'Football For All': Programme aims to remove barriers for rangatahi, connect communities

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Brothers Abdirizak Mohamed, 18, and Yasin Mohamed, 16, are part of a programme that aims to remove barriers for young people playing football and to foster inclusivity.

The tiredness, mud and more-often-than-not bad weather in Wellington doesn’t get to Yasin and Abdirizak Mohamed when they’re on the field playing football.

Because playing football is when the brothers are at their happiest.

The teenagers came to New Zealand in 2019, joining their mother after previously living with family in Somalia.

Since then, they have been studying at Wainuiomata High School, where they are also part of the school’s football team.

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The brothers are part of a programme called Football For All.

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Mohamed said he started playing football when he was little and watching his favourite player, Lionel Messi, encouraged him to keep up with the game.

Sixteen-year-old Yasin Mohamed says he wants to be a professional football player.

The 18-year-old is usually a right midfielder but has also stepped in as goalie for the team’s games.

Although he loves the sport, Mohamed said he wanted to become a pilot.

Abdirizak Mohamed, 18, says he has played football ever since he was little.

Yasin on the other hand, has dreams of becoming a professional football player.

The brothers are part of Football For All, a programme run by Football for the Community Development Trust with support from Wellington Phoenix and other organisations, which aims to create inclusivity and remove barriers that some young people face when it comes to playing the sport.

Wainuiomata High School’s football coordinator Jocelyn Reddy said the school applied for the brothers to be part of the programme.

When their mother found out the brothers had been accepted into the programme, she cried, Reddy said.

Football has played a big role in helping the brothers form friendships and also with their education, she said.

The rest of their football team has really cared for them, she said. “It's a brotherhood. They’ll walk them home and sit with each other in class.”

First launched in June 2020, the Football For All programme uses the sport as a vehicle to help communities such as refugee families and recent immigrants to Wellington.

Eilish Graves, community and administration officer at Wellington Phoenix Football Academy, said the programme aimed to remove barriers some young people had when playing football.

This included club fees, the cost of boots and having the right gear.

The aim of the programme, Graves said, was to help young players and their families connect to local clubs which meant they could form strong and sustainable connections.

“We see it as our job to make football as accessible as possible for the entire community.”

One hundred and two young people are part of the programme.

The programme was for players as young as five and it was about getting people into the sport – it was not talent focused, she said.

“It’s about connecting young people with the community and the programme is a tool to drive connections within our community.”