love.fútbol - 2nd PLACE GLOBAL PRIZE WINNER!
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Changing Lives Through Football competition.
love.fútbol (LF) empowers impoverished communities to build simple, safe and accessible soccer fields for at-risk youth. Increasing both safety and access keeps children on the field and off of the streets. When they have the opportunity to fulfill their talents and passion, the game becomes a catalyst for youth development, hope, and inspiration.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Drew
Last Name
Chafetz
Website
Organization
love.fútbol
Country
Guatemala
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
love.fútbol
Organization Website
Organization Phone
202 251 4236
Organization Address
PO Pox 11056, Washington, DC 20008
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States, DC, Washington
Your idea
Name Your Project
love.fútbol - 2nd PLACE GLOBAL PRIZE WINNER!
Country your work focuses on
Guatemala
Describe Your Idea
love.fútbol (LF) empowers impoverished communities to build simple, safe and accessible soccer fields for at-risk youth. Increasing both safety and access keeps children on the field and off of the streets. When they have the opportunity to fulfill their talents and passion, the game becomes a catalyst for youth development, hope, and inspiration.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
MISSION
We see passion for soccer as a right for all children. The opportunity to play, similar to the opportunity to eat, breath air and drink water, is a fundamental element to life that makes future productivity possible. Throughout the world, children face great challenges to play soccer. For many of the earth’s most underserved youth, soccer, due to its logistical simplicity, is a rare opportunity to develop rudimentary life skills. The absence of that opportunity, to fulfill a most basic passion and perhaps talent, should not be neglected.
Our focus is on providing right to the game and not on more advanced Development through Football (DTF) development issues, such as health, peace and education programs through soccer. This focus distinguishes our mission and our position in the DTF sector.
Every streetfootballworld (sfw) Network Member (NWM), the most recognized and esteemed global network of DTF organizations, first depends on a place to implement their programs. Our work is a platform for enhancing or expanding their programs. Through specializing in this niche, we hold a position of great leverage within our sector.
Since 2007, we have been developing a partnership with sfw based on this collaboration model. sfw, LF and adidas are currently under negotiations to pilot this strategy in early 2011 in preparation for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
METHOD
LF engages, mobilizes and empowers communities to build their own soccer fields. We finance raw materials, provide guidance and ultimately serve as a catalyst; locals donate land and labor, and plan and execute their own project. The success of our work is dependent on the community.
As a result, LF projects are community-building experiences that achieve true local ownership and thus, sustainability. A LF soccer field is more than a place to play—it is a tangible and lasting symbol of community strength, proof of successful collaboration with an outside organization and a platform for future change.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Since 2007, LF has catalyzed six community-driven soccer field projects that currently serve thousands of children. In each case, locals have been of a distinct language and culture—Spanish, indigenous Kaqchikel, Tz’utujil, Mam, and Q’eqchi’—and lived in both rural and urban environments.
The most immediate impact is the organic development of robust soccer communities. In every community we have worked, new players, teams, coaches and leagues have emerged as a natural repercussion of having the tool to play. In Villa Nueva (#1), a 16 year old girl became coach to a new girls’ team of elementary school team students. In Santiago Atitlan (#3), now that they have a venue, the local school entered a citywide “mini-olympics” for the first time – the girls’ team came in second place. In every community, locals host tournaments weekly and bring other communities and schools to play.
LF fields encourage development through sport, as the youth who use our pitches gain the necessary social and individual skills they need to become productive members of society, and avoid the prevalent pitfalls of gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse that impact their communities.
In our project communities, our fields – located next to schools – have encouraged youth to attend and remain in school, adding educational development to the skills they pick up through sport. One of our partners, Technologia Para Educar, supplied 16 computers to the school of Santiago Atitlan to follow up on the momentum generated by our project.
While our fields target younger generations, the impact of our fields extend beyond these beneficiaries. LF facilities serve as centers for immediate communities and neighboring towns. This regional engagement encourages economic development. In Tuitzaj (#4), a local businessman began constructing a store beside the soccer field as soon as the construction site was selected.
Problem
Youth face great challenges to play soccer. They run barefoot in trash dumps, chase balls through sewage and dodge cars in the streets. They play on prohibited land at night when there is enough moonlight. In their efforts, they are often injured and killed. Two brothers of Brazilian national team players were killed by cars playing street soccer. Less easy to see, youth become frustrated and lose interest in the game.
