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December 15, 2023
Knowing that collaboration leverages unique perspectives, empowers and creates greater impact, Beyond Sport prides itself in providing platforms for connection. Through the Beyond Sport Global Awards, two organizations – one hailing from Australia and the other from Kenya – had the opportunity to connect where they wouldn’t have otherwise. Charity Bounce in Australia and Vijani Amani Pamoja (VAP) in Kenya began their journey from our platform, which led to a partnership that brought basketball to Nairobi.
“Beyond Sport made it super easy for me to connect with a like-minded organization and created a space for capacity building, networking and learning from each other all geared towards developing and strengthening our communities through sports space,” said Enouce Ndeche, VAP’s Founder. We are committed to providing platforms for collaboration and building a strong and engaged network of individuals and organizations. This fosters partnerships that contribute to a more diverse and equitable sport for development industry.
Charity Bounce is positioned as a premier basketball development program in Australia and Internationally. It focuses on using the sport to teach the game of life off the court as much as on it – providing opportunities for disadvantaged youth, including those from diverse cultural, refugee, First Nations and Aboriginal backgrounds. It received the 2020 Sport for Decent Work and Economic Growth Award.
VAP won the 2020 Sport for Reduced Inequalities Award for its work supporting pregnant adolescent girls and young women in Nairobi, Kenya through education and football. Kenya has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in East Africa and 6,300 die preventable deaths during pregnancy and childbirth each year. VAP’s mission is to turn the tide and develop programs to help young people become peer role models and mentors for the community.
“We shared a common goal of helping young people in employment and entrepreneurship through the power of sport, so we went to Beyond Sport to help us make a connection and they were helpful with the introduction” shared Ndeche. “VAP uses football as a primary sport to impact young people’s lives but we wanted to introduce basketball to provide an alternative option and tool for youth to instill life skills and economic development. Despite many young people being interested in the sport, there are very few opportunities to participate in basketball in Nairobi.”
Following the introduction in January 2022, both organizations shared thoughts on programs and how to make more of a difference in the lives of young people through networking and learning from each other for many months. “We saw the alignment with VAP to use basketball to empower young people and provide practical support off the court to deliver positive employment pathway outcomes. This was a key aspect that Bounce is committed to and there was a natural synergy here for this purpose, which we were both clearly driven by,” said Ian Heininger, Founder of Charity Bounce.
The duo officially announced its partnership in November 2022 to deliver Charity Bounce’s Stand Tall resiliency basketball program in Nairobi – the organization’s first venture in Africa. It was led by Global Ambassador and former Harlem Globetrotter Tracy Williams who oversaw remote training for local coaches in Nairobi to deliver the programs. It focused on developing employability skills and creating job pathways for young people utilizing sport as an engagement tool. Both on and off-court activities such as basketball drills were tailored to the development of resiliency and employability. Charity Bounce also provided equipment and apparel as part of the initiative.
The impact of the program in Nairobi has been excellent shared Ndeche, saying that it provided a platform for youth to explore basketball and its benefits, as well as help career development with business training skills and entrepreneurship opportunities. It also provided capacity-building for local coaches as community role models to inspire and help Stand Tall participants on career pathways to reduce the rising rates of youth unemployment in Kenya. 62% of Kenya’s population is under the age of 25 and youth unemployment sits at 13%. One participant said: “The Stand Tall program has helped me gain more skills on how to run my new business that will support me and my siblings.”
It was important for Charity Bounce to understand the local context and knowledge of the issues, challenges and opportunities that exist for young people in the community. “We are only in the early days of our partnership, and we believe our job is to adapt the programs and plans as much as needed to suit the local context. Main alterations that VAP have led the way on include the implementation of younger age group school-based programs in Nairobi and they have motivated us to increase and build our ongoing coaches training resources and training opportunities,” said Heininger.
Charity Bounce is launching some of these initiatives over the coming months, which will not only be available to coaches in Nairobi but also across Australia and the US. Its main focus is around the development of its online training and coaches’ portal, which will provide a platform for resource sharing, coach networking, training opportunities and weekly sessions on employment skills development. It will also expand its career development through an online tool that will provide support on job readiness, resume templates, interview skills and more. It will launch these platforms in Australia, the US and Kenya in 2024.
“The initiatives around coach training portals and increased job pathway resources are key areas for us based on the learnings we have from working with VAP. We have often relied on face-to-face training and networking in Australia but with the move across time zones and remote training opportunities we are committed to improving the resources available for coaches in Nairobi,” explains Heininger.
Charity Bounce currently delivers Stand Tall programs across Australia with plans to expand programs into the USA in 2025. In Nairobi, the partnership with VAP delivers programs in 3 different schools and the local community with plans to extend the program reach to 10 schools and 5 community centers to impact more than 5,000 participants. Both organizations are excited to continue working together to impact young people for many years into the future.
“We have really enjoyed working Enouce and the VAP team and believe we’re working towards a best practice model of partnership together. We love their passion for the young people they work with and their striving to make the biggest impact that they can with the team and resources they have. We hope we can contribute to their mission and make a difference together for the young people across Nairobi,” said Heininger.
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