- Laureus

10 YEARS OF LAUREUS
JANUARY 2010
TEN YEARS OF
LAUREUS 2000-2010
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
HIGHLIGHTS FROM GLOBAL
PROJECT VISITS
BREAKING THE CYCLE
OF VIOLENCE
NEW LAUREUS FRIEND
& AMBASSADOR
Laureus Academy members visit Brazil,
Cambodia, Kenya, Morocco, PR China,
Sri Lanka and the USA
David Cameron joins Laureus Academy
members to raise awareness of sports
solutions against gun and knife crime in
the UK
Interview with surfing legend Layne
Beachley on her first Laureus project
visit to the Indigenous Sports
Programme in Australia
02 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
MESSAGES FROM THE
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY
EDWIN MOSES
CHAIRMAN
Ten years ago, I was privileged to be asked to become Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. At the
time this felt like being made captain of the greatest sports team ever put together.
Of course there was a more serious purpose to our endeavours: through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
we hoped to be able to use the power of sport to affect positive social change in communities around the world.
I am very proud with what has been achieved. From small beginnings, the Foundation, with the encouragement of
its Global Partners: Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone, now supports over 70 humanitarian
projects worldwide that have helped to improve the lives of more than one million children.
Ten years on, nothing has changed my belief that sport is one of the great hopes for the future. Sport can build
bridges and bring people together in a way that nothing else can. With children and teenagers more at risk today
from “controllable environmental factors” such as diabetes, obesity and an alarming lack of physical activity, our
mission remains as crucial as it has ever been. It’s now the time to get busy and help solve these problems.
I hope you enjoy this special issue of the Laureus magazine which I believe gives a flavour of what we have
achieved in our first decade, but for us this is just the start. We still have a long race ahead of us, and hurdles to
clear, but hopefully we will keep up the pace and the real winners will be thousands of young underprivileged
people around the world.
CONTENTS 03
CONTENTS
04 TEN YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
04
04
Executive Chairman Richemont
05
06
10
12
The German Foundation was created in 2001 and it is a source of great pride to me that I was asked to be its
Chairman, and even more rewarding to know that we now have seven community projects in Germany and have
plans for many more. We have also enjoyed the backing of many great sportsmen and women like my fellow
Academy members Franz Beckenbauer and Katarina Witt, and Laureus Friends & Ambassadors including
boxing’s Kltischko brothers.
This is a scenario that has been seen in many countries around the world over the first ten years and will be
repeated even more often as Laureus grows into its second decade.
Message from Dr Dieter Zetsche
Laureus Academy meet Nelson Mandela
Highlights from Global Project Visits
05
Breaking the Cycle of Violence, UK
Seenigamma Sports Programme, Sri Lanka
Special Olympics, Shanghai
Mathare Youth Sports Association, Kenya
Fight for Peace, Brazil
Spirit of Soccer, Bosnia & Cambodia
Courir Pour la Vie, Morocco
Fight Back, USA
VICE-CHAIRPERSON
In the ten years that I have been a Laureus Academy member, the Laureus Family has grown enormously both
in size and in geographical spread, and the Netherlands is now the ninth country which has established its own
local Laureus Foundation, along with Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the
United States.
How it all began
CEO Daimler
BORIS BECKER
It was with great pleasure in September 2009 that I visited Amsterdam to join Ruud Gullit, Pieter van den
Hoogenband and Esther Vergeer at a celebration to officially launch the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in
the Netherlands.
Celebrating 10 Years of Laureus
Message from Johann Rupert
28
30
32
Project Reflections
Looking Ahead
Laureus Map
12
34 GLOBAL PARTNER NEWS
34
35
36
Mercedes-Benz
IWC Schaffhausen
Vodafone
37 NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS
TANNI GREY-THOMPSON
VICE-CHAIRPERSON
The first decade of the 21st century has not been easy for planet Earth, with major wars in Afghanistan, Iraq
and Somalia, and natural disasters like the 2004 Tsunami, the Kashmir Earthquake and Hurricane Katrina.
The tragic side of humanity was brought powerfully home to me in April 2009 when I visited the genocide
memorial in Rwanda, East Africa, built on the site of mass graves of up to 250,000 victims.
I was there on behalf of Laureus to support the work of the Rwanda National Paralympic Committee - there
are many thousands of amputees in the country after years of war and civil unrest.
It was moving to meet so many young people who have suffered so much and I tried to do what I could to
help the Rwanda NPC, who are expanding sports opportunities in the country for the disabled, until now
very much a forgotten group.
For ten years now, projects such as the one in Rwanda have been the heartbeat of Laureus, and you can
read about many more in this special edition of the Laureus magazine.
I know I came back from Rwanda absolutely drained emotionally, but also refreshed for the challenge of the
next ten years.
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Argentina
France
Germany
Italy
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
The Netherlands
USA
18
46 FRIENDS & AMBASSADORS
46
47
Layne Beachley Interview
Membership Scheme
26
ACADEMY MEMBERS
GIACOMO AGOSTINI, MARCUS ALLEN, SEVERIANO BALLESTEROS, FRANZ BECKENBAUER, BORIS BECKER (VICE-CHAIRPERSON),
PETER BLAKE (IN FOND MEMORY), IAN BOTHAM, SERGEY BUBKA, BOBBY CHARLTON, SEBASTIAN COE, NADIA COMANECI,
MARCEL DESAILLY, YAPING DENG, KAPIL DEV, DAVID DOUILLET, EMERSON FITTIPALDI, SEAN FITZPATRICK, DAWN FRASER,
CATHY FREEMAN, TANNI GREY-THOMPSON (VICE-CHAIRPERSON), MARVELOUS MARVIN HAGLER, MIKA HÄKKINEN, TONY HAWK,
MIKE HORN, MIGUEL INDURAIN, MICHAEL JOHNSON, KIP KEINO, FRANZ KLAMMER, DAN MARINO, JOHN MCENROE, EDWIN MOSES
(CHAIRPERSON), NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL, ROBBY NAISH, ILIE NASTASE, MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, ALEXEY NEMOV, JACK NICKLAUS,
GARY PLAYER, MORNÉ DU PLESSIS, HUGO PORTA, VIVIAN RICHARDS, BILL SHOEMAKER (IN FOND MEMORY), MONICA SELES,
MARK SPITZ, DALEY THOMPSON, ALBERTO TOMBA, STEVE WAUGH, KATARINA WITT.
www.laureus.com
FRONT COVER: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER MARCEL DESAILLY
AT THE LAUREUS SUPPORTED PROJECT, ORPHANAID, GHANA
39
www.laureus.com
04 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN 05
MESSAGE FROM
JOHANN RUPERT
10 YEAR HISTORY
OF LAUREUS
Some 30 years ago, whilst living in New York City, I had a
black friend who was a true sports superstar. He was
constantly mobbed for autographs. I noticed that he took
extra care giving signed posters to white kids. I asked him
about the apparent favouritism. His answer: “Johann, if a
white kid has my poster in his bedroom, he can hardly
discriminate against the black kid in his class”. How true.
