Play It Forward for Adolescent Health
The Play It Forward campaign is an ambitious and transformative campaign to catalyze growth and help Grassroot Soccer scale its impact from reaching millions to tens of millions of adolescents each year with life-saving programs.
Grassroot Soccer’s Play It Forward Campaign will raise $35 million over 5 years to 10X our impact
Our Three Pillars
The Play It Forward Campaign is built on three key pillars where Grassroot Soccer’s impact is changing the game for the highest-need population in the world (adolescents) in the highest-need areas of the world:
Mental Health
Poor mental health is the most critical health issue facing young people around the world, and the challenges are even greater for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, poor mental health is closely linked to other important health risks, such as HIV, teen pregnancy, and gender-based violence. Grassroot Soccer’s mental health programs cut the number of participants with depression in half.
HIV
Despite significant progress over the past several decades, in sub-Saharan Africa, HIV is still a leading cause of death for adolescents. Grassroot Soccer participants are more likely to test, get on treatment, and stay on treatment so they can’t transmit HIV, resulting in 3X fewer new infections.
Young Women & Girls
Pregnancy-related complications are the leading cause of death of adolescent girls and young women in Africa, and unplanned pregnancy has life-changing outcomes for individuals and communities. Adolescent girls who go through Grassroot Soccer programs are more likely to use modern contraception resulting in 2.3x fewer unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths.
PLAY IT FORWARD:
Every dollar invested in Grassroot Soccer is leveraged three ways:
- Highest need population in the world: adolescents. Every dollar invested in young people’s physical, mental, and sexual health yields a 10X economic return. (The Lancet)
- Highest need area of the world: Sub-Saharan Africa, where the population is exploding and, by 2050, will be home to a quarter of the world’s population.
- Our model is based on partnerships: leveraging government and partner infrastructures to implement programs at a scale and cost we could never achieve on our own.
Ready to Play It Forward?
Be a part of the movement transforming the lives of young people through the beautiful game.