Soccer has always provided a way to teach kids about discipline, determination, team work and commitment. But the only way to allow soccer to be a positive force in schools is to allow children to play regular matches on a league basis – week in and week out. VC+SA will build a long-term soccer infrastructure in Cottondale for 13 schools by outfitting the teams with uniforms, kits, goal posts, coaching and all the necessary equipment & support it takes to enjoy a game that can give back so much. And as a team of creatives we know the value and importance of identity, design & ownership. For many, if not all of these kids, the uniform shirts we provide will be their first organized team uniform they own. And we have an opportunity to make it even more valuable. Rather than just giving them a shirt, with an impersonal team name, color and logo, we are taking it one step further to give them the power to represent themselves. With 13 creative workshops taking place at all 13 schools, we will teach the children about design and the power of design to communicate. We will then help them to use their own talent, their own creativity, individuality & personality to design their very own team uniforms. Following the workshops, VC+ will bring back all 13 team’s creativity and ideas and share that with 13 acclaimed NYC artists. Inspired and creative directed by the children themselves, each artist will then bring all 13 team logos & identities to completion. Soccer has been a beloved South African sport and has been ignited in the hearts of South Africans even more since the hosting of 2010 World Cup. In South Africa soccer continues to educate, empower and strengthen children & communities. Soccer fields have become a place of common ground between rich and poor, black and white, brown and yellow, advantaged and disadvantaged. Our mission for VC+SA is to help support Dreamfields and their efforts to provide soccer into townships and rural schools across South Africa as well as to inspire and ignite children to follow their passions and talent — be it on the soccer field, in the creative field, or wherever their heart pulls them.
