More than a game
Huracan Foundation volunteer Anna reflects on More Than a Game, an inspiring night of football discussion to welcome our 2020/2021 Project Leaders.
On the 19th November, The Huracan Foundation hosted a special event to introduce the five new Project Leaders who we are supporting during 2020/2021, and to hear about some of the wonderful work already being done in the world of football for societal good.
Hosted by the brilliant Paul Watson, we invited four true game-changers to tell their unique stories about their involvement in the beautiful game, and discuss the power and potential of football to change mindsets, build or re-build lives and fight discrimination around the world.
Mike’s story
Our first panellist was Mike Geddes, CEO of Third Half Soccer and Chief Purpose Officer at Oakland Roots SC, who kicked off by detailing how he perceives the power of sports as a force for social good and its positive impact on local communities. Mike explained how, in the United States, sports clubs are traditionally created through the franchise model, rather than having a primary focus on the potential benefits to the community. Mike and his partners at Oakland Roots SC wanted to break the mould in developing a brand people really care about, which represents themselves as a community and embodies their values. Given Oakland’s history of social activism, they’ve managed to create a football club in the image of the community it serves.
Maggie’s story
The idea of harnessing football for social good was echoed by Maggie Murphy, General Manager of Lewes FC and Director of Equal Playing Field. Lewes FC is the only club in the UK to pay their female team the same wages as the male team. What’s more, both teams have access to the same facilities and share the same marketing budget. In two years, this has led to an increase of public interest in the women’s team games, often outweighing that of the men’s matches. Lewes FC, who don’t accept betting companies sponsorship and whose ownership is open to every fan, manages to keep a good financial balance because of the funding of partners and fans, who approve of the club’s goal of driving social good and feel represented by its values.
Lewes FC made a huge step in the right direction, but as Maggie warned, there is still a very long way to go until their mission has a wider reach. As a sobering reminder, Maggie highlighted that in the FA Cup semi-finals, women’s teams win £5000 of prize money, whereas men’s teams obtained £1.8 million.
Gabriel’s story
As Maggie and Mike showed, Football has an incredible way of creating a sense of belonging, togetherness and sharing common values. It also represents a safe place as it can bring back a sense of normality for people in suffering. This safe place, where people can just be themselves and momentarily forget about their worries, is what Gabriel Stauring has amazingly achieved with the creation of Darfur United, a club built in a refugee camp for people who had to flee conflict in their country.
As his proudest memory, Gabriel shared the story of Moubarak Haggar Duogom, a Darfur refugee, whose journey has been tremendously painful. Moubarak survived genocide, saw his home being destroyed and his family and friends being beaten or murdered. He had to face the dangers of migratory routes until arriving in a refugee camp where the daily stress and worries are high. Moubarak had to deal with the feeling that nobody cared about his community and the events they faced. But, as a player of Darfur United, he managed to play in a World Cup (not recognised by FIFA), and he scored the very first goal of this club, giving his community a positive story to tell and to show to the world. Football is more than a game, but as Gabriel said, sometimes, “the joy of the game is the purpose itself”.
JJ’s story
Football is definitely a universal game and the passion it creates overcome borders and barriers. The testimony of JJ Robles is the proof of it, demonstrating how her passion drove her to fight for her dreams using an incredible strength and willingness. She broke every barrier by becoming the first refugee Muslim woman referee on a football pitch. JJ’s family had to flee Somalia when she was still a child. She is now a true role model, showing other women - Muslim or not, refugee or not - that everything is possible if you never settle. She is clearly an inspiration to girl players as she demonstrates that she overcame not only prejudices against women, Muslims or foreigners, but that she also had to deal with her family’s fear of seeing her playing football.
Football is indeed more than a game. It can change lives, set an example, bring hope. It is what our five new leaders will intend to do in their respective projects. They can be inspired, as we all should, by our panellist’s and host’s final thoughts: always ask questions, enjoy the little victories, never give up, keep pushing, dive in.