The year 2000 dawned with a mixture of hope and
expectation as the world prepared for the new Millennium.
Ever since then we have strived to create and promote
cross-cultural heroes. In South Africa we helped start
Institutes and sports academies to promote sporting
excellence. As a South African I have also witnessed first
hand the profound role that sport can play in nation-building
and reconciliation.
When democratic South Africa was accepted into
international sport over a decade ago many believed it would
take years for us to be integrated. Since then we have
confounded the critics, won major championships and
hosted others. It is this same belief that led me to propose
that Richemont help found Laureus and the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation believes that sport
can change the way people look at the world. The true
values of sport can bring together families, friends, nations –
and on occasions, the whole world – in a way that no other
human activity can.
“
Laureus’ passion is based on a simple
truth: whoever you are, wherever you
live, whatever your background, sport
can give you the chance to be a better
person tomorrow than you are today.
”
In a world of increasing tension between cultures and
religions, we believe that sporting heroes can bridge the
gap that other leaders of society are either unable or
unwilling to do.
Sport represents the best of humanity - determination,
fellowship, teamwork and the pursuit of excellence.
This is a powerful message – one which I hope I can
count on for your support, playing your part to help
change the world.
JOHANN RUPERT
Executive Chairman
Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA
www.laureus.com
The United Nations declared it to be the International Year for
the Culture of Peace, and global warming was something
most people were hardly aware of. Indeed Al Gore was a US
Presidential candidate that year, and had yet to move on to
become the maker of the award-winning ecological wake-up
film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.
As ever, sport was full of promise. The Millennium Olympic
Games were just around the corner in Sydney, and indeed
proved to be one of the most successful ever. And
something else significant was stirring: an idea which was to
prove radical and innovative, and, once it became reality, a
beacon of hope for disadvantaged young people.
The seed of the idea that grew to become Laureus was first
planted several years before the Millennium by Johann
Rupert, Executive Chairman of luxury goods company
Richemont. A noted sports enthusiast, Rupert was at a
dinner with friends one evening and mused over the fact that
there was no Nobel Prize or Oscars-style awards for sport.
Rupert’s views on the power of sport were fundamentally
influenced by the crucial role that the 1995 Rugby World Cup
played in the reconciliation of the different communities in
South Africa, and in 1998 he found a kindred spirit in Dieter
Zetsche, Chairman of German automotive giant Daimler, like
Richemont, another blue chip company with a long
commitment to sport.
Two years later, the Laureus World Sports Academy was
created, with 30 of the greatest living sports legends named
as founder members. On May 25, 2000, the majority of the
Academy members gathered in Monaco for the very first
Laureus World Sports Awards. It was an impressive
collection of sporting legends, but it is fair to say that the
biggest name was a huge surprise all round, as the door to
the Academy meeting room opened and in walked President
Nelson Mandela.
IN 10 YEARS
LAUREUS HAS
SUPPORTED
OVER 70
PROJECTS
WORLDWIDE
“
Sport has the power to
change the world. It has
the power to inspire. It has
the power to unite people
in a way that little else does.
It speaks to youth in a
language they understand.
Sport can create hope,
where once there was only
despair.
”
NELSON MANDELA, PATRON, LAUREUS WORLD
SPORTS AWARDS, MONACO 2000
It is more powerful than governments in breaking down
racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of
discrimination.
The heroes standing with me are exemplars of this power.
They are valiant not only on the playing field, but also in
the community, both local and international. They are
champions and they deserve the world’s recognition.
Together they represent an active, vigorous Hall of
Fame…a Hall of Fame that goes out into the world
spreading help, inspiration and hope.
Their legacy will be an international community where
the rules of the game are the same for everyone, and
behaviour is guided by fair play and good sportsmanship.
I ask you now to rise and join me in commending the
original inductees into the Laureus World Sports
Academy Hall of Fame.”
It was in Monaco that President Mandela, who was to
become the Patron of Laureus, made the visionary speech
which has become the philosophy of Laureus and the driving
force which has shaped its work for ten years. His speech
has become the dictum not only for Laureus, but for the
whole Sport for Good movement. He said: “Thank you. I am
happy to be with you tonight at the first Laureus World
Sports Awards.
www.laureus.com
06 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN 07
RIGHT: YELENA ISINBAYEVA, LAUREUS WORLD
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR 2007 & 2009
FAR RIGHT:
DAVID BECKHAM, MANCHESTER UNITED,
LAUREUS WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR 2000
BELOW: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER SIR BOBBY
CHARLTON INSPIRING THE YOUTH AT THE
MATHARE YOUTH SPORTS ASSOCIATION
BACKGROUND: USAIN BOLT,
LAUREUS SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR 2009
OPPOSITE: NELSON MANDELA, PATRON, LAUREUS
WORLD SPORTS AWARDS, MONACO 2000
MESSAGE FROM
DR DIETER ZETSCHE
10 YEAR HISTORY
OF LAUREUS
WE BELIEVE IN SPORT FOR GOOD.
As President Mandela urged, in its ten years Laureus has
become an athlete-driven organisation using its power and
its influence for the betterment of society. To achieve the
goals laid down by its Patron, Laureus has become much
more than a red carpet event saluting the greatest sportsmen
and women each year, it has become a year-round charity
dedicated to effecting social change through sport, focusing
on helping young people overcome challenging social
issues including homelessness, social exclusion, gun and
gang violence, discrimination, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.
