Hope for Change through soccer in South African prisons
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Sport for a Better World competition.
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Sport
Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy)
2007
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Project URL (include HTTP://)
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Stereotyping that excludes
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Use sport to build character
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
Name Your Project
Hope for Change through soccer in South African prisons
Describe Your Idea
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
To develop a soccer academy in a juvenile prison as a catalyst to bring change to young men’s lives physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
For years soccer academies have been set up for an 'elite' group of players, each one being nurtured to reach their full potential in the sport. Academies have been for the elite and the best. This program is unique because it overs juvenile offenders the opportunity to change through being involved in a elite program within the prison system. It gives opportunity to change and reach their full potential. Academies are not offered to prisoners and they are not given the opportunities to reach their full potential. This academy goes against the norms and looks to develop young lives that society has given up on.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
In South African prisons gangsterism, drugs, physical and sexual abuse and violence become the norm. Many young lives are destroyed forever and the academy aims to decrease negative behaviour within the prison. It is a well known fact that the abused becomes the abuser. We want to offer a program that breaks this cycle of abuse and violence. The program teaches each individual not to re-commit crime and aims to teach them to become law abiding citizens once released.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Sport is a great tool for change and we desire to implement the wonderful tool of soccer to bring about social change and restore hope. Soccer goes beyond language, age, race, social status and one’s past. It reaches all people on the level they are at.
Hope Academy in Leeuwkop Prison will be based off of the model developed in Pollsmoor Prison over the past three years. The academy aims to attract prisoners who have good soccer ability and have a desire to change. Hope Academy has specific rules, codes of conduct and behavior requirements. There is a curriculum of life skills programs that will be taught including team dynamics, HIV/AIDS awareness, anger management, conflict resolution, relationships, financial management, literacy and reading, health and diet. The boys in the academy will then be an example for the rest of the prisoners. They will share what they gain with others around them.
To combat the issue of boys exiting prison and returning to their existing environment, Hope Academy has links to local churches and community based organizations who will give these boys a sense of belonging when they exit the system. This keeps the boys connected to the curriculum and knowledge they will have gained through Hope Academy during their time at Leeuwkop prison. These churches will have existing sports programs in which the boys will play a key role in helping to run. This might include coaching, teaching or helping to direct programs. The churches will continue to monitor and aid the boys as they begin their new lives outside of the prison walls giving back to the community they once took from.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
We are in the beginning phases of starting Hope Academy at Leeuwkop. This academy has grown because of the success of our model in Cape Town. We will continue to meet the existing needs of other prisons within Africa. Our curriculum will continue to be tweaked as different needs become more apparent.
Eventually we also hope to open an academy in Citrusdal, South Africa which will be a half way house for inmates who have just completed Hope Academy and desire to continue learning before they enter back into society. In addition, we want to have prisoners take tours to other prisons and academies so that others might also receive hope that these young men will gain. We continue to create partnerships with churches, schools and business professionals in the community.
We also hope to take the developed model into prisons and communities in the rest of Africa to help bring about change. We currently have bases in Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique and Zambia that are considering development.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Hope Academy will bring hope to young prisoners and raise up leaders by allowing them to work on their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
Through our academy in Pollsmoor Prison we have seen a dramatic change in prisoners that have been involved in the program. Wardens in the prison have testified about the power of the program and the change they have seen in many of the young lives impacted through the academy. We have had prisoners come and play on our football clubs, find employment, have church involvement and some have been accepted onto our training internship program. We intent to impact prisoners in these areas further but also have prisoners come through our academies and play professional soccer. We also want to impact ex-prisoners further by providing a half way house that will act as an 'elite' academy providing holisitc training for 1 year after release. The direct beneficiaries are juvenile offenders between the ages of 14-24
How many people have you served directly?
The new academy in Leeuwkop Prison currently works with 20-30 sentenced juvinelie offenders on a weekly basis. The goal is that during next year this will become a daily programme with the same curriculum as the Pollsmoor prison model. We have worked in Pollsmoor Prison for nearly 3 years impacting over 1500 inmates.
How many people have you served indirectly?
This will be difficult to measure because of the change and impact prisoners have made in the prison and communities after being through the program. Wardens, other prisoners, and the community are people who have been served indirectly through the program.
We also serve people from outside of prison and international visitors who come and visit the project and themselves are inspired by what they have seen. Many international visitors and volunteers return to their own countries as ambassadors for the prison programme, as they share about what they have seen and experienced.
There has also been exposure for our previous project in Cape Town to many people through the media and speaking opportunities given to former inmates and members of the academy.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
It is too early to give examples from the new academy in Leeuwkop, but in the original Pollsmoor project the impact is most clearly seen through the young men who have come through the academy, left prison, and made choices for change which has lead them to continue studies or seek employment and no longer engage in crime or gangsterism.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
Resources and staff are the main barriers. We require the finances and the people to achieve the impact we are aiming for. Previously the prison structures were a barrier, but we have now formed a good relationship with the Department of Correctional Services who endorse the programme and view our organisation as an official service provider.
This Entry is about (Issues)
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
For the Hope Academy in Pollsmoor prison we’ve developed a very simple sponsorship plan which encourages donors to give between $5 and $10 per month. Through this initiative we have managed to develop a sustainable model for ongoing support.
