The Kick Project

Bangladesh had a fraught path to independence. Squeezed in between the mega forces of Pakistan and India the people of the former East Pakistan suffered greatly as they sought freedom. But, as this little known story (at least to us) shows, there was an important strategy by some to use sport to open up the debate. Some of the tactics used might sit uncomfortably with some - the involvement of some Indians for instance seems reflective of the politics of convenience at a tense time for instance - but the overall strategy of using sport as a form of peace diplomacy is roundly endorsed by The Kick Project. The power of sport to open up the space for dialogue - often in inarticulate ways - remains a powerful and too-little used force for good in the human world. This i nteresting read from Vice.

The election of Donald J Trump as America's 45th President, confirmed in this week's inauguration, presents numerous challenges to human rights and people power. The boorish, misogynistic, arrogant tenor of his campaign has cast a pall over the rights of minorities in America and across the globe as his "America First" call, by definition, puts everyone else second or worse. The only equality in the scenario he presents is of the George Orwell type: that of some being more equal than others. Such a situation already exists of course. Western males wield more direct and indirect power in global terms than, say, a dark-skinned girl in a slum. Trump is hardly breaking new ground. But, his ascendancy gives that dark reality more momentum. It puts it closer to the centre of normal. His message threatens to break the positive values that link human beings to each other. Globally, governments, civil society and civilians need to make a stand. We need to step up to...

We are very pleased to announce that The Kick Project has received a $AUD16,500 donation from the Australian Government to fund a pilot soccer program with Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. The funds, coming through the Australian High Commission in Malaysia, will allow the charity to support the Rohingya Football Club which has become a vital part of the exiled Rohingya community in Kuala Lumpur. The program entails kitting out the team, providing transport to games and establishing a sports and community hub where Rohingya people can access sporting equipment and coaching. Young people, and girls in particular, are the long term focus of the initiative. The Kick Project founder James Rose says the Rohingya are in dire need of assistance. "The UN has called the Rohingya arguably the most persecuted group in the world. They've been forced to flee their homelands in Myanmar, where they have been made stateless by government decree, and many have lost their lives...

Our latest article, run on the Sport and Development website, on the peace potential in the dispute between Israeli settlers and the Palestinian Football Association. "It's disappointing FIFA has so far chosen not to lead on the issue of Israeli settlement teams playing in Palestinian West Bank. This is a real opportunity for the beleaguered overseer to take a stance, especially as it appears doing so would simply be by enforcing its own rules..."( more )....

Click here if the link video above doesn't roll On Friday, April 8 we were involved in bringing coaches from Real Madrid to the Sunshine Coast, here in Australia, to coach some kids from troubled backgrounds. For free. It was a great gesture from the Real Madrid Foundation Clinics Australia group, who were already running some fee-based youth coaching clinics in the country. Some 60 boys and girls from around 7 up to about 16, were bussed up from Brisbane. Most of these were invited by Welcome to Australia, a local NGO working on settling refugees in Australia. A smaller number came from Harmony Place, a not for profit which assists refugee families dealing with trauma and mental health issues. We also invited some "local" players to come along and join in the afternoon friendlies, which we arranged for the afternoon, after the Real Madrid sessions in the morning. For us, it was a chance to test our wings and to see how we fly as an organisation. From our poi...

Pic: thejocal.com The 1974 World Cup was the first one I ever saw. By virtue of it being the first one Australia had qualified for, it was beamed live to our shores. I can't remember if I watched any of it live, as it would have been at odd hours here and I was just a kid, but I do remember watching the Socceroos eking out a credible 2-0 loss to East Germany in the rain – Ray Richards skidding across the puddles in what seemed like a 20 yard slide tackle – and I do recall the final. And Cruyff. We lost the great Dutchman last week and it was a sad moment for me, as it must have been for many. In that final, Cruyff with his two-striped kit – he famously refused to wear the tri-stripe Adidas kit – the magical number 14 and the the arrogant, cool of one of the greats in his prime was the undoubted star in the firmament. I didn't know much about football then, but I was Holland all the way. Why? I reckon it was the pop star swagger of the likes of Rep, Neeskens, Ha...

