Football is the most popular sport in Africa. It is loved by young and old, girls and boys. And the village of Unga, where we run Project Rael, is no exception. We founded the Unga United FC football club in the autumn of 2022. All the local children quickly showed an interest in football, and a few months later our village club had around 300 registered footballers.
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The Story
We decided to start the club for several reasons. The main one, besides the popularity of football as such, was the enthusiasm of the local community and parents. They liked the idea especially because it gave the children a new extracurricular activity that not only entertains them, but also prevents them from getting into trouble.Within the club, the children are divided into six teams - four boys and two girls. We have introduced a professional approach that would not be possible without a professional coach and trainer, Tom and Sophy. We now employ both of them full time. The individual teams train every day and the children go to matches or tournaments at weekends. The boys in the oldest team train on their own almost every day on their own initiative - they just want to be the best - and we encourage that!
As a proper village big club we also have a general partner. This is the company Weber Bauservice, which provides employment in Germany. The Weber family pays for the entire running of the club, from sports equipment to coaches' salaries and transfers to matches, to water and refreshments for the players at matches. It also paid for the production of the club's own jerseys, which feature the Weber Bauservice company logo next to the Unga United club crest.