A community effort

First of all get your community and the parents interested in your idea of making sport available to the young, and may be to all ages in your neighbourhood?

There are many ways of doing this, call a meeting, go door to door and inform, brief the teachers to tell their pupils, make announcement in the Churches, put up posters or visit the "free play groups" around your community as they train in the late afternoon.

A community sports club can never be a "one woman or man show". You need help to identify people with interest and previous experience from sports. Coaching and administration are equally important. Identify people whom you can ask to assist.

If the parents understand your intentions, then boys and girls will be released from home duties and will be allowed to come for the training sessions. Make sure that the club from the start is a safe place from abuse so orphans and girls are known to be cared for and protected by the club's leaders.

Find your coaches

Look for people in your community who are known to have been keen on sports in the past, as athletes or administrators. They could be school-leavers, boys and girls from grade 9, 10, 11 or 12 and adults who are currently idle. Go and visit them one by one and convince them to join your community sport programmes.

They will be useful for the community and for themselves. They will gain experience and get exposed positively when assisting your community sports club and consequently new opportunities will open up for them in a sports discipline or in the society at large.

You kill two birds with one stone; creating exposure opportunities for school-leavers and adults while providing play and physical activities for all children and youth in your community. Opportunities are scarce for school-leavers and therefore volunteering at the community sports club, may become a break through in their lives.

Now you have unqualified volunteer coaches, which is a good start. Try to ask 10 people to assist your club as volunteers, - 8 may insist to be paid and therefore will refuse, that is ok, forget about them, - work with the two remaining who see benefit for themselves in the long term working with your club.

Find your administrator

You also need people to administer the club and to coach. Look around in your community for retired people who have been sports leaders or coaches, to serve as coaches and leaders. Also look for civil servants or any other adult with some education and work experience. The people you need are there. Some may refuse, but you will keep asking until you find one who can agree. After all it is an honour to be asked to take such an important task for the community.

© UNICEF/Jemen 000752F-credit Cedric Galbe

© UNICEF/Korea 040161F-credit Jeremy Horner

Find a place to practice

Then you need a ground to play and practise with your children and youth within walking distance. In Livingstone there are plenty of idle grounds run by various sports clubs around town. These grounds are mostly owned by the City Council and are leased to the clubs, but the City Council has at heart that the grounds must serve the needs of youth and children for play and sports. Contact the City Council for permission to have access to the sports fields if the sports clubs are unwilling to allow you access to their grounds.

What sports disciplines for a start?

In the beginning when you have no funds to buy equipment, start with the traditional sports. Arrange competitions and leagues locally for the various age groups to make publicity and stimulate interest. Ask old people to teach about the various games, the rules and the skills. Otherwise the least expensive sports discipline is probably athletics'; running. Other sports, like netball and football, do not incur costs either as you can use a homemade ball for training in the beginning.

Then hold some fundraising in conjunction with any festival or tournament. For instance bring your members with placards announcing the club and buckets with soap water and wash cars while people are enjoying the function. When coming out the drivers will sympathise with your cause and pay something. Use the income to buy better balls and equipment.

Congratulations

You have taken your first steps and started your own community sports club at almost no cost! If you wish you do not need to read any further as your club is a fully sustainable activity based entirely on self help. However, we are aware that some clubs have ambitions to grow, get more members, get better facilities and improve on caching and income to the club. For those that want to excel in sport, we have written the last part of the manual below.

You will see the club will soon be the pride of your community!