Refugees United Soccer Academy
The Refugees United Soccer Academy (Academy) is a place for refugee girls and boys ages 6 to 18 to learn about teamwork, leadership, and peacebuilding, all while improving soccer skills.
The Academy was co-created with refugee communities and offers children, whose families have been displaced by extreme violence, a safe space to play, heal, and be empowered. iACT trains and employs two male and two female refugees to serve as the leaders and coaches of each Academy. Each week, the coaches lead children in mindfulness exercises, warm-ups, skills and drills activities, scrimmages, and team-building exercises. Ultimately, their goal is to provide a safe place for refugee children to learn soccer, lead, play, grow, and be children. The Academy also serves as a way to connect refugee children and youth with soccer players and clubs across the U.S. and globally.
Learn more about the training and the certification of completion here.
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We work hand-in-hand with refugees to provide food, create jobs, build preschools and establish youth soccer academies in camps around the world. It’s for refugees, led by refugees.
Only with the help of generous supporters like you, alongside the UEFA Foundation For Children, will we be able to support 8,180 refugee boys and girls in this project.
CHAD (DARFUR CRISIS)
OUR
IMPACT
8
RUSA-Darfur Academies currently operating in Chad
184
Darfuri refugee coaches trained
DARFUR CRISIS
FACTS
TANZANIA (BURUNDI CRISIS)
OUR
IMPACT
2
30
2,915
CAMEROON
OUR
IMPACT
1
RUSA-CAR Academy currently operating in Cameroon
35
Central African coaches trained
1,225
Central African refugee children reached so far
CAMEROON (CAR CRISIS)
FACTS
CAMEROON
NEWS & RESOURCES
BBC Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman outlines the background to the CAR crisis in two minutes
CAR Refugees Sing for Peace at Camp in Cameroon
2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the Central African Republic
Hundreds of thousands of people have found safe haven in Cameroon but have limited access to food, water and healthcare
REFUGEE STAFF
PROFILES
Daniel
When violence broke out in Burundi in 2015, Daniel’s father was killed due to his involvement in a government opposition party.
Read MoreViolette
Violette spent 15 years living in the Kanembwa refugee camp in Tanzania due to violence in Burundi in 1993, which is where she met her husband.
Read MoreInnocent
When Innocent was younger, youth military groups regularly tried to recruit him. When things got so bad, his family encouraged him to flee.
Read MoreDelphine
Delphine and her family fled Burundi due to threats of violence from militia groups and the zone leader where her family lived.
Read MoreEsther
Esther loves being a RUSA coach and was proud to see one of her girls’ teams win a camp tournament last year. She shares her love of football with her husband who is very supportive of her work.
Read MoreJannette
When Jannette married her husband, they both dropped out of school at grade 9 to run a small business together.
Read MoreEliana
Eliana was born a refugee in the Kanembwa refugee camp in Tanzania. She dropped out of school in grade 7 because the the Tanzanian government shut down the schools in her camp.
Read MoreJean-Marie
Jean-Marie loved playing football since childhood. Growing up, he realized that he wanted to share his football skills with children to help them grow up into good football players.
Read MoreAnaclet
While Anaclet was born in Burundi, when he was 7-months old, his family sought asylum in the Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania. Eventually the family repatriated back to Burundi.
Read MoreIrene
Due to political violence in Burundi in 2015, Irene’s father and grandfather were killed. At this time, youth militias also tried to recruit Irene and her sister due to their athletic nature.
Read MoreChantal
When conflict broke out in Burundi in 2015, some of Chantal’s family members were killed. When her family received further threats of more violence, they decided to flee to Tanzania.
Read MoreEtienne
Etienne was born a refugee in the Mutabili refugee camp in Tanzania in 1993. He completed primary school there and eventually repatriated to Burundi with his family in 2008.
Read MoreClaudine
When violence broke out in Burundi in 2015, Claudin’s father was killed due to his ethnicity and her mother eventually re-married.
Read MoreTAKE
ACTION
Sustainer of Action
Help advance our mission to provide humanitarian action to aid, empower, and extend hope to those affected by mass atrocities.
Sister Club
Form a relationship between your soccer team, club, or region and refugee Academy players.
Volunteer
iACT is always looking for people like you to join our community and contribute your skills.
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