Background sport and development
When you walk around Bukoba in the late afternoon you will find children on every field and beach playing football together. With bare feet they run over the sand and through the grass dreaming of becoming the new Ronaldhinho.

Most children in Kagera are the victims of poverty and don't have many opportunities to make something out of their lives. Most youth in Kagera face the following problems:

- The general standard of living is poor, a lot of children live below the poverty line.
-HIV/AIDS Infection, child abuse and alcohol abuse rates have been high amongst the youth.
-Almost all children in Kagera region attend primary school but only 13.1% are selected for Secondary school.
-Poverty eradication and unemployed policies and strategies that involve the youth have been very limited.
-There is a lack of adequate sport and recreation programs for youth.

Although football is very popular in Tanzania and there are many talented players there are no programmes or organisations that train and educate young talented players. Unfortunately, this capacity has not been well tapped in many places partly due to lack of financial and material support, voluntary leaders or sufficient coaching and administration. To fill this gap Bukoba Kids Sports Club was founded in December 2006.

Sport is far more than a luxury or a form of entertainment. Access to and participation in sport is a human right and essential for individuals of all ages to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Sport - from play and physical activity to organised competitive sport - has an important role in all societies. Sport is critical to a child's development. It teaches core values such as co-operation and respect. It improves health and reduces the likelihood of disease. It is a significant economic force providing employment and contributing to local development. And, it brings individuals and communities together, bridging cultural and ethnic divides. Sport offers a cost-effective tool to meet many development and peace challenges.

Kofi Annan:
“People in every nation love sport. Its values -fitness, fair play, teamwork, the pursuit of excellence - are universal. It can be a powerful force for good in the lives of people devastated by war or poverty - especially children.”

Ronaldinho:
“God gives gifts to everyone, ... Some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it.”

Mission Bukoba Kids
Bukoba Kids Sports Club aims to make Bukoba a better place for children and youth who master and enjoy playing soccer/football while learning health, physical and social development life skills.

Vision Bukoba Kids
Bukoba Kids will be the leading youth sport club in Kagera region and an example for the rest of Tanzania, creating a professional environment where young talented players will be trained and empowered to make the best out of their sports and their lives in general.

Objectives Bukoba Kids
-To discover, develop, promote and maintain the talents of young sport players in Kagera
-To guide and supervise the sport teams and sport individuals of the club
-To develop tallented athletes
-To improve the quality of sport and recreation activities in Kagera
-To improve the livelihoods of the youth in Kagera by promoting their talents
-To create job opportunities through sports
-To be an example and an inspiration to young people in Tanzania

Current situation
Bukoba Kids was founded in December 2006 in Bukoba, Tanzania. The 30 most talented football players under 17 years where selected from all over Kagera region. Four footballs were bought and the local football stadium in Bukoba is rented every afternoon to train these young talented football players and to create two football teams (10 - 14 years, 15 - 17 years). At the moment the two teams are training daily and are in preparation for the Coca Cola competition that starts the end of this January.

People & Organisation
At the moment Bukoba Kids has 30 young football players from Kagera region between 10 and 17 years. The club has no religious or political affiliation. At the moment all the players are boys but in the future girls will be particularly encouraged to participate to promote gender equality.

All the children are officially registered. The Bukoba Kids football coach spoke to all their parents and explained about the concept of Bukoba Kids Sport Club. Bukoba Kids supports the children besides giving them sport training and other skills also by paying for their schoolbooks and giving the children porridge after every training and game.

There are two trainers / coaches working for Bukoba Kids, both of them are ex football players from Tanzania and are certified in coaching and training. They train the 30 children everyday from 16.00 to 18.30 in Kaitaba stadium.

The Bukoba Kids Sport Club board consists of four people, a chairman, a treasurer, a secretary and the football manager.

Planned investments in Bukoba Kids
At the moment Bukoba Kids only has three balls and some plastic cones. All children play without shirts and with bare feet. To improve professionalism some basic soccer equipment is needed, like balls, football shoes, uniforms, keeper gloves and a first aid kit.

Bukoba Kids has plans on opening a little club house inside the Kaitaba football stadium. Here the players and coaches can come to meet each other after and before trainings and matches and give theoretical lessons on sport, health issues (malaria / HIV / AIDS) and development.

Plans for the future
At the moment we have two football teams, one for kids 10-14 and one for kids 15-17. The idea is to set up a programme for all ages where children are trained starting from a young age onwards.

We decided to focus on football in the beginning because this is the most popular sport in Tanzania and has the most potential. In the future we are planning on also starting to train talents in other sports, like tennis, swimming, volleyball and athletics.

There are also plans on organising a football tournament in Bukoba in the near future to promote sport and development in Kagera region, especially for youth.

How to support Bukoba Kids
Bukoba Kids is in need of sports equipment, the specifics can be read in the detailed budget plan linked below. You can support Bukoba Kids by sending us material or support us financially so we can buy the equipment ourselves.

We are looking for a sponsor (or more sponsors) that is (are) willing to contribute towards the monthly costs. Bukoba Kids has two teams at the moment that are looking for shirt sponsors.

If you play any sports yourself and you are a member of a club anywhere in the world, then we would be happy to set up a partnership between your club and Bukoba Kids Sport club.

Bukoba Kids Sport Club is in need of volunteers that are prepared to come to Bukoba, Tanzania and can help us set up the club, train the children and coaches and set up professional training programmes.

We thank everybody in advance for their support. Bukoba Kids will do its best to create the sport heroes of the future that can help lead Tanzania towards the goal of winning the 2014 World Soccer Championship and winning at least 5 gold medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Download projectplan Bukoba Kids Sports Club

Profile Bukoba Kids Sports Club
Bukoba Kids Sports Club
Registered with Tanzanian Football Federation
Nationality organisation: Tanzanian

Address
Bukoba Kids Sports Club
P.O. Box 485
Bukoba, Kagera
Tanzania

E-mail: info@kagera.org
Website: www.kagera.org/bk.htm
Telephone: +255755646798

Bukoba Kids Sports Club Board
Chairman: Raymond Mukwenda
Secretary: William O. Rutta
Treasurer: Bart Lacroix
Team Manager / coach: Jacob M. Kilyanga

Bank Details
Account name: Heritage Initiative
Account number: 027103002029
Bank: NBC in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania
Swiftcode: NLCBTZTXXXX