Industry news

Soccer stars in their eyes

Stars in their Eyes, an international football project aimed at taking sport and personal development in disadvantaged communities to a higher level, has been introduced by the Dutch suppliers of Q and British Knights footwear, Quick Sports International BV.

Using the internationally proven Dutch football for development coaching model, Stars uses soccer coaching clinics and one-on-one mentoring to instil discipline, self respect and pride in individuals living in rural, disadvantaged communities. An integral part of the program is to twin SA communities with Dutch football clubs.

In February 29 South African coaches from 11 disadvantaged South African communities attended an intensive Soccer for Development programme in Stellenbosch. During this project, 6 highly qualified Dutch football coaches from 6 different Dutch amateur clubs were twinned with their counterparts from various South African disadvantaged communities.

In addition to the mentoring processes which took place, the exchange of information, skills and knowledge during the pilot project has since illustrated that the Stars-approach works extremely well in the SA communities.

The second phase of the Stars-program is due to kick off in August, followed by a series of coaching clinics and exchange visits between SA and Dutch clubs and communities.

Ultimately the objective of the Stars-program is to create a pyramid of SA coaches. These coaches/mentors will become the central figures in a community development program, in which soccer will create new perspectives for disadvantaged communities.

The Stars-program also involves:

» Linking Dutch schools with rural South African schools (e-learning).
» Integrating Aids awareness and health guidance, norms and values, and leadership development as training subjects.
» Utilising Dutch soccer and empowerment training techniques to create a focused programme for disadvantaged youths.
» Imparting skills to community officials regarding corporate governance and all financial issues.

By 2010 they hope to have trained a pyramid of 50 senior lecturers, 450 regional coaches and 1500 community coaches. They also want to twin at least 40 SA communities with 80 Dutch/European soccer communities.

The Western Cape department of Sport & Recreation is lending its support to the project. Whitey Jacobs, Minister of Culture Sports and Recreation of the Western Cape, recently visited the Quick Sports head office in Strijen, in the Netherlands.

The village of Strijen is twinned with Bitterfontein in the Western Cape. Voetbalvereniging Strijen, a first league Dutch amateur soccer club, is sponsored by Quick Sports International BV.