DC Scores...cleats and smiles

Cleats For Bare Feet not only does work all around the world, we do our best to make a difference in the community in which we live.

Last month we shared equipment with Soccer Without Borders who work with refugees who live in the Baltimore area.

This month we teamed up with DC Scores, an organization that runs after school soccer programs in low socioeconomic areas in our capitol. 42 schools and 1,450 students in total participate in the program.

We were introduced to DC Scores last year and were able to share equipment with them. This past week, we were able to supply two teams with much needed cleats and new shorts.

We met with Mr. Ross at MC Turrell, first, and shared cleats with 5 of their players.

From there it was a quick jaunt up to Adams Morgan to catch up with “Team Awesome” from the Oyster Adams Bilingual School. The Mighty Oyster Adams Student Council (MOASC) has been orchestrating an equipment drive since February. Our first stop by, in March, yielded 131 pieces. While this stop only brought an additional 59 pieces, the MOASC are one step closer to their goal of 250 pieces before the end of the school year.

The kids in the MOASC are exceptionally driven and passionate about helping other kids reach their potential. When we told them that equipment collected in March has already gone to help kids in Senegal, China, Uganda, and in the Baltimore area, they were absolutely thrilled.

Immediately following our collection event with the MOASC, we received a call from Sarah Jennings, the DC Scores coach at Garfield Elementary Prep. Jennings, originally of Massachusetts, is a member of the City Year program and has been coaching the DC Scores team at Garfield for the last few months.

Upon arrival Jennings made an overhead announcement calling all members of the team to the front office. Every member of the team came charging through the halls, getting some sideways glances from one of the teachers. The players sat down, took off their sneakers and we got started.

We are happy to announce that all 15 members of the team got fitted for cleats. While smiling for the camera is something that everyone hates doing, these kids were ecstatic. They had a game at the end of the school and these cleats would allow them play at their top level.

We’re glad to have helped and look forward to hearing how their game went.

Read More

The 2nd Annual Talibe Soccer Tournament

Recently, Cleats For Bare Feet sent three boxes in two shipments to Senegal with a former member of the C4BF Team.  This was the response I received back from the tournament we shared your equipment with:

_____________________________________________________________

This year Peace Corps Volunteers worked with a local counterpart, Aris Faye, to hold the 2nd Annual Talibe Soccer Tournament. This tournament was funded by the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Grant. Talibes are children pursuing a Quranic education. The heartbreaking story of talibes in Senegal isn't just the struggle for the children because they are sent thousands of kilometers away from their home village, or their struggle to reach their daily quota of CFA (local money) before they go home to protect them from a beating, nor is it the fact that these children may not return to their village or see their family members for years. The devastating truth about these talibes, some as young as 5 years old, is that they are forgotten, ignored. People see these children begging on the street and push them aside rather than give them the alms they’re begging for. These children are seen at a nuisance, yet the religion, and their teachers are seen as the “untouchables.” No fault is ever placed on those in charge, just the children. Giving the children an event, concentrating on them, and reminding people these talibes, who are forced to dress in rags, and wander the streets barefoot in search for their meals, eat what is given to them; they are children and they should be allowed to act as children.

This event allowed the talibes to play with regular school children. Peace Corps role was very small in this 2 day event. Thursday the Peace Corps volunteers gave the children something to remember. The volunteers interacted with the children, showing them a part of our American culture. We shared face paint with the children, we taught the children how to write their names (some of the children’s first time holding a pencil), taught them basics about hygiene and nutrition, and the show stopper; an obstacle course. Peace Corps volunteers wanted to make this even more memorable for the children, we collected donations to be given to the talibes as prizes for their participation on the day of the finale, giving the children a real jersey, soccer ball, and cleats. These prizes brought smiles to everyone’s faces! It was a great moment to share with these talibes, explaining people all the way from United States sent these prizes just for the talibes to have. The older talibes took me aside to express their gratitude of the event, and the prizes. Stating the event (however chaotic it got) was “Mash’Allah.”
These are 3 photos my older talibe took of the awarding of prizes. 