The root cause is a lack of resources and the failure of public agencies to create or designate such spaces for youth. Demand exceeds supply and limited soccer spaces are saturated by dominant players. Most commonly girls and less competitive players at the bottom of the “soccer hierarchy” bear the brunt of this shortage. Forced to play in hazardous and undesirable locations, youth stop playing earlier in life, with less committed soccer players and fewer girl athletes, leading to less productive and positive lifestyles.
LF finances the raw materials for the field – the community’s weak link – and engages youth advocates to identify a proper public space (i.e. on public school property), collaborate to realize the project and ensure youth have priority to play.
Actions
LF has resisted premature expansion and focused on standardizing to our methodology and operations in Guatemala, to allow for more efficient scale. Our Operations Team in Washington, DC and Guatemala are streamlining the LF Rep Guide – our step-by-step operations manual for LF Reps to efficiently execute projects, regardless of location. Our Operations Team works with KaBOOM!, which has catalyzed thousands of community-driven playground construction projects throughout the US. Together we leverage best practices, enhance our empowerment methodologies and operations manuals. We are working with a World Bank specialist to design a robust impact evaluation of our work on community happiness, educational attainment, income level and female empowerment.
Our long-term strategy for financial sustainability lies across four diversified pillars: 1) traditional philanthropy, 2) grassroots campaign, LF for All, 3) cause-marketing partnership with a corporate partner, and 4) earned-income. Since 2007, LF has won the opportunity to work with four teams of volunteer student consultants at Harvard Business School that have developed strategies for each of these pillars.
Results
The finalized LF Rep Guide will be the basis for LF to hire, train and manage natural soccer leaders – LF Reps – and to catalyze and streamline community-driven soccer field projects internationally. Standardizing our methodology will result in maximized community contribution, reduced per project cost, greater local ownership and increased assurance of future sustainability.
Our impact evaluation will establish LF as a low-cost, high-impact development model through empirical evidence, positioning LF for government, IGO and other large grants.
Through our diversified financial sustainability strategy we will achieve: strong base of philanthropic support from individuals and foundations; viral grassroots movement for and by the global passion-for-soccer community to provide right to the game for all youth; cause-marketing relationship with well-aligned corporate partner to create growth and marketing synergies, benefits to sales and HR development, and; earned-income model to generate revenue advertising on our pitches and merchandising revenue through leveraging our distinctive brand to sell “love and beauty of the game.”
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Launch LF for All, our grassroots movement successfully piloted in spring, 2010 with Real Bethesda, a U-16 girls soccer team from Maryland that actively fundraised to supply all raw materials for our sixth project in Xejuyú, Guatemala. In 2010 and 2011 we expect to hire staff to spearhead program and empower upwards of five new youth teams in the US to provide the right to play to youth in LF communities in Guatemala. We expect LF for All growth to be viral, to invest in the program heavily and for LF for All youth teams to fully fund the raw materials for every LF project in the future.
Initiate cause-marketing relationship with corporate partner to demonstrate efficacy of programs in Guatemala and Brazil in 2011. In 2012 and 2013, work toward a more dynamic relationship to integrate marketing and growth strategies for both parties, in addition to marketing campaigns to boost sales, enhance branding and opportunities for involvement of company personnel to enhance loyalty and decrease employee turnover. Leverage spotlight of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil to highlight partnership, demonstrate dedication of corporate brand “true to the game is providing the opportunity to play.”
Finalize Guatemala national operations and the LF Rep Guide in 2010 and LF Rep training program in 2011 in Brazil. Develop job descriptions for all position within development team – LF Rep, LF National Director, LF Correspondent.
Top goal: Hire members from our team of dedicated volunteers full-time.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Our biggest challenge is financing. We have a distinctive idea – proven and enhanced. We have forgone short-term gains for long-term sustainability by refusing to follow traditional “non-profit” fundraising strategies (ie. build a field, fundraise, build a field, fundraise). Our vision is to meet a global demand and we have gone to great lengths to design a scalable, sustainable organization. We have demonstrated our ability to execute on a shoe string budget and have invested in sustainable, steady streams of income that may take longer to pick up steam versus short-term, one-time support and high-investment, low-return philanthropy. We have a large team of dedicated, passionate individuals that have become experts in their positions. With an injection of seed capital, we will invest first in our personnel, which will yield great returns.
The main challenge is remaining committed to our vision and principles under typical conditions in our sector – being an under resourced, start-up social enterprise.
With regard to our operations model, travel for LF Reps and adapting out model to the urban demographic are two of our greatest challenges.
How many people will your project serve annually?
More than 10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
In what country?
Guatemala
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating?
Less than a year
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
LF expands the reach and impact of SFW network members (NWM).
