Long after the final whistle of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Alexandra took international centre stage with the official opening of the Football for Hope Centre.
This was the 16th of 20 centres to be built on the continent as part of the 20 Centres for 2010 campaign. This was the official campaign of the 2010 Fifa World Cup which was aimed at creating 20 centres for education, public health and football across Africa.
The launch was attended by South African Football Association (Safa) president Dr Danny Jordaan, Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke, Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation, Gert Oosthuizen and other delegates.
Speaking at the launch, Jordaan asked Fifa to consider naming the centre after the late football administrator Leepile Taunyane, whom he described as a fountain of hope for the Alexandra community. He added that the centre would provide the youth of the community with the care they needed and would also help to tackle some of their challenges.
He also thanked Fifa for building these centres. “I want to thank those who have worked hard to make this dream a reality and I am very proud to be a part of this,” Jordaan said.
James Donald of Grassroots Soccer, a global non-governmental organisation, said the centres were not about finding talent but about using football to link local children to services. “This centre for example will be helping children learn about tough challenges in their community, about gender-based violence, about HIV, about drug and alcohol abuse.
“We will be helping them work with local volunteers, to build relationships with caring adults and help connect them to services,” he said.
Fifa’s Valcke said he was happy and proud of what they had achieved. He said the 2010 World Cup was not just about having a successful world cup. “It was to bring hope to the world and to bring the community together,” said Valcke.
The other centres in the country are in Qwa Qwa in the Free State, Khayelitsha in the Western Cape and Mokopane in Limpopo.