                                                                                                 Thanks again,  

Hadiel Mohamed 

_____________________________________________________________

This is what Cleats For Bare Feet is all about. Bringing smiles to children's faces across the world by sharing your old soccer equipment.
We are always looking for more equipment to share, or for people traveling abroad who would like to act as our ambassador and spread the love of the game ever further around the world.

Read More

Baltimore's Soccer Without Borders...hooked up!

Imagine if you had to uproot and move to a new country. You don’t know anyone, you don’t speak the language very well, and, as if that's not enough, you have to go to a new high school. Coming to the United States as a refugee child poses many challenges. In Baltimore, as well as other places both nationally and internationally, Soccer Without Borders is using the soccer as a medium to “encourage healthy living while developing English-language abilities, teamwork, academic success, and cross-cultural skills”.

Soccer is an incredible sport: in every corner of the world the sport carries a passionate following. You can travel anywhere in the world and regardless of language or cultural barriers, as soon as a soccer ball is brought out, you instantly have a way to interact with the people around you. The students that are members of Soccer Without Borders in Baltimore originate from a multitude of countries. Baltimore's chapter includes students from Palestine, Eritrea, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Palestine, Cameroon, South Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Guinea, among others. Although they shared the same challenges coming to America, most of students could not understand each other and many of them did not initially like each other either. However what they all shared was an incredible love for the sport of soccer- or “football” to them.

This is what soccer means in their lives:

C4BF recently stopped by SWB to size up and share cleats with members of the Baltimore team who needed a a pair for the start of the new season. It was great to see the just how universal and upbringing the sport of soccer can be. 



In other news, we are looking to continue to build our SWB connection by having a friendly little match. A C4BF vs. SWB soccer game is being scheduled for later this spring (Andres Camacho from C4BF is an Arsenal fan and has a couple things to settle with SWB's players who are Chelsea and Manchester United fans). "I guess Andres doesn't like winning" said Warshan, a sixteen year old from Iraq. Members of the greeNEWit office will also be joining in to help out the 5 person C4BF team. Should be quite a match! We'll let you know more as we do.

Read More

Smoke Free at the World Cup!

The littlest things can ruin a magical moment.
You’ve been waiting all year to watch this game going as far as pre-ordering tickets months in advance to reserve seats. You traveled all the way to Brazil to support your country in the World Cup. The game is just about to start and you are cheering for the players, wearing your country’s jersey. But as soon as the ref blows the first whistle to start the game, everything is ruined. Right next to you, there’s a man smoking a cigarette. As you inhale to cheer for your team, his smoke, you are both annoyed and scared for your health.

This year’s FIFA Confederations Cup and next year’s
 FIFA World Cup will be smoke-free.

FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) announced the news on March 7, 2013 in support for a healthy, clean environment for all the fans heading to Brazil to watch the matches.

FIFA has gone through a lot of work over the years to reach this decision.

• 1986 - FIFA announced that they would no longer be accepting advertisements from any tobacco industries.  
• 2002 - FIFA is awarded the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General’s Award for their support in an anti-smoking campaign 
• 2002 - Korea and Japan became the first countries to host the first smoke-free FIFA World Cup.Since then, stricter regulations have been added in order to ensure a completely smoke free environment. 
• 2010 - FIFA adopted the Stadium Code of Conduct which prohibited smoking in the stands. 

FIFA Secretary, Jerome Valcke, comments that, “The decision to make Brazil 2013 and Brazil 2014 tobacco-free is a natural step in the history of our flagship events. FIFA recognizes that tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke are harmful and supports WHO’s global efforts with a genuine interest in promoting health and security.”

Valcke understands the big picture. By discouraging smoking, he is not only protecting people in the stadiums but using FIFA's influence to make the world a better place to live in. Because of the way FIFA always has and always try to do what's right, us, fans, can continue coming together to watch and love the game of soccer.

Read More