Sport can bring out the best in us. It fosters open
competition. It builds team spirit. It motivates people to excel.
And it inspires millions of supporters around the world to
cheer on their favourite athletes and teams. Last, but
certainly not least, it has a unique potential to unite people
who would otherwise be separated by language, religion,
ideology, or social differences.
For all these reasons, Mercedes-Benz initiated and supports
the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
“
Over the past ten years, this
commitment has developed into an
important and exciting example of
what we mean by corporate social
responsibility. Through Sport for Good,
we help enable social progress by
placing a priority on children and youth
and focusing our efforts in parts of the
world where meaningful change is
most needed.
”
2010 is a milestone year. With the eleventh annual Laureus
World Sports Awards and the worldwide growth of the Sport
for Good Foundation, we are taking a significant step toward
building Laureus Sport for Good into one of the biggest
global children and youth foundations. In pursuing our goals
we are supported by a select group of world-class athletes
and highly accomplished men and women. We are most
grateful for the participation of the 46 Laureus Academy
members and more than 100 Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors worldwide.
Working together through Sport for Good, we can all
contribute to a richer dialogue and better understanding
between cultures. And that’s how we – and every young
person we reach – can all come out winners!
DR DIETER ZETSCHE
Chairman of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars
If President Mandela supplied the philosophy and impetus to
galvanize Laureus, it is the Academy members who have
provided the energy and determination to create the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation.
Sebastian Coe, one of the Academy members present in
Monaco in 2000, now head of the London 2012 Olympic
Games organising committee, recalls: “All of us were
accustomed to meeting fairly important people, but seeing
Nelson Mandela arrive unexpectedly to tell us how much he
supported what we were trying to achieve was impressive to
say the least. I am not sure how we had been kept unaware
that he was coming to Monaco, but it had the desired effect.
We all believed in the concept of Sport for Good but having
perhaps the most admired man in the world at that time
there to urge us on was exhilarating.”
Daimler’s Dieter Zetsche, who sat with Johann Rupert in that
original Academy meeting, says: “Sport can bring out the
best in us. It has a unique potential to unite people who
would otherwise be separated by language, religion,
ideology, or social differences. Over the past ten years, this
commitment has developed into an important and exciting
example of what we mean by corporate social responsibility.”
For ten years the Laureus Awards Ceremony has been
punctuated with a cavalcade of the biggest names in world
sport, including Lance Armstrong, David Beckham, Usain
Bolt, Roger Federer, Ronaldo, Michael Schumacher, Serena
Williams and Tiger Woods, while the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation, with the encouragement of its Patrons: Daimler
and Richemont, and its Global Partners: Mercedes-Benz,
IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone, has quietly, but indelibly
impacted on the lives of more than one million children
around the world.
There have been memorable milestones along the way.
That inaugural year of 2000, when Tiger Woods received the
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award and Lance
Armstrong was receiving the Laureus Comeback Award
following his emotional victory in the Tour de France after
recovering from cancer, also saw Laureus select its first
humanitarian project to support.
The Mathare Youth Sports Association based in one of the
largest and poorest slums in Africa, where poverty is
widespread and AIDS is a serious problem, pioneered the
use of football as a tool to encourage co-operation and raise
self-esteem in the young people of the community.
Thousands of Kenyan youngsters now play in leagues,
where success is measured not just by the goals scored in
matches, but by the work the young people do in cleaning
up the slums, going to school and improving the social
community. The Mathare Youth Sports Association has twice
been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Also present in Monaco that first year was Eunice Kennedy
Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, who received the
very first Laureus Sport for Good Award. The success of the
Special Olympics provided an early inspirational model for
the work of the Laureus Foundation, which over ten years
has actively collaborated with many organisations in the sport
development community to help it succeed in its mission.
“
Within 12 months, Sport for Good
support had reached every continent
with the induction of the Indigenous
Sports Programme in Australia into the
Laureus family.
”
It proved a timely addition as one of the stars of the 2001
Awards Ceremony was Australia’s Cathy Freeman who
received the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award
following her victory in the 400 metres in Sydney, one of the
most indelible moments in Olympic history. Her triumph on
the track made a stirring visual image around the world as
she raced to victory in her yellow and green hooded running
suit. Freeman, who is an Aboriginal Australian, is regarded as
a role model for her people, and, by many in the nonAboriginal community, as a symbol of national reconciliation
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Some years later, after her retirement, she became a
Laureus Academy member, thus closing the circle.
That year also saw the creation in Germany of the first
autonomous local Laureus Foundation. It was to prove to be
the first of many. By 2009, there were to be local
organisations in eight other countries - Argentina, France,
Netherlands, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the
United States – to supplement the work of the global
Laureus Foundation.
www.laureus.com
The Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony has seen many
emotional moments, none more so, perhaps, than in 2002
when Sean Connery presented a posthumous Lifetime
Achievement Award and Laureus Sport for Good Award to
Peter Blake, New Zealand's America's Cup yachting legend,
who had been murdered by pirates in the Amazon. Speaking
on behalf of the Laureus Academy members, Connery said: "I
am here to explain what is their sad yet beautiful gesture of
honouring one man with two prestigious Laureus Awards."
And he finished by quoting John Masefield's atmospheric
verse: "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea
and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
Brazil’s victory in the FIFA World Cup in Japan and Korea saw
Ronaldo on stage twice in Monaco in 2003 to collect the
Team of the Year Award for his country and the Comeback of
the Year Award for his own contribution, and yet it was a
relatively unknown disabled skier, Michael Milton, who
brought the audience to its feet. Milton, from Canberra, had
lost a leg at the age of nine after cancer but had become the
first athlete in his amputee class to win all four Paralympic
Alpine gold medals. "Who would have thought it - a snow
skier from Australia?” said an emotional Milton on stage to
rapturous applause. “I think tonight is my Everest. Thank you."
www.laureus.com
08 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN 09
THE FOUNDATION HAS CHANGED THE
LIVES OF OVER ONE MILLION YOUNG
PEOPLE SINCE ITS INCEPTION
FAR LEFT: PRESIDENT OF
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION,
VLADIMIR PUTIN, LAUREUS
WORLD SPORTS AWARDS,
ST. PETERSBURG 2008
“
Over the decade great stories of
human triumph against the odds such
as Michael Milton’s have become a
feature of the Laureus World Sports
Awards, fitting in seamlessly with the
stirring tales of derring-do of Olympic
heroes and world champions.