Through collaboration, LF can facilitate wider geographical reach and greater social impact so that more communities worldwide can experience the power of sport.
SFW NWMs require safe and accessible football facilities to implement their football for health, education, peace and other social development programs. LF specializes in the development of these facilities and can serve as a platform for NWMs expand their geographical reach and extend their programs into new communities.
LF uses a community engagement model that can increase the social impact of NWM efforts. LF football fields are “mas que una cancha ~ more than a football field.” A LF football field is a tangible symbol of community strength. LF projects cultivate leadership, unity and momentum that can be rechanneled in new directions.
LF meets an industry‐wide need for infrastructure, which builds both organizational and community capacity. A specialized partnership between SFW and LF will lead NWMs to more effective program outcomes.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Financing - seed capital to establish national operations and a small team in Guatemala will allow the roll out of projects with great economies of scale.
HR - Hiring the CEO, LF Rep/Director, Guatemala Operations Team, Grassroots Coordinator.
Website - we are in the process of an overhaul. We have struggled to tell our story, because we have focused on our mission. Our website will be a dynamic tool for engaging the global soccer community to take ownership over our mission and provide right to the game for all youth. It will be a effective fundraising, awareness and engagement tool.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
The day love.fútbol was born…
Outside of Cascade D’Ouzoude, Morocco
December, 2005
In a small town in rural Morocco, twelve small children play soccer in the opening of a narrow alleyway. A canal runs lengthwise through the middle of their makeshift “field,” drops down a foot deep and spans about eight inches wide. The hard, ninety-degree corners are similar to that of a concrete, street-corner step and it is clear that these children grew up here because they jump back and forth without even looking. They play there because there is no where else to go.
The canal that ran through these children’s field poses a basic, avoidable challenge. The risk for these children is not simply the risk of injury, but the more grave threat that without a simple place to play, they may lose interest. Throughout the world, soccer often serves as the sole positive outlet for children and we aim to keep them on the field.
In this alleyway in December of 2005, the idea for love.fútbol was born. The story is a demonstration of a common problem throughout the world—children lack a simple, safe place to play soccer.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Drew Chafetz
Co-founder & CEO, love.fútbol
Drew Chafetz was born and raised in Washington, DC, and has had a soccer ball at his feet since before he can remember. By the age of twelve he had traveled to six continents with his family and spoken the language of soccer at many stops along the way. The game allowed him to actively participate in other cultures, bond with youth of the world and served as his most freeing means of self-expression. These experiences cultivated a fundamental understanding, appreciation and respect for the power of soccer. He went on to play at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA and then at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Economics and Business in May, 2006. After graduation Drew co-founded love.fútbol with a good friend and teammate from Dickinson.
love.fútbol empowers underserved communities worldwide to build simple, safe soccer fields for youth. One day, all children will have the opportunity to fulfill their passion for soccer. The game provides hope, inspiration and is a platform for personal and community development.
love.fútbol has empowered six communities in Guatemala to realize their own soccer field projects for youth.
“I am immeasurably grateful to the beautiful game and determined to give back. It is a privilege to share the inspiration in my life with children who share my passion yet face great challenges to play soccer.”
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Web Search (e.g., Google or Yahoo)
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
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Comments
In January 2010 I had the opportunity to visit for several days with Cesar Garcia, the love.fútbol coordinator on the ground in Guatemala. The work they are doing there is incredible--I was able to attend the inauguration of their most recently constructed pitch in the town of Xejuyu (in the Solola department) and it was truly a beautiful and unforgettable experience to witness how the community came together around a common goal of building a safe place to play for the kids. This project deserves every penny that they get if that visit was any indication; it convinced me 100% of their ability to create real / meaningful change in peoples' lives and I will continue to support them for many years to come!
I watch the videos and enjoy the great things they are doing at Love.Futbol. In the voting process, I looked at the other groups, but this truly was the best.
Thanks for your support, Mike! We are honored to be finalists in this competition, and are looking forward to the next three weeks!
This competition is so important to love.fútbol! Winning this funding is pivotal to our current project in Juil, El Quiché, Guatemala, as well as to our ability to move forward with projects all over the country in the future.
There is such incredible passion for soccer and profound need for safe, accessible places for youth to play. With love.fútbol you can help make a difference.
THANK YOU for all your support! Please spread the word as far and wide as possible.
--
¡Esta competencia es tan importante para nosotros en love.fútbol! Ganar esta financiación es crucial para nuestro proyecto actual en Juil, El Quiché, Guatemala y es clave para nuestra habilidad para avanzar en el futuro con proyectos en otras partes del país.
