Care Football Outreach programme |28 December 2023

The young footballers display their certificates in the presence of their coach, mentors and Care officials (Photo: Patrick Joubert)

Aspiring footballers receive certificates

Twenty-four young aspiring footballers aged 11 to 14 years old and coming from various primary and secondary schools across the country and who took part in the Care sports and art project have received their certificates after having successfully completed the programme.

They received their certificates in an awards ceremony held recently at the Care House, Victoria in the presence of Care director Noella Gonthier, chairman Henry Bastienne, coaches, different partners and staff from the organisation.

During the ceremony, the young footballers were presented with a set of football gear comprising uniforms, boots and some footballs courtesy of Care and its partners.  Coach Michel Emile was also recognised for his voluntary contribution in shaping the boys’ character.

The aim of the sport and art project is to use sports and art, character education and community service to help children build resilience against negative influences and to make positive life choices.

The project started in 2012 with a group of children who had followed a Care early intervention programme for substance use prevention at the Mont Fleuri primary school. Coached and mentored by Michel Emile from the Mavericks Football Club, the young boys are then absorbed by other clubs to train with their under-13, 15, 17, 20 teams and possibly senior squad.

In his address, Mr Bastienne called on the young footballers to continue to stay resilient so that they can develop their character to face the challenges and influences being impacted on them in this modern and digital world filled with many choices, temptations and interferences. He also urged them to start by loving and taking care of themselves to face the world’s challenges and to continue to do what is right if they want to succeed in life.

“Develop the resilience that will help you to make the good and right choices in your lives,” said Mr Bastienne, who noted that Care will always be present and at their service to help them to be good citizens of tomorrow.

The young boys also had some words of encouragement from football coach Jim Louis and boxing coach Roland Raforme. Louis called on the young boys to be Care’s ambassadors and to act as peers to other colleagues, while Raforme urged them to take advantage of the expertise of the people helping them to surmount the negative influences. 

Speaking to the media, Mrs Gonthier said the project for primary schools was piloted for one year and due to its success it continued for two years. Later, some of the boys were selected to join the under-17 national team. One of them is Ryan Henriette who now plays for Premier League side Foresters and is also a member of the country’s senior side. Aged 23, Henriette is now Care’s ambassador for resilience, inspiring children.         

“When they moved to the Mont Fleuri secondary school, Care and the school agreed to continue to accompany the boys as some still had some behavioural challenges. Given that they were interested in football, we agreed to use football to motivate them towards improving their behavior, Mrs Gonthier said.

She added that Care has taken this approach to other schools like Plaisance primary school, Bel Eau primary school, Grand Anse Mahé primary and Pointe Larue primary. She noted that with the agreement of the schools, besides football, boxing, karate, table tennis and swimming have also been included in the project to help children identified by the schools as being at risk.

She noted that some children who are practicing karate under the guidance of coach Donald Celestine have even qualified for a competitions in Japan and Mauritius.

Mrs Gonthier said Care is grateful to all partners – the National Grant Committee, schools, coaches, parents, teachers and volunteers – for their contributions in helping save our children from the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

In his testimony, Henriette, who acknowledged being an undisciplined child in upper primary, said things changed for him when he joined the project in 2013. He further added that he learned how to stay resilient and has up to now not done drugs or alcohol.

He noted that his dream as a footballer is to turn professional and he called on all youngsters to stay focused and resilient to achieve their own dream. 

Patrick Joubert