Kick4Life secures Welsh twinning deal

SEBONGILE MATHE

MASERU – The Generation Amazing Foundation (GA) made a recent announcement to support the twinning partnership between Kick4life FC and Wrexham AFC.

This was revealed at the Kick4life Centre this week.

Wrexham Association AFC is a professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world.

They compete in English Football League (EFL) One, the third level of the EFL system. GA is a charity that works to improve people’s lives through sports. Founded in 2010, during Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 World Cup, it has been making a positive difference for over 12 years.

Michael Robertson, the GA Sport for Development Expert, stated during the announcement that this partnership will see GA provide funding and expertise to create the Twinning Goals Curriculum.

He said the programme uses football to teach young people valuable life skills like decision-making, critical thinking, and adaptability.

The curriculum will benefit over 2 500 children and young people in Lesotho, Wales, and Qatar. The partnership will also include coach exchange visits between the three countries.

Wrexham AFC director, Shaun Harvey, sated that this partnership gives Wrexham a global reach and will benefit young people and communities by fostering learning and collaboration.

He highlighted the educational, health, and sporting links that will unite people through this friendship, expressing his hope for expanding the partnership between the two clubs.

Steve Fleming, co-founder of Kick4life, stated in a media statement that the club twinning partnership between Wrexham and Kick4life was initiated during the Generation Amazing Festival 2022, when GA brought together football development organisations from around the world for a youth festival during their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

“It was here that I first met Shaun Harvey, and we started discussing the idea of a club twinning, to facilitate knowledge sharing and cultural exchange. We are, therefore, thrilled that GA is coming on board to support this initiative and to create a connection between Lesotho, Wales, and Qatar that will benefit youth in all three locations,” stated the press release.

Further, the Head of Community, Jamie Edwards, added that the partnership between Wrexhm AFC and Kick4life FC is the key to their future aspirations as a football club that always puts the community first.

He said with GA now joining the partnership will strengthen the future of the partnership providing vital support in upskilling the workforce.

Puseletso Jobo, Kick4life senior women’s team player, who was amongst the group that earlier visited Wrexham AFC, stated that after her visit, she learned a lot about Wrexham’s success, including their training methods and community involvement.

She said she also saw how programmes helped young people stay off the streets and find positive activities for their future.

Jobo also secured the opportunity to pursue a Master’s Degree in Sport Management and Policy Development, intending to apply her knowledge to help Kick4life FC.

Kick4life FC and Wrexham AFC partnership was launched in 2024, with the aim of working together to strengthen the community impact, with coaching exchanges, jointly promoting women’s football, and co-development and delivery of a new football for good curriculum covering health, education, social inclusion and employability.

The club twinning builds on a national twinning between Wales in the United Kingdom and Lesotho, which was born at a meeting in Wrexham in 1984, based on similarities between the two nations related to size, landscape, population, and cultural heritage, aligns with GA’s mission to promote two-way collaboration and exchange between football for development organisations in the Global South and the Global North.

Wrexham AFC is one of the world’s oldest football clubs. Its men’s team currently plays in EFL League Two and the women’s team plays in the Welsh Premier Women’s League.

The club’s charitable trust delivers a range of community interventions including providing access to football sessions for marginalised groups, tackling anti-social behaviour and promoting gender equality.

Kick4Life, on the other hand, is a charity and football club which delivers a range of football- based programmes for vulnerable children and young people covering health, education, life- skills, gender equality and employability. Kick4Life women’s team currently play in the Women’s Super League – becoming national champions in 2021 – and the men’s team play in the A-Division.