Sacred Sports Foundation

In St. Lucia, young people lack viable options for work: of the 5,000 or so pupils that leave school each year, less than a quarter find work or end up in college. As a result, many young people in St. Lucia turn to gang-violence and organised crime.

Sacred Sports Foundation (SSF) seeks to assist these young people by providing them with support and opportunities through football. It works to mentor local coaches about the best ways to reach troubled youth and also assists young people on probation. Working with young people between the ages of 6 and 25 in low-income areas, Sacred Sports integrates football training with sessions on communication, conflict management, gender awareness, and health.

SSF has over 2,000 annual beneficiaries, with participation in the programmes successfully influencing academic performance in a number of ways, including better attitudes toward school and higher educational aspirations. The programme creates a positive effect on a range of prevention outcomes, such as avoidance of drug and alcohol use, a decrease in delinquency and violent behaviour, and reduction in juvenile crime.