Fofanah (above) and Gogol with Ric, both boys wearing our great new tshirts Pics: Gil Hinsbey/Ric Jay Here at The Kick Project, we see it as part of our brief to inspire, to show how sport for peace and development can really make a positive difference. While we feel it's important to do our work and to get results, it's also of value to encourage others to do the same, and to help others understand the passion we feel for what we do. As part of this process, we are keen to let our supporters know just how valuable a tool sport, especially football, can be in healing individuals, communities and whole nations. These stories give us all real-life confirmation that sport for peace and development really does work. And, acting as agents for change in this way is one of our motivations to maintain our commitment to what we do. To fulfill this aim, we will be rolling out a series of short videos of noted athletes, from the world of football and from other sports, fo...

Pic: Reuters With the deadly attacks in Paris and in Beirut in November still in the headlines, it is easy to concentrate on the problems, not on solutions. Even as we mourn for the victims of these crimes, and question the justification for such acts, let us not lose sight of the fact that humanity, for all its apparent hatred and evil, is also imbued with the ability to make peace and find love. And sport is one of the most powerful means of realising these positives. The evidence for this is, to some extent, embedded within the acts of terrorism themselves. For decades, terror groups have targetted major sporting events for their campaigns. It is no shock, in historical terms, for instance, that the terrorists behind the Paris attacks honed in on the Stade de France where a friendly football match between France and Germany was being played. This simply follows a pattern that has existed since at least the murders of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. ...

The Kick Project board has now reached agreement with the Rohingya Football Club, Kuala Lumpur, to proceed with the following program.  We are now formally raising funds for the following program, which we aim to begin in January 2016. Phase One: Part 1 Aim 1: Provide full playing kit for the current Rohingya Football Club (RFC) squad. This includes: shirts, shorts, socks, shin-pads, boots, goalkeeper equipment Aim 2: Fund a single playing space for football games. This includes paying fees on a designated municipal football field. Aim 3: Fund Transport. This includes purchasing or leasing a minivan. Part 2 Aim 1: To establish a “Ball Library”. This will be set up as a focal point for the RFC and also for the Rohingya community, with special focus on encouraging access for Rohingya children. Appropriate education initiatives (approved by both RFC representatives and The Kick Project via the Program Management Committee) may be conducted and/or...

Pic: Ashley Feder/Getty/Guardian Australia Australians are among the world's most dedicated sports fans. So, when it was announced  before the season opener at the home ground of the Western Sydney Wanderers game on October 10, that aspects of support generated by one of the nation's more passionate fan bases was to be curtailed, it left many scratching their heads. When those supporters, the so-called Red and Black Bloc (RBB) of the Western Sydney Wanderers, A League Premiers in 2013, conducted their usual march through the streets of the outer-Sydney city of Parramatta, they were, as promised, accompanied by a considerable police presence. As is predictable, much of the media jumped on the story before the march, relishing the adversarial angle and upping the potential for violence. A lesser number reported the fact that, when the RBB did march in support of their club, nothing actually happened . Police may say that's because they were there. But, whether tha...

Pic: ESPNFC The Economist magazine ran an interesting feature article to mark the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's now record reign. The story looked at aspects of UK politics and its social and economic history and highlighted the enormous differences found in the country as it was in 1952, when she ascended to the throne. The city of Leicester, home of Leicester City FC, was featured as a town that has experienced huge changes in that time. "Today Leicester is Britain's first big settlement with a non-white majority," said the article's writer. What is really interesting about this fact is the performance of Leicester City in the EPL. Currently sitting in 5th, above big guns like Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea, the Foxes are one of the more dynamic squads in the league this year. They are playing an exciting brand of attacking football, some old school touches like flying wing backs and out and out wingers, they are near the top of the goals scored li...

