''The Team'' (also known in French as ''L'Équipe'') is an international multi-ethnic and multicultural television series produced by

Search for Common Ground Searching or search may refer to: Computing technology * Search algorithm, including keyword search ** :Search algorithms * Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence * Search engine technology, software for findin ...

(SFCG). It is a flagship television program by SFCG, used as an education tool through a dramatization of various young players associated to each other through their common love of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(soccer). The common thread between all the series is promote, through the common love of the game of football (soccer), the importance of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, commitment, cooperation (teamwork),

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

, overcoming of adversity and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

and bridging of differences between people of various ethnic, religious, economic and societal backgrounds by bringing them together.

Context

Using the popularity of football (called soccer in America), the show uses sports as a metaphor to unification while addressing local, deep-rooted conflict. The show follows specific characters on a football team who must learn to work together to overcome their differences and win the game. The show is specifically tailored to the country in which it airs. Each country has different issues it faces, and the scripts represent these differences. The cast, writers and production crews are, whenever possible, all indigenous to the country. In the DRC, ''The Team'' deals specifically with women's rights. Part of the success of ''The Team'' is that the audience can relate to the characters. The characters portrayed on the soap opera are from varied ethnic, religious, educational and economic backgrounds. ''The Team'' aired in a dozen countries in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, notably Ivory Coast,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and had already aired as a radio program in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Second seasons were in production in three countries. According to the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', nearly 25% of Moroccans watch the locally produced episodes of ''The Team''. In 2007, Kenya experienced post-election violence. In response to this violence, SFCG, in partnership with the Nairobi Peace Initiative, Media Focus on Africa, the UK's Department for International Development and the

US Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bil ...

, launched ''The Team: Kenya'' The show follows players from the Imani F.C. team. Imani translates as Faith in the local language. The players are from all different parts of Kenyan society- rich and poor, educated and uneducated, urban and rural and male and female. The players have to work together to win games, and through working together, they overcome their differences. The show originally broadcast in May, 2009. A third season is currently in production.

Series

Many series have been broadcast or are in process of being broadcast in local television stations in

and the

. Each series usually consists of between 10 and 13 episodes as a television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

series. Some broadcasters, owing to the success of the initial series have announced new episodes in a renewed season. There was also a 50-episode radio version in

References

External links

''The Team'' page on Search for Common Ground website''The Team'' Common trailer - from various country versions
*Lebanon
The Team Lebanon
*Nepal
Hamro Team Nepal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Team 2010s French television series Association football television series