It’s Champions League for U15s in Alex

The Afrika Tikkun has launched a soccer tournament for U15 boys and girls known as the Champions League.

The league will have an off-pitch programme that will address issues facing young adolescent boys and girls in marginalised communities, many of whom are raised in dysfunctional environments where socio-economic ills are the norm.

Many of the children have to contend with untenable societal issues such as, poverty, gender-based violence, emotional, sexual and physical abuse and bullying as some of the myriad of challenges that they face on a day-to-day basis, according to a Tikkun statement.

Through their 360 Social Support Services and Cradle to Career model, Afrika Tikkun is invested in the holistic and comprehensive social development of South African youth.

“Our outreach movement also aims to reach a further one million beneficiaries in five years within impoverished communities; through instrumental collaborations and partnerships,” the statement said.

The Champions League initiative aims to utilise soccer and netball as a tool and vehicle to attract and encourage young boys and girls to participate in sport. Tikkun believes that sport, like music, unites people and supersedes most barriers and is a means of empowering the youth.

The league, which currently plays in the Alexandra and Diepsloot areas, was launched in partnership with Grassroots Soccer, Love Life, and the Cruyff Foundation and other partners; and will conduct youth empowerment workshops which will equip the youth with essential life skills.

The workshops are also designed to help them tackle the challenges that they face in their respective communities, with topics such as sexual reproductive health and rights, leadership skills, gender-based violence, and men and young men’s dialogue.

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