While The Kick Project welcomes the  decision to remove ex-FIFA Vice-President  and head of CONCACAF, Jack Warner from any official role in the world football family, we would caution that this is not enough. While Mr Warner appears to have dragged the game through the mud in the quest for personal aggrandisement, we feel his story should not be allowed to act as a diversion nor should he be a sacrificial lamb. By all accounts, FIFA corruption goes deeper than even Mr Warner's voluminous pockets. FIFA claims that "In his positions as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, as well as other money-making schemes," But Mr. Warner took himself out of FIFA four years ago and resigned all his official positions. It's no surprise he is non-plussed by the ban. He is  reported to have said on Facebook , "if in September 2015 (some 4 years and 5 months after) the FIFA wants ...

Pic: NY Times German second tier team St. Pauli - a team noted for its punk rock fashion and social conscience - have offered 1000 free tickets for the game against Borussia Dortmund for recently arrived refugees...[ read more ].....

Well, the news hounds at The Kick Project have been out of the loop a little lately. But, after a break, Caught Our Eye is back. FIFA Presidential Race Gets Ever Murkier PROGRAM INFO Gaza: One Woman's Plea for Gaza to be Noticed Gaza:Children Forced to Work to Help Broken Families Rohingya in Malaysia: New Book Gives Children's View of Persecution REFUGEES Germany Calls for More EU Intakes as Refugee Influx Balloons-Critics Consider Walls FOOTBALL FOR PEACE US Tournament Brings Young People Together, Including Those from Areas of Conflict

One year on from the escalation of violence in Gaza and things are still looking very sour.  A news quote from Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds is pertinent: "Save the Children is urging Australia and other nations to use their diplomatic influence to promote the lifting of the blockade to allow the entry of essential humanitarian aid and enable the rebuilding of homes and schools, and support a return to some level of normality for the many distressed children in Gaza.” The Kick Project is still working hard to take a program to Gaza. But, these plans have been re-scheduled for various reasons. Mainly, the program has proved to be a little more complicated than we had anticipated and we have re-focussed on plans for our Rohingya program in Malaysia. We feel that at this early stage of our development as a not for profit organisation we need to build more critical mass in our funding and our management infrastructure before launching into Gaza. We are wary of wast...

Check out this article on football/soccer songs and the power of the game as a community healer, written for the Daily Review by The Kick Project founder James Rose. The Liverpool FC Australian tour starts in Brisbane ( v Brisbane Roar) this Friday and continues on to Adelaide ( v Adelaide United) "Sometime Friday evening, Brisbane's CBD will be roused with the old Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, from the hit post-war musical Carousel, “You'll Never Walk Alone.” It's not showing at QPAC and it isn't one of those quirky Brisbane cultural events: The World Festival of You'll Never Walk Alone Singers...). It will be sung unlike it was it the original show, Carousel , and more like it was in the reprised pop version, circa 1963, as sung by Gerry and The Pacemakers – as in “you'll neeeeeeeeva walk alooooooooooooone...” Add a Liverpudlian accent and you'll have it... [ read more ]

A nice audio piece from the BBC on an historic football competition in The Aleutian Islands, known as the International Friendship Cup dating back to 1872. Also this piece by the same journo.

Pic:Motortradesindustry.co.uk Recently, I (James) was asked by Ray Gill, editor of The Daily Review, to write up a piece on The Kick Project, what it's about, and why anybody should be interested. Here's what I wrote .

Pic: Vibe Celebrity and Aid US Criticised over Celebrity Aid Visit to Haiti Peace Bitter Enemies Reconcile in Ireland PR US Coal Company Using Ebola Crisis as PR Tool Gaza Project The Children of Gaza Need More than Aid  (Our article for Crikey) Pic: Daily Telegraph Sport and Development The Power of Footy in Fiji Migration Australian Town Shows How Migration Works NGOs Govt Seeks to Punish Greenpeace for Reef Ad Campaign Crackdowns on NGOs Across Asia Are Human Rights NGOs "Too Establishment"?