Youth leading the way

The idea behind Sacred Sports Foundation (SSF) is simple to assist the social and youth development processes in the Caribbean, using physical activity and sport as the primary tool to attract youth.

As we celebrate International Youth Day, we take inspiration  from the   words of Nelson Mandela- "One of the most difficult things is not to change society — but to change yourself."

A collective effort

SSF is proud to say that at the heart of every development has been a wonderfully committed team of talented youth, working directly in their own communities. These inspiring young men and women use their creativity to transform and develop the communities of disadvantaged children, who  are also the lifeblood of the Eastern Caribbean.

Helping us rise to the challenge are our local stakeholders and equally committed international partners, such as FIFA Foundation, Maria Holder Memorial Trust, UNICEF, the UEFA Foundation for Children, Common Goal and Active IQ.  2020 saw  new and unprecedented challenges in the guise of  COVID-19, which we would not have been able to weather successfully, without their  support and assistance.

Our extended family was hit the hardest, namely, those amazing children found in the most disadvantaged communities,  limiting their access to  face-to-face schooling and play, l cutting their vital food supply, travel and learning support systems.

Path to recovery

I highlight the tremendous transformation brought by SSF in 2020 with immense pride as we seek to grapple with health concerns, social distancing, new hygiene standards and remote learning. Amidst the turmoil, SSF is reinventing its delivery models and expanding into offering innovative new food, nutrition, and health support programmes, in response to the demands of our children.

We have taken bold, targeted, strategic decisions, upgrading systems and child safeguarding standards to incorporate the challenges posed by online learning.  We are committed to building a new 3 Goals programme, leading to a One Child, One Tablet and One Ball policy that promises to positively revolutionise the experiences our children have when engaged in our programmes.

Empowering the youth

SSF offers training certification programmes to help youth become proficient at organising and running sport & PE sessions, with both theoretical and practical elements of leadership, coaching and mentoring, and has developed a cadre of youth trainers to provide quality child safeguarding advice, along with policy and action programmes.

We collectively continue striving to meet the ever-increasing expectations of our children, driven by a determined team of peer-to-peer youth leaders eager to develop new frontiers, supported by local, regional, and international partners that go above and beyond to help us provide exceptional programmes.