For the new Hope Academy in Leeuwkop we are seeking to obtain initial funding through grants and business partners which will help develop the programme. Then we will initiate the same plan as with Pollsmoor prison to obtain consistent supports from multiple donors who give on a monthly basis.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
Ambassadors in Sport South Africa (AIS-SA) is part of Ambassadors in Sport International and was founded in Cape Town in April 2001. As a Non-Profit and Public Benefit Organization, AIS-SA desires to partner with churches in helping mobilize volunteers within their existing structure.
Beginning with two full-time staff members and working out of a small office in a sports complex in Cape Town, AIS-SA now has 12 full-time staff in Cape Town as well as interns and volunteer staff. The work has expanded into Pretoria this past year as one of our main projects is in Leeuwkop Prison. Other works also include satellite branches in Limpopo provinces, as well as in the nations of Zambia, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya.
As a registered Non-Profit Organisation and Public Benefit organization in South Africa, AIS South Africa must submit annual financial reports to the Register for Non-Governmental Organisation. These are available upon request.
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
We know that the model first developed in Pollsmoor prison has been a great success and we desire to operate in as many prisons as we have the capability of doing. We know there is great demand even at this moment which we simply cannot meet because of the need for willing, available people and resources. The Department of Correctional Services has shown a strong desire to have our program in prisons around South Africa so our goal is to replicate the programme in each South African Province.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
A. Lack of people joining the sponsorship plan of $5.00 - $10.00 a month.
B. Not creating awareness of the academy program to potential donors.
C. Growing too quickly to meet the demand in other prisons before fully establishing the academies in Pollsmoor and Leeuwkop.
D. Receiving initial once-off funding but not finding donors to commit on a regular basis.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
Ambassadors In Sport began working in Pollsmoor Prison in 2001. The organisation went into the prison once a week and offered soccer coaching to juveniles who were interested in the sport. We realised that these young lives required attention in other areas of their lives and that coaching the physical was just touching the surface. We also realised that very little quality sports programs were running within the prison. The organisation saw the affects of gangsterism, rape, drug abuse and violence within the prison and also saw that many of these young offenders were returning to prison after release. Something needed to be done! We then developed the academy model within the prison, placing all the team into one cell and teaching them how to relate and live with one another. Many of these boys have never known what it means to be in a family or a team that cares for them. The academy model started to make an impact in the lives of the boys, then the section and the wardens. Boys in the academy were not all returning to the prison and change had become possible. The model has proved successful and we believe in Leeuwkop the same impact or even greater can be made.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
I have been in South Africa for 10 years having been born and raised in the UK. I came to South Africa in 1998 to do youth work. It was a period of reconciliation in the post-apartheid era, and I recognised the role soccer could play to bring a message of reconciliation and hope to young people in South Africa and across the Continent. This resulted in opening Ambassadors in Sport in 2001. I married a South African in 2000 and have two small children.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
My NGO partnered with another organisation in the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition where we were selected as finalisists. I represented the project in Washington in May 2007 and although we did not win, it was a great experience. Following that competition my details were sent to Changemakers who invited me to enter the same project in the Health Intervention competition. During that competition I pre-entered the Sport for Change competition as it seemed to be more suited to our work.
Out of all the projects our organisation runs, I felt that the prison project was most suited to the objectives of this competition. Also, as we start a new academy, the changemakers funding would assist to kick-start the project. But, just as importantly, we feel the format of this competition gives us invaluable exposure to a global audience who may be interested in what we are attempting to do in South Africa.
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
We are a South African NGO and Non-Profit Organisation.
 | Samit Shah said: Dear Tim: Thank you for participating in this collaborative competition. We value the time and effort you’ve put forth and we would ... about this idea. - 687 days ago read more > |
 | Hope for Change through soccer in South African prisons has been chosen as a finalist in Sport for a Better World. - 758 days ago |
| Timothy Tucker said: Hi Katharina, Thanks for the comment and for the encouragement. It seems like you have a lot of expierence in working with youth ... about this idea. - 833 days ago read more > |
| Katharina Meyer-Seipp said: Hi there, I just wanted to express my deep admiration for your project. In the past year I have done a lot of research on projects ... about this idea. - 834 days ago read more > |
| Timothy Tucker said: Hi Kevin, Thanks for the email and we agree! Soccer does bring hope to the prisons and the Makana FA league helped many prisoners get ... about this idea. - 835 days ago read more > |
| Kevin Carroll said: Kevin Carroll Changemakers Featured Commentator Sport for a Better World Competition There is a rich history of soccer in South ... about this idea. - 841 days ago read more > |
| Timothy Tucker said: Tim Tucker Ambassadors in Sport Pretoria, South Africa. about this idea. - 856 days ago read more > |
| Timothy Tucker said: Hi there, Thanks for your comments on the program and good questions! The academy program in the prison is a specialist program that ... about this idea. - 856 days ago read more > |
| Timothy Tucker said: Hi Lady a, Thanks for the encouragement about the work we are doing. We are always keen to work alongside people who are like minded ... about this idea. - 856 days ago read more > |
| lady a Oliver said: Hi Tim, it is true that many organizations shun away from faith based groups, for reasons I do not always understand. Everyone believes ... about this idea. - 865 days ago read more > |
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