MIDDLE: HIS SERENE HIGHNESS
PRINCE ALBERT OF MONACO,
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS
AWARDS, MONACO 2000
RIGHT: HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF
SPAIN, LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS
AWARDS, BARCELONA 2007
”
BACKGROUND: ROGER FEDERER,
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSMAN OF
THE YEAR 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008
The year 2004 powerfully demonstrated the contribution
sport can make in trying to ease tensions caused by
apparently intractable problems when the Laureus Sport for
Good Award was presented jointly to the Indian and
Pakistani cricket teams. Little more than a year earlier, India
and Pakistan faced fears of a nuclear war after repeated
clashes in the dispute over Kashmir. But past troubles
seemed forgotten as both Indian and Pakistani supporters
draped themselves in each other's flags and came together
through their love of cricket in a way that had never been
seen before.
The following year proved something of a watershed as the
Laureus World Sports Academy showed itself to be
outward-looking and energetic in its response to both
natural as well as man-made disasters. Edwin Moses and
Daley Thompson joined Hollywood action hero and Laureus
Ambassador Jackie Chan on a four-day visit to Banda Aceh
in South East Asia in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami
Disaster to see what help Laureus could give in the
reconstruction of the region. England cricket legend Sir Ian
Botham visited Sri Lanka, where the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation identified a suitable project in the village of
Seenigama, near Galle, which focused on cricket, volleyball,
football, swimming and badminton as the means to rebuild
community spirit.
Edwin Moses also accompanied Jackie Chan to Northern
Cambodia, one of the most dangerous places on Earth after
almost three decades of war where intensive aerial
bombing, together with widespread use of landmines has
had a devastating impact on the country. 98% of mine
casualties are civilian, 6,000 villages are affected and over
five million people are at risk.
“
As a result of the visit, a landmines
awareness project, using football as the
means to engage young people, was
launched.
”
On the sporting stage, 2005 proved to be the first of the
Federer years. Swiss tennis phenomenon Roger Federer
won the first of his four straight Laureus World Sportsman of
the Year Awards after becoming the first man since 1988 to
capture three out of four Grand Slam events in the same
calendar year, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and
US Open.
In the audience at the Awards Ceremony in Estoril, Portugal
were members of the Laureus World Sports Academy and
guests, including His Majesty the King of Spain, Hollywood
stars Jackie Chan, Teri Hatcher and Morgan Freeman, and
England football captain David Beckham. Roger Federer
told the audience: "It's a big honour for me to stand here.
It's a dream come true. I've received many awards over the
years, but this one is the one I really wish for. When you
look at the other nominees, they are all great athletes, and I
look up to them as well. This Award means the most to
athletes because it is the Academy members voting for you,
and you know I have many people who are my idols there
like Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova.”
That year the courage of Alessandro Zanardi was also
recognised with the Comeback of the Year Award following
the Italian’s return to motor racing after losing both legs in a
horrific crash. "I want to thank Laureus, and all the Academy
members for voting for me. If I look down in my soul, the
sense of pride is immense," said Zanardi.
In 2007, in a year when tennis dominated with winners
Federer, Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams, there was
special recognition for the ground-breaking achievements of
Barcelona football club in spurning commercial shirt
sponsorship worth millions a year in favour of carrying the
UNICEF logo on their shirts to promote the work of the
humanitarian organisation. To acknowledge this remarkable
gesture in a very commercial sport, the Laureus Academy
gave Barcelona a special Laureus Spirit of Sport Award.
The spectacular backdrop of St. Petersburg with its palaces
of the tsars, its museums and its spectacular waterways,
provided a memorable location for the ninth Laureus World
Sports Awards. Guest of honour Russian President Vladimir
Putin said: “The giving of the Laureus World Sports Awards
is an outstanding and important event in the world of sports.
I would love to express my appreciation to the founders of
the Laureus Sports Awards for the noble initiative, for the
support of outstanding representatives of the world sports
movement and for the promotion of the idea of uniting and
bringing together people around the value of sport.”
St.Petersburg is now a thriving city in the new Russia, but
has known its share of suffering, being badly affected by
war, civil disruption and famine. The work of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation today focuses on many of these
problems which now affect other parts of the world. One of
the most emotional visits of that year came in October to a
part of the world sadly familiar with war and violence, the
Middle East.
Edwin Moses and Vice Chairperson Tanni Grey-Thompson
took part in a three-day trip to the West Bank. In Ramallah,
they met girls at the PeacePlayers International project
which uses basketball to teach leadership and life skills to
refugees and Palestinian children. Moses said: “Sport is
one of the few things that can bridge the divide between
the communities, which is why Laureus recognises
projects like these.”
For ten years Laureus has celebrated the universal power of
sport to bring people together as a force for good, whether
through the Laureus World Sports Awards or in hundreds of
cities and villages around the world that have benefited from
the philanthropic work of the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation. The Awards Ceremony has become a publicity
engine for the Foundation which in turn has become a
magnet for current athletes seeking to devote their time to
Sport for Good because they want to give something back
to society.
Laureus now supports over 70 humanitarian projects around
the world and since its inception has raised more than €20
million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of
over one million young people. The tenth anniversary of
Laureus is a time to celebrate that success, but also a
chance to look forward to a new decade of opportunity.
Double Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Edwin
Moses, who has been Chairman of the Laureus World
Sports Academy since it began, says: “We have been
growing fast, but as long as there are people on the ground
who are prepared to give up their time to set up these
projects, you’ll find us there to support them. The future is
incredibly exciting. Wherever you look you see Laureus
Academy members striving to establish new ventures.
These are men and women who achieved what they did in
sport because they never gave up. That energy and drive is
now going into Laureus, and the beneficiaries are young
people who are having to face social challenges we all wish
they didn’t have to contend with.
“
Anything we can do to help we will.
