Building Community Through SOccer
Donations to SoccerPlus Outreach supply sanitary towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, soap, clothes, school uniforms, shoes, bags, and stationaries to students in the Kisumu Greenland FC soccer program.
SoccerPlus Outreach
Manyatta - Kisumu, Kenya
Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city, is located six hours northwest of Nairobi. On the eastern outskirts of Kisumu, in the Manyatta neighborhood, 80% of youth live below the poverty line. Since 2014, SoccerPlus Outreach has partnered with the Manyatta soccer league to promote enrichment and education. Our program teaches teamwork, conflict resolution, sportsmanship, skill mastery, and promotes education through life skills classes.
kISUMU gREENLAND fOOTBALL cLUB
Formed in 2011, the Kisumu Greenland Football Club is composed of junior teams (ages 9-16) and youth teams (ages 16+). Junior teams participate in the Kisumu Greenland Slum Score Supa League, where they play in friendly matches and tournaments organized by staff. The goal of this league is for players to have fun, grow soccer skills, and be engaged in extracurricular activities. Youth team players have graduated from the junior league and play competitively in the FKF Sub-County League. Players learn about teamwork, setting goals, and developing athletic ability. Both leagues provide life skill classes and mentorship programs to help players learn respect, self-esteem, self-awareness, critical thinking, creativity, and community values.
Top players have opportunities to play in tournaments across Kenya to compete for scholarships to secondary school. In 2018 and 2019 over 20 players from the Kisumu Greenland FC youth team were granted scholarships or signed by Kenyan Premiere and Kenyan Super League teams.
The life skills program educates students on good hygiene, including the importance of hand washing, bathing daily, and wearing clean clothes. Young women are provided with feminine hygiene and sexual education classes, while young men are enrolled in the "Coaching Boys into Men"(CBIM) program. Students also participate monthly in an environmental initiative to collect garbage in the community and annual tree planting at local schools. Donations to SoccerPlus Outreach supply sanitary towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, soap, clothes, school uniforms, shoes, bags, and stationaries to students in the Kisumu Greenland FC soccer program.
mEET THE KISUMU GREENLAND tEAM
Davis Ouma Founder and Managing Director
Professional Coach, Coaching Boys into Men program leader, soccer staff trainer, supporter of gender equality, and passionate community leader. Over 12 years experience in management, leadership and coaching. Davis is known for his commitment and leadership in the Kisumu community. He believes in the positive impact soccer and education can have on people’s lives.
Sharon Nyakiti Assistant Director of Community Development
Sharon is a life skill mentor for students in the Kisumu Greenland FC program. She loves having the opportunity to protect and educate young women in her community. She is an excellent mentor and role model.
Levis Odinga Head Coach
Levis is the head coach at Kisumu Greenland FC and a former Kenyan Premier League goalkeeper for Mathare United. He hopes to learn more about coaching methods and grow his skill set. He is also a husband and father to three children.
Seanclaud Ochieng Community Mentor and Coach
Seanclaud is a coach and life skill mentor for the girls junior team, an assistant coach for the girls youth team, and sometimes assists with the boys teams. He is passionate about soccer as a platform to give back to his community. Over the past three years Seanclaud has seen his players develop skills and become better, more responsible members of society. His dream is to be in books as one of the best coaches in the world.
Washington “Tony” Omondi Assistant Mentor and Coach
Tony is an assistant coach and player at Kisumu Greenland FC. He is in college for automotive engineering and hopes to play soccer professionally. He enjoys giving back to his community through coaching and understanding players from different backgrounds.
Byron Omondi Owino Community Mentor and Coach
Byron is a soccer coach for the girls junior team. He is the eldest of four, so he knows the importance of setting a good example. Byron started with Kisumu Greenland as a junior player and ultimately played with the youth men’s team. Now he wants to give back and continue the growth of the community.
William “Morata” Ochieng Assistant Mentor and Coach
Morata is a coach for the junior teams and player at Kisumu Greenland FC. He has been with the program since he was 12 years old. Morata coaches because he understands the challenges his players face. He keeps players busy on the field and assists with mentoring in the life skills lessons. He is in form four high school and plans to attend college to study plumbing.
Program History
In 2014 SoccerPlus Outreach founder Jeffrie Parrish met Davis Ouma, a Kenyan soccer coach in Manyatta. At the time Davis was supporting players education by organizing school supplies, uniform, and lunch fee donations. Jeff supported the mission to promote positive social change through soccer and leveraged his connections to donate balls, cleats, and uniforms. While attending Regis College as a graduate student Jeff also led student immersion trips to Kisumu to run week long youth soccer camps and education training sessions.
To further and extend the SoccerPlus Outreach program the organization joined Inspire Transformation in 2019. Working alongside KisumuGreenland FC, SoccerPlus Outreach hopes to expand the ten team league across five age groups for both boys and girls.
Building community through soccer
Financial donations to SoccerPlus Outreach supply sanitary towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, soap, clothes, school uniforms, shoes, bags, and stationaries to students in the Kisumu Greenland FC soccer program.
If you have supplies to donate please contact us at jeffparrish13@gmail.com
In Memory of…
Tony DiCicco gave his life to the game - however, for him, the game did not live inside the white lines. It lived on all sides. The game was a vehicle to inspire others to be their best selves and to find their purpose. We carry him in our hearts and celebrate his life by living our lives to the fullest -- and continuing his legacy globally.
Through a strategic partnership, Inspire Transformation and SoccerPlus Outreach will seek to carry on Tony's mission. In the quest for equality of opportunities regardless of gender or socioeconomic status, Inspire Transformation and SoccerPlus Outreach build sustainable programs with lasting impact.