Yele Regional Soccer Tournament & Clinics

STATUS: launched July 2006 / ongoing

Organizing soccer tournaments and clinics, and providing uniforms and equipment for young players.

NEED: The opportunity for youth to play sports is there for the taking in developed countries, and sports have the capacity to change a child’s life. Playing sports and participating in tournaments are an important part of a child’s physical, social and mental development. In Haiti, municipalities do not offer leagues, tournaments, equipment or instruction. Soccer is a national obsession, and determined children play with ragged soccer balls or even kick around empty water bottles.

RESPONSE: Yéle Haiti supports sports by bringing equipment, sneakers and cleats through donor generated sports drives to Haitian youth. In addition, Yéle Haiti funds full fledged soccer tournaments in both “over-20” and “under-20” youth categories, providing youth with a meaningful alternative to drugs and crime and the community with a source of public sports entertainment.

In addition to providing equipment, uniforms and funding for tournaments, Yéle Haiti hosted a week-long visit by 5 members of the Major League Soccer team, the New York Red Bulls, for clinics and games. Players Jozy Altidore, Jerrod Laventure (both Haitian American) and Seth Stammler, and members of the management team Eric Tosi and Craig Chmiel, traveled throughout Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, playing soccer, teaching technique and style, discussing game theory with youth, coaches and refs and donating equipment. On their first in Port-au-Prince, the Red Bulls observed the talents of, and then played with, 800 youth from a Yéle Haiti sponsored sports program, L’Athletique d’Haiti, that provides the opportunity to play sports to 650 youth from Port-au-Prince slums and 150 youth from the L’Artibonite section of Haiti.

LINK:

New York Red Bulls - Postcards From Haiti

Partners:

L’Athlétique d’Haïti

New York Red Bulls

Sponsor:

Photo: Youth taking part in a soccer tournament organized by Yéle Haiti.