We cannot change the world
overnight, but we believe we are
making a difference. One playing field
at a time is progress. If you can change
just one child’s life for the better, you
know it’s worth all the effort.
”
During the visit, the two Laureus Academy members also
attended the tenth anniversary celebrations for the Peres
Center for Peace in Tel Aviv - another project in the region
supported by Laureus - where they joined FIFA president
Sepp Blatter on a sports panel discussing the topic
‘Overcoming hurdles through sport'.
ABOVE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER MARCEL DESAILLY AT
ORPHAN AID, GHANA: HIS COUNTRY OF BIRTH
www.laureus.com
www.laureus.com
10 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN 11
LAUREUS ACADEMY
MEET NELSON MANDELA
“
For me personally it gave me the chance to be in the same
room with my sporting heroes but the icing on the cake was
definitely to have Nelson Mandela be part of Laureus and make
this incredible opening speech about how sport has the power to
change the world.
”
BORIS BECKER
“
Life is not a matter of chance, but rather of choice. I am so
grateful that Nelson Mandela made that choice to support
Laureus.
”
MARK SPITZ
“
All of us were accustomed to meeting fairly important
people, but seeing Nelson Mandela arrive unexpectedly to tell us
how much he supported what we were trying to achieve was
impressive to say the least. I am not sure how we had been kept
unaware that he was coming to Monaco, but it had the desired
effect. We all believed in the concept of Sport for Good but
having perhaps the most admired man in the world at that time
there to urge us on was exhilarating.
”
LORD COE
“
Being in the room with most of my sporting heroes was and is
one of the biggest thrills of my life.
”
Ps. I hear Nelson Mandela was there too!
DALEY THOMPSON
FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE LAUREUS WORLD
SPORTS ACADEMY WITH NELSON MANDELA
FROM LEFT: PETER BLAKE, EDWIN MOSES,
KATARINA WITT, MIGUEL INDURAIN,
EMERSON FITTIPALDI, VIVIAN RICHARDS,
NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL, ILIE NASTASE,
IAN BOTHAM, ALBERTO TOMBA, NELSON MANDELA,
BORIS BECKER, NADIA COMANECI, DALEY THOMPSON,
GREG LEMOND, GIACOMO AGOSTINI,
MORNÉ DU PLESSIS, SEAN FITZPATRICK, DAN MARINO,
DAWN FRASER, HUGO PORTA, SEBASTIAN COE,
FRANZ KLAMMER & MARK SPITZ
“
At this occasion Nelson Mandela said: "Sport has the power
to change the world". These words made a great impression
coming from someone who inspired so many people with his
courage. His constant fight for a great humanitarian cause and
all that he endured for his beliefs give us all great hope. If this one
person can make such a strong statement in support of sport,
then you must believe and be grateful that you can actually
change things for the greater good with your contributions to the
great world of sport.
FRANZ KLAMMER
”
“
To have Nelson Mandela as the Patron of Laureus is a very
special and emotional relationship. It has such a powerful effect
on what we are all about.
SEAN FITZPATRICK
”
“
Meeting President Mandela is a special moment in anyone’s
life, and to do so with members of the Laureus Academy, and his
special interaction with us, will be a memory that will always
remain with me.
”
MORNÉ DU PLESSIS
“
It was the second meeting of Laureus Academy members
and we were excited about the visit of Nelson Mandela.
Everybody in the room was talking, shaking hands, exchange
opinion on Foundation activities. Then the door was open and
Mr Mandela entered into the room. He was like sunshine. He was
smiling, after so much pain, he was luminous, after so much
darkness, he was an example for all mankind. Hope, in one world.
I will never forget that moment in which Mr Mandela came in,
and the time stopped, and I feel so thankful.
ALBERTO TOMBA
www.laureus.com
”
“
We, the members of the Laureus
World Sports Academy could have
received no greater gift than the
presence of President Nelson Mandela
as our Patron at the 1st annual Laureus
World Sports Awards.
President Mandela and his often quoted
speech describing the ability to use
sport as a tool for social change will go
down in history as the most important
thesis in the history of sport. We as
Academy members can only hope to
live up to Mandela's standard.
EDWIN MOSES
CHAIRMAN
”
Nelson Mandelas speech has become our mission statement.
It perfectly embodies what Laureus is all about when it was
founded, now and its future. The following speech was delivered
at the very first Laureus Sports Awards, in Monaco 2000.
SPORT HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
IT HAS THE POWER TO INSPIRE. IT HAS THE POWER
TO UNITE PEOPLE IN A WAY THAT LITTLE ELSE
DOES. IT SPEAKS TO YOUTH IN A LANGUAGE
THEY UNDERSTAND. SPORT CAN CREATE HOPE,
WHERE ONCE THERE WAS ONLY DESPAIR.
“
NELSON MANDELA, PATRON, LAUREUS WORLD
SPORTS AWARDS, MONACO 2000
”
www.laureus.com
12 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
The temptation was just too great for David
Cameron, Britain’s Leader of the Opposition
in the House of Commons.
He had been riding alongside Laureus World
Sports Academy member Daley Thompson
on the last day of the 367-mile Laureus
‘Breaking the Cycle of Violence’ bike ride
from Manchester to London, which raised
awareness of sports solutions to the
problems of gun and knife crime in the
United Kingdom.
But, with the finishing line in sight – the gates
of the Lillian Bayliss School in Kennington Mr Cameron put in a sprint finish worthy of
the Tour de France and swept into the
school playground ahead of double Olympic
decathlon gold medallist Daley.
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE 13
As he dismounted from his bike he told the
cheering youngsters with great gusto:
“
It’s not every day you
get the chance to beat an
Olympic legend, I couldn’t
resist it.
”
Mr Cameron had joined Daley and fellow
Laureus Academy members Boris Becker,
Gary Player, Hugo Porta and Steve Waugh to
mark the conclusion of the marathon sevenday ride which had routed through Stoke-onTrent, Coventry, Milton Keynes, Oxford,
Newbury and Brent, visiting community
projects along the way. The London Active
Communities Urban Stars project at
Lillian Bayliss School uses sport as the
means to keep young people off the streets
and away from the risk of gangs and gun
and knife crime.
