Ten Reasons To Get Behind The East Africa Cup

The East Africa Cup is a sporting, cultural and educational gathering held annually in Moshi, Tanzania. This June (2013) the EAC will be celebrating its 10th birthday. We are looking for sponsors for the event, so we thought it was a good time to tell you about some of the reasons why we think you should get behind the East Africa Cup.


1) Girls' Sport
Some people think that girls shouldn’t do sport. We believe the opposite. We think that it can improve the health, well being and confidence of girls. We also think that when boys and men realise that women can do sport, they can take them seriously in other arenas too. 

2) Cultural Exchange
For the majority of the young participants, it’s their first experience of foreign travel. In itself this can be a great experience, especially as in some of the countries and regions in East Africa there is a history of conflict. For some youngsters, it's their first time outside of their city. People get to learn each other's songs and dances during the cultural programme, and interfaith dialogue is promoted throughout. People make friends and work together with people from other countries.

3) Education

In some countries, football players don't bother with school. But each morning of the East Africa Cup starts with classes in topics like conflict resolution, leadership skills and first aid. Teachers, coaches and leaders also attend masterclasses, and return to their communities with new skills.

4) Impact

The East Africa Cup has changed many lives. One teenager at the event, who was born with HIV, explained how the Kicking Aids Out seminars affected him: "The level of naivety regarding HIV/AIDS amongst youths in my community is incredibly high. This puts the young people of my area in a very high-risk category. The information they require in most cases is not available through school or from their parents, and many young people rely on the excuse that the system has failed them; I would like to EMPOWER young people, my peers, to realise that it is both their right and responsibility to be informed about HIV and AIDS. The inspiration of [the] East Africa Cup has lead me to want to help transform youths through sports." 

5) Health Benefits

This isn't about producing elite athletes, but of course all that running around is healthy. And through seminars in topics like first aid and AIDS prevention, young people go back to their communities with a healthier attitude. 

6) Youth Leaders

The main aim of the East Africa Cup has always been to 'empower youth through sport'. Practically this means giving them the chance to become leaders - both today and tomorrow. We don't just mean leaders on the pitch: participants have gone on to coach younger teams, organise environmental tidy up groups in their own community, and become youth leaders themselves after their time at the East Africa Cup.

7) Volunteerism
The EAC is powered by volunteers, most of them from East Africa itself, although we do appreciate our foreign guests who come to share the experience. If you feel like you have something to give, get in touch.

8) Referees

OK, not everybody likes referees. But we do need them. At the EAC, we plan to train 50 of them. We're particularly proud of one ex- EAC ref who went on to become the first female Kenyan Premier League referee, and CAAF commissioner - the person in charge of international football matches. We think she's a great role model. Hear her speak: http://eastafricacup2009.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/eac-on-bbc-world-service.html

9) Famous Fans

Maybe you don't believe us? high profile supporters like South Sudanese rapper Emannual Jal, Celtic footballer Victor Wanyama and former world champion athlete Wilson Kipketer all support the East Africa Cup:  http://eastafricacup2009.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/excellent-tournament-victor-wanyama.html

10) It's Fun

People enjoy the East Africa Cup - the dancing, the video-making, the football, the street theatre. Is that a good enough reason to get involved?

Are you interested in supporting the East Africa Cup? We are looking for East African sports teams with a year-round commitment to their community, sponsors, volunteers, spectators, and journalists. Please get in touch: eastafricacup@me.com

Have you been to the East Africa Cup? Tell us why people should support it on the Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/eastafricacup

Spread the word

The Olympic flame is currently passing through Britain. 


There's no flame for the East Africa Cup which is happening at the end of June, but what a journey it would be, though: taking in the coastline, plains and mountains of Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

Through South Sudan, where last year a girl's team victory was the talk of the whole region; it might pass through one of the slums of Nairobi, where children get to play football throughout the year if they attend school regularly, with the EAC as a treat; it might pass through Burundi where the sitting volleyball champions from last year found that being a wheelchair user doesn't mean you can't compete against able-bodied youngsters.

For both the EAC and the Olympics, at this stage of preparation there are lots of very busy people working behind the scenes on making sure the event goes according to plan.

Are there enough skilled trainers for the workshops in things like first aid, refereeing and sports physio, conflict resolution and HIV and Aids prevention? Do all the referees have whistles? Is there enough food for three square meals a day for the nearly 2,000 young people at the event?

Security is important for these young participants (and their leaders) and we are lucky to have Ultimate Security offering assistance and goodwill. Their team do a great job in making sure the event is safe and trouble free, and the EAC is grateful for their long term support.

