GAME has announced its support, together with Microsoft, of Football For Good Day, a one-day global celebration of youth and unified action throughout the Commonwealth showcased through football-led activations worldwide, overseen, managed and delivered by Street Soccer Foundation.
Young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness will go head-to-head in an EA Sports FC 24 gaming competition at the London Stadium, as part of a tournament celebrating International Football For Good Day.
Microsoft and GAME are supporting partners of the Street Soccer Foundation’s Commonwealth-wide initiative celebrating football’s ability to change lives for the better.
A gaming arena will be set up inside the London Stadium in Stratford, where players will compete in an EA Sports FC 24 tournament alongside vying for the Football For Good Day Trophy on the pitch.
Among the 18- to 30-year-olds taking part will be young people currently experiencing homelessness, former young offenders and those who are not in education, employment or training.
They will be representing the 11 football club community trusts where they are participants in Street Soccer Foundation Academies – a 10-week personal development course centred around football, which includes positive mindset training, mentoring support, football coaching and skills and employability workshops.
The event on Sunday, 19 November will mark International Football For Good Day, when communities in the 56 Commonwealth member countries are invited to organise football-related activities where they live.
This collaboration will celebrate football’s ability to transform communities through youth development, education, peace and unity and is the culmination of the Football For Good initiative, launched last month as a partnership between the Street Soccer Foundation, the Commonwealth and Catalyst in Communities.
Keith Mabbutt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Street Soccer Foundation, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have the support of GAME and Microsoft for our showcase event – the inaugural International Football For Good Day at the London Stadium.
“It’s an incredible opportunity they are providing for our young people to take part in an exclusive EA Sports FC tournament in support of the Commonwealth Year of Youth.”
Commenting on the International Football For Good Day gaming competition, Nick Arran, Managing Director for GAME said,
“Football is at the heart of the community and GAME is honoured to be supporting the Street Soccer Foundation through this tremendously worthy cause, which helps so many young people improve their lives through the power of sport. Community means a great deal to us here at GAME and EA Sports FC 24 brings the spirit and intensity of the beautiful game to life with stunning realism, which we are certain will make for a thrilling tournament.”
Football For Good forms part of the Commonwealth’s ‘Year of Youth’ project, which is marking 50 years of the Commonwealth Youth Programme and aims to see Commonwealth Heads of Government committing to collaborative action on youth-related issues, including climate change, access to education and employment.
The event at the London Stadium will connect up with similar football events going on across the Commonwealth on 19 November, through live streaming and social media, to form a global celebration, which will also involve a “sleep-out” in the stadium to raise awareness of homelessness.
The players taking part in the Football For Good tournament are from Street Soccer Foundation Academies at 11 clubs across the country, including West Ham United Foundation, Chelsea FC Foundation, Sheffield United Community Foundation, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, Wycombe Wanderers Foundation, Hull City’s Tigers Trust, Everton in the Community, Sunderland FC’s Foundation of Light, Leicester City in the Community, Liverpool’s LFC Foundation and Salford City’s Foundation 92.
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