Football promoting gender equity and HIV education in Jamaica

Coaches Across Continents hosted a training session for coaches, with local partners in Jamaica. Using football to create a social impact, they discovered ways to promote gender equity and HIV education.

On the second leg of CAC's Jamaican tour, we were greeted by a member of the Real Madrid Foundation which is a new and growing organisation to Montego Bay. It is also now affiliated with the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation and Ballaz International.

It was an intense 3 day training course with 16 coaches, many of the whom had not heard of football for social impact. It was inspiring to see them quickly catch onto the CAC curriculum and applying lessons in their own Jamaican style to promote gender equity and HIV education.

Letting girls play
The locals were open to discussing pressing social issues such as gender equity, HIV and sexual health, which affect not only Montego Bay but all of Jamaica.

Discussions over water breaks were started on the topic of gender roles in the community. It had us looking into and discussing the role of girls and women in sports, and whether girls should play. Thoughtful responses showed overwhelming support for inclusion of girls in sport.

Multifaceted HIV education
HIV was also discussed while teaching the Adebayor games for sexual health and HIV education. We were pleased to see how many participants were interested in discussing their roles in HIV education; one particular staff member of the Real Madrid Foundation, a mother of two sons, shared her experiences. We felt inspired with the realisation that HIV education can engage in a multifaceted manner, reaching out to more corners of society.

Our time in Jamaica has been extremely rewarding and we are excited to see what the future holds for our partner organisations. Everyone involved in the program is committed to incorporating football for social impact into their coaching curricula, and we expect the number of participating coaches will multiply over the next years. With the support of Ballaz International, the Real Madrid Foundation, and the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, we believe that football can have a significant social impact in Jamaica.