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.
+
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
TAKE
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.
RELATED NEWS
iACT’s Impact toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals “are a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.” iACT’s programs may not have been borne out of an intentional response to any of the “UN SDGs,” as...
Announcing iACT’s Newest Team Members!
Abdullah. Nouha. Idriss. Fatna. Photo: Gabriel Stuaring/iACT I'd like to introduce the newest coaches of the Refugees United Soccer Academy! These four women and men hail from Darfuri camp Iridimi, and will be training boys and girls there in soccer skills,...
Solidarity on the Field
When I woke up about an hour before my alarm went off today, I can’t say I was particularly surprised. It happens every time I am more excited than usual for my soccer games, a special practice, or in this case, my first time helping to train and select new coaches...