Of course there are always the unexpected issues which crop up - last year's Burundi sitting volleyball contingent nearly didn't make it due to a shortage of yellow fever vaccinations. There was the year when a snake found its way onto the team bus, and the moment when the wrong national anthem almost caused a diplomatic incidents...

But the biggest problem is money. Over the next few years, there's an added pressure on funding. Norwegian People's Aid, who have supported the event over the years and helped make the East Africa Cup such a successful and award winning event, are no longer able to commit financially as before.

So the EAC is looking for people to fund the event in the future, particularly for those teams who have to travel long distances. It might be a brand who share the EAC values of youth, sport, education, fellowship and fairplay. Or it could be a donor which sees the value and deliverable results achieved using sport, both as an end in itself and as a way to reach out to young people. Or it might be a corporation who take social responsibility seriously and who are looking for long term partnerships.

If you know people who might be able to help, please spread the word.

For more on the EAC sponsorship issue, please click here: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13422467

Unlike the Olympics, we won't be building any stadiums for the EAC, but we do help with the infrastructure of Moshi, because the money paid to the host schools goes towards building and refurbishing classrooms:
http://www.eacup.org/?side=venue

Journalists wanted from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zimbabwe

Come to Moshi, Tanzania within sight of Mount Kilimanjaro. Receive excellent training from experienced trainers. Cover an inspiring youth sports development tournament. Make friends and tell the world about it.

The East Africa Cup is about a week in Moshi, and a year in the community. It’s for organisations who use sport in a positive way in East Africa, and for young people involved it’s an opportunity to get involved in an excellent sport, cultural exchange and education event.

Before a ball is kicked, young people attend workshops in topics like health, conflict resolution and leadership skills. Their leaders benefit not just from co-hosting the event, but also from the opportunities associated with being amongst some of the best referees, youth leaders and physios in the region.

It’s not just a sports story, so we don’t just want sports journalists: the practical training will cover interview skills, social media for journalists, getting a story from a press conference, and how to cover sports for development.

We are specifically looking for people who are first and foremost community reporters - in fact we are looking for people who don't normally cover sport*.

Accommodation and food is provided as is transport: although you’ll be travelling on the team coach, not flying. After the tournament you’ll get the chance to be mentored online by the team: it's not just about a week, it's about a year

If you are interested, please get in touch – email eastafricacup@me.com and explain why you want to get involved, including a CV, and links to your work. You can be a print, online or broadcast journalist, although you will be asked to work outside your comfort zone.

Training starts in the last week of June (exact dates TBC), so you'll need to travel in advance of that - departure dates will be based on where you are travelling from. You'll need clearance from your manager, although you will be expected to continue to file copy throughout the event. Any questions please comment below.

Background

The East Africa Cup is an event for teams who use sport in their community throughout the year. Its aim is to 'empower youth through sports'.
 In practical terms this means that the EAC is more than football – in fact nobody kicks a ball until they have attended a morning workshop. These include topics like HIV and AIDS awareness, coaching, first aid/sports injuries leadership and networking skills and conflict resolution.

* of course if any of our former journalism trainee friends are interested in turning up again, we wouldn't want to turn them away. I would, however, expect them to deliver a workshop session rather than attending as a just a trainee! They will become training volunteers themselves and help out journalists who are new to the event, with the support of existing trainers.

The shouts and the cheers

It's exactly one month and three days after the East Africa Cup held in Moshi Tanzania, on 27th June 2009 was the day that most of the participants were waiting.

So many came with hope and faith to clinch the coveted titles, battle lines were drawn but only two managed to reach to finals in each age category. The most exciting, hard fought game was that of the under 16 finals, we witnessed how the players fought up to their last breath with supporters on the touchlines shouting, cheering and dancing their teams.

This was as a sign of encouragement to keep on fighting but only one team clinched the trophy.

Before the finals the finalists were very busy as participants attended various seminars, and built their skills.

The Kicking AIDS Out resource team played a vital role through out the tournament. They prepared the participants to keep on fighting, shouting and cheering in the fight against AIDS.

Literally when we see youths living a positive and healthy life, transformed communities living a HIV free generation, sports contributing to healthy lives and youths from all religions and backgrounds benefiting from the diverse sports they venture in, then we will dance forever.

We still have a lot to do, let's keep on asking ourselves this question," fter East Africa Cup, are still happy are we still cheering and are we still shouting?", if not there must be something wrong. Let's keep on kicking and definitely we will hear shouts and be cheered. Keep up the spirit.

By Alex Ngaa