Sport, community and rubbish

Remember this time last year? 

Frankly I couldn't quite recall what I was up to, but Google was on hand to remind me what was going on in the world: volcanic ash preventing flights in Europe, the Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Qinghai earthquake in China. 

We were looking forward to the first African world cup, with commentators predicting it would be either the best or worst ever.

Without checking, I can tell you what the teams looking forward to the East Africa Cup were doing: using sport to improve their community.

That's because a year round commitment to using sport in the community is a prerequisite for all organisations involved with the East Africa Cup.

This doesn't just mean playing football: not that there's anything wrong with playing football, because at its best sport can be used to improve teamwork, leadership and physical fitness of young people.

Sport can also be used to teach young people about safe and healthy behaviour. Just as Adidas, Puma and Nike know that football motivates young people to buy their gear, community leaders and organisations such as Kicking Aids Out realise that sport can be the medium through which notoriously hard-to-reach teenagers can be motivated to learn about health issues, for example.

The team spirit that is created by involvement in sport can get even get young people excited about picking up litter - as this photograph from the MYSA 25th anniversary celebration in March shows. One couldn't help thinking that perhaps one or two famous professional footballers could learn a little humility from these youngsters.

There were also young people acting as hosts, meeting VIPS, organising seating and refreshments, refereeing, organising the PA, playing music, dancing, helping even younger people, and hosting information stalls. 

Watch this space for more on how other participant organisations use sport in their community in advance of EAC2011.