Kick4Life receives 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award

The football-based charity received its Statuette at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, a ceremony attended by athletes and sporting legends from across the globe.

Since its foundation in 2005, Kick4Life has helped more than 250,000 children and young people in Lesotho through a network of high-impact community programmes focussed on education and sustainable livelihoods for young people. 

Lesotho has the second-highest prevalence of HIV in the world (23.2%), drastically damaging families and communities whilst leaving over 160,000 children orphaned. Through its football programmes, Kick4Life offers healthcare education and counselling, alongside voluntary testing for over 25,000 young people. Its community work has empowered women to uphold their rights against Gender Based Violence, given young people entrepreneurial skills to combat youth unemployment, and developed character and life skills through sport. It has also aided young Lesotho-based footballers in seeking prestigious football scholarships from across the world, through the Kick4Life academy.

Steve Fleming MBE, co-founder and chief executive of Kick4Life, said: “We are extremely honoured to receive the 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award on the 25th anniversary of the Awards. Laureus’ mission – to use sport to change the world – matches our own vision to give young people in Lesotho hope and a future. Our work would not be possible without the commitment of all our coaches, staff and volunteers. I am delighted to receive this Award on behalf of all of our Kick4Life team, and proud to be sharing a platform with some of the greatest athletes in the world.”

The five other programmes nominated for the exceptional work they have done within their own communities were: Figure Skating Harlem, empowering young girls in the USA through figure skating; Kind Surf, tackling social exclusion and supporting young people in Spain with intellectual and functional diversity through surf therapy; Liberi Nantes, supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Italy through football; Paris Basket 18, developing women’s sport, social integration and gender equality; and Street League, a multi-sport UK charity creating employment and training opportunities for young people aged 14-30.

Laureus Sport for Good celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Today, it is a global leader in the sport for international development sector, supporting and connecting over 300 sports-based programmes in more than 40 countries. It empowers change-makers within those communities with the expertise and best practice developed over 25 years, using the unique power of sport to bring hope, resilience and systematic change. 

Every year, one organisation is selected by a panel of 69 Laureus World Sports Academy members to receive the Laureus Sport for Good Award. Past recipients have worked across all sporting disciplines, but all have been united by the same desire: transforming the lives of children and young people through sport and physical activity.

The full list of the 2025 Award winners can be found on Laureus' website.