Fútbol +

We recently had the opportunity partner with Fútbol +, a nonprofit organization that uses soccer to instill respect, responsibility, and leadership in the disadvantaged youth they serve. They foment leadership by having their more experienced children run the soccer practices for the younger ones. This method helps them create effective neighborhood leaders that can help propagate the program with less oversight. In these past few weeks, many young leaders of Fútbol + came from Santiago to visit us in Valparaíso, to share a day of activities, and to learn about the VSP’s model of youth mentorship.

During these sessions, we began by doing some icebreaker activities to get to know each other. VSP members explained how we use surfing to promote positive values in the children who are a part of our program. Before entering the water, everyone shared goals that they had set for the surf session. After a quick lunch break where we got to know each other better, it was Fútbol +’ turn. We headed back to the beach and began by sharing personal experiences from our respective organizations and reflecting on the impact we have had in both our communities and ourselves. We finished the day with a memorable pick up soccer game on the beach.

We have enjoyed partnering with Fútbol + over these past couple of weeks. It was an excellent opportunity to see how organizations with different methods make the same beneficial impact in their communities. We hope that this experience will help Fútbol +’ young leaders become more effective in the future.