SPORT IS AN
EFFECTIVE
MECHANISM FOR
OVERCOMING
YOUTH CRIME &
GANG VIOLENCE
OPPOSITE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS HUGO PORTA &
DALEY THOMPSON CYCLE PAST BIG BEN WITH DAVID CAMERON
TOP: DAVID CAMERON JOINS IN THE ACTION AT LILLIAN BAYLISS
SCHOOL
ABOVE: BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE REPORT* BEING
PRESENTED TO PRIME MINSTER GORDON BROWN AND TESSA
JOWELL MP BY LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS HUGO PORTA,
STEVE WAUGH, BORIS BECKER, DALEY THOMPSON AND GARY
PLAYER WITH RICHARD TAYLOR
While at Lillian Bayliss, Mr Cameron met the
youngsters, played basketball and football with
them and watched them boxing. He said:
“I am delighted to support Laureus in this
initiative. The number of young people entering
the criminal justice system has gone up by a
fifth in just five years. What many young people
like them need is a positive outlet for their
energies and social needs. Sport - especially
team sport - offers exactly that, so we have to
do whatever we can to make sure sport is more
accessible to them.”
After the visit, Daley Thompson led the
Academy members on the short ride across
Westminster Bridge to the front door of No.10
Downing Street where they were met by British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown to whom they
presented a report*, specially commissioned
by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, on
the role which sport can play in fighting the
evils of gang violence and gun and knife crime.
The report* – ‘Breaking the Cycle of Violence’ –
calls on politicians, community clubs and
sports fans to recognise and invest in sport
as an effective mechanism for overcoming
the growing problem of youth crime and
gang violence.
2009
BREAKING THE CYCLE
OF VIOLENCE
MANCHESTER - LONDON
DALEY THOMPSON CYCLE RIDE
www.laureus.com
Mr Brown said: “I am pleased to congratulate
the team on their epic cycle ride. I’m sure many
people have cheered them on their journey and
I applaud them for their admirable efforts. While
we are making real progress with the ‘Tackling
Knives Action Programme’, it is vital that we
continue to do our utmost to combat violent
crime which has such a devastating effect on
peoples’ lives.”
www.laureus.com
14 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE 15
Also present to receive the report* were Olympics
Minister Tessa Jowell and Richard Taylor, father of
Damilola Taylor, from South London, who was
brutally murdered, while just a young boy, in tragic
circumstances in 2000. He is now the Government’s
special advisor on youth violence and knife crime.
A large number of concerned sporting and show
business celebrities, campaigners and supporters
had joined Daley Thompson and Hugo Porta, who
like Daley also cycled every mile of the route, on
various stages of the ride. Academy members
included Sebastian Coe and Sean Fitzpatrick,
Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent, South African rugby
star Butch James, former Liverpool footballer
Graeme Souness and British actors Michael Le Vell,
Lee Boardman and Tim Healy.
Daley Thompson, whose idea it was to stage the
bike ride, said:
“
It was an amazing event. I was
overwhelmed by the support
Hugo and I received from people
who rode with us, and from the
people who cheered us on the
way. I was especially delighted
that Gordon Brown and David
Cameron wanted to support
what we were trying to do.
“The report* really struck a chord with me.
A gang is actually not that different from a
sports team, both provide you with a sense
of belonging, status and excitement. But,
while sport also helps you develop control
over your emotions and learn to respect
certain boundaries, being in a gang can
be destructive.”
Daley Thompson remains a very selfeffacing man despite his fame and he
clearly derived as much satisfaction from
his visits to the community projects as he
did being welcomed at 10 Downing Street.
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS, SEAN FITZPATRICK,
HUGO PORTA, DALEY THOMPSON & LORD COE
ACCOMPANIED BY MATTHEW PINSENT
At one such project, Streetgames in Stokeon-Trent, 1,600 young people from parts of
the city with the poorest records for antisocial behaviour take part in sports
activities in schools and sports halls
around the city. The project is a resounding
success involving the community, police
and volunteers and has succeeded in
keeping youngsters off the streets and out
of trouble.
Daley and Hugo presented prizes to
youngsters who participated in a cycle
challenge and then congratulated the local
council and the project managers for their
foresight in setting up the programme.
Former Argentinian rugby legend Hugo
Porta added: “It was a great experience
and the ride was excellent team work
over the seven days.
I was there to support Daley, my friend and
Laureus Academy colleague, and also to
see what I could take back to Argentina
from the projects we visited on the way.
We have a successful and growing
National Foundation in Argentina, and it
was invaluable to see the work the projects
were doing in the UK.”
Daley added: "It was heart-warming to see
the leaders of Britain’s principal political
parties coming together on this issue.
I know these are the people who can make
the biggest difference, but I was also
impressed with all the volunteers in the
projects, in every town we visited. They are
out there on the front line, making it
happen. They are the real heroes. This is
exactly what we at Laureus are all about,
sustainable programmes that involve all
parts of the community.”
*The report can be downloaded at
www.laureus.com/breakingthecycleofviolence
”
What is happening to too many of our young people
is a tragedy and we must find a new way to fight this
evil. I hope I have been able to show how sport can
make an impact.
BELOW: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER DALEY THOMPSON
AT THE MATHISEN YOUTH CENTRE IN MILTON KEYNES
www.laureus.com
www.laureus.com
16 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
SPECIAL OLYMPICS UNIFIED SPORTSTM PROGRAMME 17
SEENIGAMA SPORTS PROGRAMME
LAUREUS ACADEMY
MEMBERS EDWIN
MOSES AND NADIA
COMANECI
2005
2003
SEENIGAMA
SPORTS
PROGRAMME
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
UNIFIED SPORTS
PROGRAMME
TM
LU JIA ZUI SCHOOL PUDONG
GALLE, SRI LANKA
BY NADIA COMANECI
BY SIR IAN BOTHAM
In March 2003, Laureus Academy Chairman Edwin Moses led no
fewer than nine Academy Members on a visit to a school in Shanghai
for children with special needs: Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci,
Kapil Dev, Michael Johnson, Franz Klammer, Robby Naish, Daley
Thompson and Yaping Deng. For Olympic gymnastic legend Nadia
Comaneci, it was one of her most memorable Laureus visits.
