The coaching manual consists of a series of specially designed coaching drills that not only improve football skills but also the players’ understanding of how to stay safe from HIV/AIDS, how the virus works, challenging myths and stigma and where to go for support. The drills have been developed by TackleAfrica’s volunteer coaches during a series of football projects across Africa and will enable other volunteers and partner organisations to carry out coaching sessions that help to teach young people in Africa about HIV/AIDS in an innovative and engaging way.

Working with over 1,000 young people and 50 local ‘multipliers’, the 8 TackleAfrica coaches visited a number of locations around Accra and Tamale to ensure that the impact of the project will be sustainable by enabling local staff to continue HIV/AIDS through football sessions in the future.  Tackle Africa would like to thank local partners RAINS, SOS Ghana, Children Better Way and Goal Ghana for their support in this project.

Charlie Gamble, a trustee of TackleAfrica and author of the coaching manual comments:

“We believe that the launch of the manual - particularly at a time when football was even higher on the local agenda than usual – has enabled us to deliver crucial HIV/AIDS messages to large numbers of young people in an interactive, positive and memorable way.  Most importantly, our work with local coaches and multipliers is the first step in ensuring that the positive impact of the manual can be continued long into the future”

Dr Bella Bello Bitug, Campaigner, sport for development, currently working with SOS Ghana, adds:

“Football is a great way of reaching young people in Ghana and The Cup of Nations provided us with an excellent opportunity to raise vital issues and spread messages about HIV and AIDS. We’re really looking forward to working with TackleAfrica further, and using the coaching manual.”

Our Vision:  An Africa where all young people have the information, freedom, confidence and resources to make the right choices to protect themselves and each other from HIV

How we work:  TackleAfrica use football coaching to deliver life-saving messages about HIV to young Africans in a way that improves knowledge, deepens understanding and promotes positive long term behaviour change

Football is the world’s most popular sport – and in Africa it has attained enormous significance, breaking down barriers and providing opportunities for even the most disadvantaged to shine.

By capitalising on this interest, TackleAfrica and its local partners can create a platform that can be used to as a tool for communicating vital messages, mobilising communities to join the fight against HIV, enabling people to protect themselves properly and challenging the plethora of stigma and misconceptions that surround the disease.

Since 2003 we have been working with expert local partners in 16 sub-Saharan countries, using football as a method of reaching young people and using classroom based activities to deliver HIV related information.  In January 2007 we succesfully took that information out onto the pitch with unique coaching drills specifically designed to inform players about HIV as well as improve their football skills.

At the end of 2007 we produced our first HIV awareness through coaching manual, with an updated version published in May 2010.  We continue to work with local partners and young people across Africa,  training local coaches, teachers and partner-employed multipliers to use the manual to extend and continue the reach of our work.

What We Do

• Fund activities organised by our partners in Africa including youth football tournaments, peer education training, HIV awareness/testing football events and projects to encourage safe behaviour amongst young people
• Build the capacity of local partners with coaching projects and by distributing our HIV awareness through football coaching manual
• Train African coaches, peer educators, youth leaders and teachers to deliver HIV messaging through football
• Train UK football coaches to deliver HIV messaging through football in Africa, raise funds for our partners and raise awareness in the UK of the HIV pandemic in Africa