The amateur football team 'Changing Lives Through Football'

Here in Glasgow, there is an amateur football team who are using the medium of football to make a positive impact on the lives of others on the other side of the planet. That team are Glasgow on the Ball, who represent the charity ‘Africa on the Ball’ in the Glasgow Community and Cooperative League.

Africa on the Ball is a charity set up in 2010 with the brilliant vision of using the sport, which has been bringing people and communities together for hundreds of years now, to make a real impact on the lives of many people. As well as providing the opportunity for boys and girls to play football, Africa on the Ball also focuses on the three main areas of education, healthcare and enterprise – delivering educational scholarship funds, food programmes and supporting community members into employment and enterprise opportunities. Charity trustee Andrew Jenkin had this to say about the charity:-

‘Africa on the Ball uses the power of football as a vehicle for the advancement of education, healthcare and enterprise in deprived communities of Africa. The charity’s mission is to empower, inspire and support African communities and individuals to lead full, healthy and sustainable lives. Started in 2010, AotB has developed a model through which it can engage with young people through sport and predominantly football. To date the charity’s work has been mainly focused in Zambia (ranked one of the poorest country in the world in 2015) and the community of Kalingalinga in the country’s capital city Lusaka.’

Bernard, who has benefited from AotB. Read his story here

In 2015, amateur football team Glasgow on the Ball was set up with the intention of raising funds and awareness for the charity. Since that time, the team have developed very well (securing a 4^th place finish in the league last year) and also managed to raise over £2500 for the charity – an impressive figure considering the costs of running a team in Glasgow. The club also proudly wear the Africa on the Ball logo on the shirt and this pride which the squad have in the charity and the work it does is something which I can attest to being a player myself. As Andrew Jenkin put it:-

‘Many football clubs claim they’re more than a club. However, the use of sport for wider community and social benefit is rarely seen to be quite as embedded and central to what they do as it is within Glasgow on the Ball.’

The 2019-20 Glasgow on the Ball squad

And Glasgow on the Ball are just getting started and there will be plenty more work done in the future to continue to ‘change lives through football'.

If you’d like to find out more or make a donation, you can do so here

 Africa on the Ball Website  Donate


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