Hay una pasión increíble para el fútbol y una profunda necesidad por lugares seguros y accesibles donde puedan jugar los jóvenes. Con love.fútbol, Uds. pueden ayudar a causar un impacto positivo.
¡GRACIAS por todo su apoyo! Por favor, pasen nuestra información por todos los rincones posibles.
love.futbol's idea is simple, but the impact that it has on thousands of children who don't have a safe place to play is astounding.
They catalyze the community, help them construct a field and through this process, they create hope where there was once despair through football.
They really have a global vision with a replicable model. Hats off to love.futbol.
This is inspirational work. Well done.
Quiero agradecer a love.futbol por todo lo que hecho por mi pais, transformando la vida de muchas comunidades pobres de Guatemala, y proporcionar ideas a nuestra gente para saber que ellos pueden transformar sus vidas y hacer de ellas mejores comunidades atraves del deporte y la inspiracion; ojala que pueda love.futbol seguir transformando la vida de muchos seres humanaos en centro america y el resto del mundo.
Soy costarricense, vivo en Guatemala y soy una testigo fidedigna y ocular del excelente trabajo hecho por love.futbol en este lindo país Centroamericano, he visto del beneficio que le brinda a los niños y niñas de las comunidades rurales, indígenas y marginadas donde se construyen estas pequeñas canchas o plazitas para ejecutar el futbol, además cuando se está en los proceso de gestión y construcción de los proyectos he percibido el buen ánimo, colaboración, entrega y corazón con que trabajan en equipo las personas tanto hombres y mujeres como infantes de las comunidades beneficiadas juntos con las autoridades y el personal de love.futbol de Guatemala, puedo certificar que estas personas admiran, creen y aman love.futbol por el cumplimiento y cambio dado a sus lugares de vivencia. Dios siga prosperando a los gestores y administradores de love.futbol para seguir dando progreso a estos infantes y asi ayudar en evitar direcciones equivocadas en sus vidas. Exitos.
This is a fantastic organization working for a critical cause. While LF works in Guatemala, there is a demand for their product all over the world. I recently traveled to Liberia, where I saw kids playing on dirt fields littered with broken glass. In spite of the circumstances, they were joyful to be playing the game they loved.
Giving kids an alternative outlet and the opportunity to develop through sports is key to developing the rule of law, my own area of work, as it can ensure that youth do not fall into the easy trap of crime.
Please vote for this organization and support them through facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lovefutbol?ref=ts) and twitter. (http://twitter.com/lovefutbol)
Few people know love.fútbol began in Morocco. That's a soccer passionate country – though, as we know, there are many. At the right hour, it would seem children play on every street corner. However, it was in one narrow alley-way, in a town off the map – near Cascades d'Ouzoud, if you know it – where love.fútbol actually came about.
It was a 4 on 4 pickup game, with the most senior player no older than 10. In a small opening of the alley, roughly 8 feet wide by 25 feet long, was their pitch. Running lengthwise from top to bottom of their space and splitting their two rock goal posts at either end was a canal about a foot wide and deep, and with hard cement corners.
The children jumped back and forth effortlessly over the gap, and without looking. Their cracked plastic ball still rolled relatively true over the cobblestone – chipping it back and forth over as they played. Clearly, they'd grown up there. The canal was inherent to their game.
Youth determination and innovation to play was always something quite beautiful to me. I'd been fortunate to grow up around all types of makeshift soccer in many other parts of the world – trees or tires as goals, crooked spaces, slanted fields, irregular, imperfect, but still somehow, quite fine places to play this simple game.
However, there was something striking about this scene in the alley. The kids played hard and the inevitable slip, trip and fall into this gully would be harsh. It was beyond what I respected as the imperfect beauty of soccer at the grassroots level. It was simply not a safe place to play.
Going on five years later I've seen much worse challenges and learned of many crazier stories than of the one in Morocco. Children play barefoot in trash dumps, over trash, glass and rocky land every day. They dash between speeding cars to cross the eight lane N2 highway outside of the Khayelitsha Township in Capetown, South Africa, and then hundreds of them play for miles along the highway median. They play clandestine soccer on prohibited land when there is enough moonlight in Zacapa, Guatemala.
Just recently, I learned that Maicon and Michel Bastos, two current stars for the Brazilian National Team who played in the World Cup last month, each had a brother hit and killed by a car while playing soccer in the streets.
Around the world children are fighting to play the Beautiful Game. Every entry into this competition is a testament to the power of soccer to change lives. It begins with a safe place to play.
Thank you to everyone for their support.
Drew Chafetz
Co-founder, CEO
love.fútbol
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