FundLife recently collaborated with Genesis Project from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), to promote the use of “football and play” as a tool for inclusivity and peace building.
As part of the collaboration, FundLife programme director, Marko Kasic and former Arsenal in the Community Coach, Etienne Digout, visited BiH to conduct a seminar organised by Genesis. The seminar, to foster and promote positive role models through sport, was delivered to 12 female and 12 male school children and 16 educators from across Central BiH.
Taking place in mountainous town of Jahorina (one of the venues used in the Sarajevo 84’ Winter Olympics), the seminar included the introduction of football 3 methodology to school children instructing them how football can be used to promote gender equity, inclusivity, respect and fair play.
The young players then took part, as well as mediated a football3 tournament, allowing them to see how football3 is not just different to traditional football but also giving them the opportunity to encourage younger players from their schools to use football3 for social good. The “Football3 Project”, funded by the US Embassy in BiH, will seek to create new opportunities for football3 matches to be played in schools and at specially organised football3 events in coming months.
FundLife will act as a technical partner of Genesis, to further support their aims of using sport as a tool for social good. All participants received a certificate for completing the FundLife Leadership Academy (FLA) LEVEL 1 in football for social purpose delivery.
Our hope is that we continue to develop our partnership with Genesis and provide even more cross-boarder opportunities for the respective young people that both FundLife and Genesis continues to reach.
More about football3
Football3 is football-based methodology to promote social good. Named after its ‘three halves’ – a pre-match discussion, football game, and post match discussion – football3 incorporates key life lessons into every match. In mixed-gender teams, players collectively decide on the rules before the game. After the football match (second half) is played, players discuss and award points based on fair play, respect, match score and equality. Football 3 was created by Street Football World, an international network of more than 100 non-profit organisations in more than 60 countries that use football to strengthen communities and improve the lives of young people.
More about Genesis Project
Genesis Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation founded in 1996. Founded in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzogivna Genesis, through its professional and dedicated team, helps children and adolescents throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina in fulfilling their rights to have a free and correct psychophysical development, regardless of their religious, ethnic or racial belonging whilst respecting their individual differences and potential.