MYSA logo Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is a sports

development aid Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: develop ...

organization in Mathare, a collection of slums in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

. In sports it focuses mainly on

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 ...

, and furthermore it is active in the field of community building.Prince Claus Fund
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History and background

MYSA was founded in 1987 by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Bob Munro who was an advisor at the time for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in Nairobi, for environmental policy, water resources management and sustainable development. In Mathare children led him to a football field that was covered with flinders and trash. With cleaning the field the first step was made for MYSA.Laureus
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/ref>Play the Game

/ref>Clan Munro Association

/ref>Wekker, Tessa de (2010
''MYSA of hoe een voetbalproject Afrikaanse kinderen een betere toekomst kan geven''
On August 22, 1987, a youth competition was started with 27 clubs. In 2010, 14,000 children in 1,200 teams are active. Meanwhile, MYSA has grown to be the greatest youth association of Africa. Since 1992 there is football for girls as well and in 2006 one-third of the players were girls. MYSA has its own professional football club, Mathare United F.C., which meanwhile has provided four players to the national football team of Kenya. Football players

Doreen Nabwire Doreen Nabwire Omondi (born 5 March 1987), nicknamed "Dodo", is a Kenyan former footballer. In 2009, Nabwire became the first Kenyan woman to play professional football in Europe. She also played and served as captain of the Kenya women's nation ...

, Dennis Oliech of

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

and Jamal Mohammed once started their careers at MYSA.Goal (25 October 2012
''MYSA remains one of Kenya's backbone in churning out young footballers''
/ref> Since its start, MYSA is dedicated to enhancing social proficiencies through the teaching of football. Children can score points at their participation in 'Clean Up Projects', and with matches they have won. Very diligent players can have their school expenses paid. When there is no place available at school, one can still use the library. During theater plays there is also attention to instruction on AIDS, drugs and prostitution. Furthermore, it teaches leadership, photography, music, and more. MYSA was twice nominated for a

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

and is financially supported by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

and the Norwegian

Strømme Foundation The Strømme Foundation ( no, Strømmestiftelsen) is a Norwegian volunteer development organization that was established on September 21, 1976. The foundation provides assistance to poor people in the Global South to pull themselves out of poverty ...

. In 1999 MYSA won the UNEP Global 500 Award for environmental innovation and in 2001 the CAF/African Youth Development Award. In 2003 MYSA was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in 2004 it received a Sport for Good Award of the

Laureus World Sports Awards The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Football in Kenya Sport in Nairobi Sports organisations of Kenya