“You get used to crowds in China, but I don’t think the Lu Jia Zui
School in Pudong had ever seen anything like it. Nor for that matter
had we.
“
The school had been established
by Special Olympics, the world's largest
sports organisation for children and
adults with mental disabilities, and with
support from Laureus was taking a
leading role in the Unified Sports
Programme in China.
”
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER
SIR IAN BOTHAM SURVEYS
THE DEVASTATION IN GALLE
The Tsunami Disaster of December 26, 2004 left areas of
Sri Lanka and Indonesia devastated. In the months after the
disaster, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation organised a
three-day visit to Galle in Sri Lanka led by cricket legend and
Laureus World Sports Academy member Sir Ian Botham, to
explore the long-term potential of sport in healing the wounds
of the devastated community.
“Like everyone else, I had seen the images of the Tsunami
Disaster on television, but nothing prepared me for what I saw
when I was there. What made it even more horrifying was that
I had been to these places before. In 2003 when I was covering
cricket for Sky TV, I stayed at a house just along the beach
from Galle – it wasn’t there any more!
The fishermen, the market stalls along the road, the other
houses on the coast, they had all gone. The cricket ground
looked like the surface of the moon. I can still recall the clock
on the old Test ground in Galle frozen at ‘9.25am’ on
December 26.
I saw the rust-coloured railway carriage that became a symbol
of the disaster. Some of the carriages had been swept 200
yards away, such was the power of the tsunami.
After the first smaller wave, many villagers sought refuge on the
train. Then the second wave hit and people died. That image
will stay with me forever: can you imagine the horror of being
caught inside there?
But I also recall the resilience of the people. Such personal
suffering, such loss, yet such determination to see it through.
I knew rebuilding homes, feeding the evacuees and caring for
orphaned children came first. But once that phase was over, it
was clear to me that sport could play an important part in
giving people a sense of hope. So what could we do?
We eventually settled on the village of Peraliya, just outside
Galle. Rehousing was going well, the main aid agencies were
doing a good job, but I wanted to help rebuild community
spirit. They were all cricket mad and sport as we know can
foster togetherness and team spirit.
At my suggestion, Laureus decided to fund a sports
coordinator for five villages around Peraliya and Seenigama to
channel the energies of the children into competition. The
Seenigama Sports project now involves boys and girls, aged
from six upwards, taking part in inter-village sports leagues with
matches and training sessions.
“
Five years on, I am delighted to say
the spirit of the people is astounding.
They have picked themselves up, they
are rebuilding their lives and it is clear
that sport is helping people, particularly
the younger ones, to finally put this
devastating event behind them - and
have fun again.
”
Sir Ian Botham returned to Sri Lanka on 2 December 2009
to mark the 5th anniversary of the Tsunami Disaster.
For a full report please visit www.laureus.com
www.laureus.com
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS MICHAEL JOHNSON,
NADIA COMANECI, EDWIN MOSES AND KAPIL DEV
RUNNING WITH STUDENTS FROM LU JIA ZUI SPECIAL
SCHOOL, A LOCAL SCHOOL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
“SPECIAL OLYMPICS SHANGHAI”
The word had obviously gone around that we were coming and
I think most of the neighbourhood turned up to join in the fun.
There were balloons and kites flying in the wind, and the children
were making a terrific noise with their drums and cymbals. It was
chaotic and very emotional.
There was also an impromptu sprint race in the school yard
between Michael Johnson and Edwin Moses and about 50
of the children. I’m not sure the children really appreciated
who we all were, but the parents, teachers and volunteers
certainly did.
The school had been established by Special Olympics, the world's
largest sports organisation for children and adults with mental
disabilities, and with support from Laureus was taking a leading role
in the Unified Sports Programme in China, which sees children with
and without mental disabilities playing on the same teams to break
down barriers and promote integration. Laureus has supported two
Unified Sports Porgrammes for 9 Years.
I found myself with Sebastian Coe in an inside games room,
where we joined dozens of youngsters playing with a giant
tub full of plastic balls. Somehow we ended up diving into
the balls to excited shrieks all round from the children. It was
great.
I remember China's Olympic gold medal winner Yaping Deng, the
greatest female table tennis player in history, who as you can imagine
is a gigantic celebrity in China, giving coaching to the youngsters.
The parents and teachers told us how inspiring it was for
them that we were there to support the work of the school,
but believe me it was just as uplifting for us. A visit I will
remember for ever.”
www.laureus.com
18 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
MYSA AFRICA 19
THERE ARE OVER
20,000 PLAYERS IN
1,300 TEAMS
LAUREUS ACADEMY
MEMBER MARCEL DESAILLY
I moved to France from Ghana when I was very young, but
I still feel very strong ties with Africa, and I now have a
house in Accra, so I am delighted that Laureus supports
such a successful project as Mathare in Kenya. In fact
Laureus is helping to replicate projects like Mathare in
other countries on the continent.”
Michael Johnson recalls:
“
I found it very emotional to be at
Mathare with Marcel and to see for
myself the work that is being done to
help children who live there.
2006
MATHARE
YOUTH SPORTS
ASSOCIATION
KENYA, AFRICA
BY MARCEL DESAILLY & MICHAEL JOHNSON
It started small, but now it has grown to become a beacon
of excellence for hundreds of similar communities around
the world.
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS
MARCEL DESAILLY & MICHAEL
JOHNSON ON A PROJECT VISIT
TO MATHARE YOUTH SPORTS
ASSOCATION
The first community project supported by Laureus was the
Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) in Kenya, which
pioneered the use of football as the means to raise the selfesteem of young people in the Nairobi slum. In October 2006,
in a memorable visit, former French football captain Marcel
Desailly teamed up with five-time Olympic track gold medallist
Michael Johnson.
Marcel Desailly recalls: “As a footballer myself, I was
overwhelmed by what I saw. This is one of the largest and
poorest slums in Nairobi with many people suffering from AIDS
and other illnesses.
www.laureus.com
”
“Mathare was the first ever project which the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation supported and we can be very proud
of what has been achieved.
