Our Commitment to Excellence
How does one measure success?
As a small organization, addressing one of the world’s most complex problems, Soccer for Peace firmly believes that meaningful results can only arise from effective processes. Accordingly we demand the tightest quality controls in our soccer programs, dialogue components and at the corporate level.
Soccer for Peace is resolved to provide the best possible training experience for a given program. Coaches come from long careers in sport, with many trained and approved by their national soccer organizations. We intentionally challenge our participants, compelling strong team dynamics and a sense of collective pride. Moreover, the soccer curriculum is carefully designed to value team elements over individual skills.
Soccer for Peace also insists on a dialogue component in its programs. In this regard, our projects differ from many peer organizations. Sport, though common and loved, is insufficient in healing centuries of strife. It is an excellent first step, allowing children of traditionally warring groups to sit in a room together and be guided through peace-building exercises and conversations. To optimize the effect, Soccer for Peace also controls for bilingualism and biculturalism in the classroom. Furthermore, we attempt to leverage soccer in our dialogue component, discussing issues of fairness and cooperation with which children can identify.
Media would have us believe that peace is determined at the national level, the responsibility of governments to negotiate and impose. True peace, however, the sincere and long-lasting peace towards which we strive, is built bottom-up. It is a grass-roots effort demanding attitudinal change on the individual level. It must start early and come often. Soccer for Peace ensures that the consideration going into all of our programs is local, sustainable and effective.