Hub Athletic is already a well-established community youth football team based in Waterloo, Central London. We compete in the West End London Amateur Football League Division Two. Our players range from 16 up to 21 years old, and are drawn from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds. We are also the Middlesex County and the Regional FA Charter Standard Adult Club of the Year 2009.
Many of our players are NEET (Not employed or in education or training) and we see this project as an exciting opportunity to begin to tackle the issue of worklessness across our young people whilst contributing to wider social development issues. See this short film about our work here in Waterloo;
In 2008 Hub Athletic took five team members from Waterloo to work in the slums of Bangalore and Chennai in India, coaching young children football. These children were exceptionally poor, there were all kinds of challenges to deal with – from the number of children at each session (over 250!!), to the food, travel and challenges of working in an entirely different culture for the young people who took part. However, all of them have placed the experience as one of the most significant and defining moments of their lives so far.
In April 2010 we are planning to send a different group of players from Hub Athletic out to South Africa to work with some of the poorest schools and children in Johannesburg. They will be using their skills as footballers to coach young people, developing football skills, but also sharing what they have learned about teamwork and personal effectiveness.
As part of the players commitment to the trip they have decided to run across the 15 major London Bridges to raise money Hub Athletic. If you are able please support these young men as they commit to an opportunity of a lifetime.
