Ute Force Spreads Soccer Dreams In KZN
KwaZulu-Natal: Chevrolet Ute Force in partnership with Dreamfields has hit the road and travelled to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) to roll out an inter-school soccer league with eighteen primary schools in the Umkhanyakude District.
The impoverished farming community situated in the Pongola area, northern KZN was home to the final 2014 Ute Force project, with Injula Primary School hosting the day’s festivities.
Over the past two years, Chevrolet Ute Force, in partnership with Dreamfields Project, the non-government organisation that focuses on football development, benefitted 76 primary schools across four provinces. The project provided young learners with soccer kit, set up soccer leagues and promoted competitive play.
According to Tim Hendon, Chevrolet Brand Manager, football provides an opportunity to develop young talent, keep children off the street and transcends all cultures, genders and age groups. “To this end we have revitalized soccer pitches to enable play, donated close to 60,000 One World Futbols, the nearly indestructible ultra durable ball, and provided soccer equipment to schools in needy communities,” said Hendon.
The eighteen primary schools participating in this week’s programme will likewise receive DreamSeed Kits that contain equipment, practice bibs and soccer balls. Schools will also each receive an additional One World Futbol from Chevrolet for practice sessions plus goal posts.
In addition, Chevrolet Ute Force and Dreamfields will also provide training for local coaches in order to make the league self-sustainable. John Perlman, Dreamfields founder, points out that it is the strategy of Dreamfields to ensure communities take full responsibility and become the masters of the leagues; this has been a winning strategy since its inception. “Our goal is to ensure that communities – teachers and young people – can run the DreamLeagues for themselves,” Perlman said.
Starting off with boys, aged 11 to 13, the leagues aim to be inclusive of both girl and boy teams in future. “The more football can be part of school life for all the children, boys and girls, the richer will be the change in the positive atmosphere at that school,” Perlman added. “We want what we do with Chevrolet to be as inclusive as possible.”
Bringing this story to life and introducing people to the Ute Force’s journey across the country are filmmakers, Bolton Inc. Hendon went on to add that Bridgette and Louis Bolton capture the essence of each project and allow others to see first hand the impact being made. These mini documentaries can be viewed on YouTube and bring attention to issues impacting children thus inspiring others to be change agents in their very own communities.
Earlier this year similar projects were rolled out in Petrusburg, Botshabelo, Vosloorus, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Hammanskraal north of Pretoria. Next year Chevrolet and Dreamfields will continue to bring soccer development to various communities.
South Africans are asked to show their support by interacting with the Chevrolet Ute Force team on Facebook and YouTube, or by following the action on Twitter and using the following hashtag: #UTEForce.
Eighteen schools impacted in KZN project include:
