JUCONI has worked with 200 youth since July 2014 using sport as a tool to teach life skills. To keep kids inspired JUCONI wants to use new uniforms and bi-weekly friendly matches to promote teamwork. The youth will have a unique experience as training and games will enable them to feel like a football academy with goals to strive for. 45 youth will receive new jerseys and equipment to take their skills to the next level as part of a 12 week program with JUCONIs psychologist and one volunteer.
The children and adolescents that receive psychotherapeutic attention from JUCONI live in extremely marginalized communities. There is no such thing as a park, green space, or somewhere kids can play within the poverty in these communities and common within the community are violence, drugs, alcohol abuse, and gangs. JUCONI Football Club will be used as a supplementary tool alongside the intervention JUCONI uses and will be used to teach life skills through the use of sport.
The activities will be completed with youth aged between 13 and 17 years old. Between 13 and 17 years old many youth leave school and are most susceptible to both drug and alcohol abuse, which could put their lives off course indefinitely. Through group intervention, participants will encourage each other in a social manner to face issues that would be extremely difficult to face alone, as they would have the support of both their group of peers and JUCONI.
To reinforce the importance of teamwork, participants will be issued uniforms and cleats to promote the collective sense of identity. Every two weeks, JUCONI will schedule a friendly match with a local high school team or football academy to provide an additional goal for the children to work toward. This will give the idea of training an even greater sense of importance and ultimately a sense of pride for each participant, as they will represent marginalized communities on a larger stage.
