Hundreds of youngsters will benefit from football kits donated by Scottish football coaches as part of their mission to support Rwandan football development through the Scottish Football for Rwanda. The organization was formed in 2016 when the Scottish Football Association (SFA) chaplain Mark Fleming was joined by coaches from Hampden and Lothian club, Tranent Colts, to make an initial trip to the African country. A total of 16 Scottish youth coaches spent 10 days in the country working with groups to provide kits, balls and goals to vulnerable communities where about 3,000 football items were handed out during their trip. Among items donated include kits, balls, and goals to young football talents from the country's most vulnerable communities. Besides kits donations, the coaches, during their stay, also held twice-daily sessions for youngsters in communities which were still recovering from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. They also have a plan to build football pitches for promising young players to use in the coming years. Dave Sparham from Gala Fairydean Rovers was part of the group that visited four different communities in Rwanda. He handed out tops from his own club as well as a donated kit from Melrose FC and Tweedbank Thistle. The long-term goal of Scottish Football for Rwanda is to establish a coaching network in Rwanda, but the problem just now is they don't have grassroots football of any kind,” Sparham said. The only organized games of any kind start for players when they are well into their teens. We are hoping to change that by coaching the coaches and donating kits to the youngsters and the charitable organizations out there, he added. The trip also included visits to genocide memorials as well as communities of genocide survivors. The coaches also worked on a project that looks after disabled children. In the initiative, children hope for a better future in football, a life-changing career if they follow the sport with ambition. Before a coaching session they'd have maybe 100 children, and once they started there would be another 100 coming out of nowhere. They love football and they certainly loved the kit we gave them. There were a lot of happy children, Sparham noted. All of the clubs that were part of the most recent Scottish Football for Rwanda trip are continuing to support the project. It is hoped that a fundraising drive will help the charity create proper pitches in the communities it supports.
