organizing 25 of these festivals, reaching a total of 2000 children in rural areas across Goa. The foundation is now all set to launch 4 Statewide Football Leagues: U8 Co-ed, U10 Co-ed, U12 Girls, and U12 Boys.

A sustainability vertical also forms a major part of Forca Goa’s agenda. They’re environmentally conscious and relentlessly working towards responsible waste management and sustainable development. They educate the youth about proper waste segregation and conduct clean up drives. Forca Goa aims to start implementing the Solid Waste Management Rules put out by the government in 2016, and move towards creating Zero Waste Villages in as many rural areas as they can with the help of foundations like Live Happy NGO and Saahas Zero Waste. This includes minimizing the generation of waste, segregating waste into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, sanitary, and domestic hazardous waste at its source, and practicing home composting or community level composting among others, according to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

On February 28, The Forca Goa Foundation will officially launch, following which they will organise their first big fundraising campaign. You can contribute to the Forca Goa Foundation by either donating to them or by sponsoring any of the following — a festival, a league, a centre, or a clean up — and help them change lives, one football at a time.

For more information, you can visit their website.

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