It gave me so much pleasure to be able to kick a ball around with some
of the girls and boys from the project. There are over 20,000 players in
1,300 teams. The teams get extra points by cleaning up the areas where
they live. That helps to fight disease.
This is a classic example of how sport can make a big difference to the
lives of so many young people.There are now Mathare players in every
senior football team in Kenya, and Dennis Oliech, who had a trial at
Manchester United, has played for Al-Arabi in Qatar, Nantes and
Auxerre.
The project is owned and run by the Mathare youth. Every
member of its executive is under 21, which is impressive.
And it’s far from being just about producing footballers.
Because of the extra help that has been given, many of the
children have had the opportunity to go to college and
some have become doctors and teachers and come back
to Mathare to help the next generation.”
“
I particularly liked the Mathare
mantra: ‘If you do something, MYSA
does something; but if you do
nothing, MYSA does nothing.
”
www.laureus.com
20 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
FIGHT FOR PEACE 21
WHEN ‘FIGHT FOR
PEACE’ OPENED
ITS DOORS, IT
CHANNELLED
THIS AGGRESSION
INTO BOXING.
2005
FIGHT
FOR PEACE
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER EMERSON
FITTIPALDI & CLODOALDO SILVA TALK
WITH YOUNGSTERS WHO HAVE
BENEFITTED FROM THE INITIATIVE
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
BY EMERSON FITTIPALDI
The Fight for Peace project is based in Complexo da Maré,
a slum district in Rio de Janeiro, where there has been more
than a decade of territorial drug wars. Armed children patrol the
streets to ‘defend’ the community from rival factions or police
raids. Here Formula One legend and Laureus Academy
member Emerson Fittipaldi recalls a memorable visit to the
project in May 2005 with Paralympic swimming hero
Clodoaldo Silva.
“The bodyguards in the car looked around nervously as we
drove into the favela of Complexo da Maré. It was May, in Rio,
in my home country of Brazil, somewhere you should be able
to relax, but kidnapping in this part of the world is common
and no one wanted to take a chance. Nothing sharpens the
mind more than a young teenager in shorts and flipflops
who should be at play, instead standing with a semi automatic
machine gun.
“
Around here, children as young as
ten are used as armed soldiers and drug
pushers. The firearms mortality rate for
teenagers aged 15-17 is only matched
in a war zone.
”
www.laureus.com
When Fight for Peace opened its doors, it channelled this
aggression into boxing. In a community like Complexo da Maré
where macho behaviour is important for young people, boxing has
a built-in appeal. The idea is that young people taking part will not
feel they need to have a gun to get respect. Supported by Laureus,
the project has become a safe haven in the middle of a nightmare
of drug trafficking and violence.
On the visit, I listened to the story of one young man who told me
his father was in prison for armed robbery and he had lost his
mother. He ended up living on the streets and getting into trouble.
He told the awful story of two aunts who were pregnant at the same
time. One of them was murdered for violating a drug code, but they
shot the wrong one, so they went back and murdered the other.
This was the awful world he lived in. Then suddenly he discovered
the boxing club and it changed everything for him.
They had set up a competition for us to watch and I had to present
a prize to a young girl called Manuela Lopes Silva. She told me:
“
My life has changed completely after
boxing. Before sport, I lived on the streets
making mischief. Today, I dream of being a
boxer and a lawyer.
”
I went away with those words echoing in my mind. A perfect
testament, I thought, to the work of Laureus.”
I was delighted to have Clodoaldo Silva with me. He has suffered
from cerebral palsy since he was a child and won six gold medals
and one silver in the 2004 Athens Paralympics for Brazil. He was a
nominee for the 2005 Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a
Disability Award and all the young people there were amazed at
what he had achieved through sport.
OPPOSITE: PROJECT PARTICIPANTS EMBRACE AT THE FINAL BELL
RIGHT: EMERSON FITTIPALDI WITH YOUNGSTERS FROM THE PROJECT
www.laureus.com
22 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
SPIRIT OF SOCCER LANDMINE AWARENESS 23
First in Bosnia and now in Cambodia, the
Spirit of Soccer project puts on coaching
sessions on a pitch that has been cleared of
mines, and at the end of it the children are
taught what to look for and what to do in an
emergency, if they ever come across a
landmine.
What the volunteers are doing with the kids
there is great, but when someone told me
that it’s going to take around 200 years to
clear up all the mines, I thought ‘this is
ridiculous.’
2005
SPIRIT OF SOCCER
LANDMINE AWARENESS
When I returned to the UK from Cambodia,
I discovered that a Cheshire company
Rapiscan was expert in the technology of
x-ray security screening systems. I thought if
they can do that, then they can detect mines
as well. We have now talked to academics
from Manchester and Lancaster Universities
to find a better way of detecting mines and
some of the responses that we are getting at
the moment are heart-warming. I hope we
can make real progress.
BOSNIA & CAMBODIA
BY SIR BOBBY CHARLTON
In February 2009, I made a presentation to
British Members of Parliament at the House
of Commons in London, because eventually I
think we will have to go to governments. We
might even have to go to the United Nations.
In the last few years, England football
legend and Laureus Academy member Sir
Bobby Charlton has visited two Spirit of
Soccer landmines awareness projects - in
Bosnia in 2005 and Cambodia in 2007.
He was horrified by what he saw, and has
begun a personal crusade to fight the evil of
landmines around the world.
“The immensity of the problem was hard to
take in. There were literally thousands upon
thousands of mines, probably millions,
scattered everywhere, and children were
losing their legs, sometimes their lives.
www.laureus.com
“
They were told not to go
into certain areas, but often
that was the best place to
play football and they
were prepared to take
the risk because they
loved their football.
”
ABOVE: SIR BOBBY CHARLTON
INSPECTS PROGRESS IN CAMBODIA
TOP RIGHT: LAUREUS ACADEMY
MEMBER SIR BOBBY CHARLTON
COACHES CHILDREN FROM THE
SPIRIT OF SOCCER PROJECT
BOTTOM RIGHT: MANCHESTER
UNITED PLAYER, WAYNE ROONEY
JOINS THE LANDMINE AWARENESS
CAMPAIGN IN CAMBODIA
I am delighted that the players at my club,
Manchester United, and our manager Alex
Ferguson, have been very supportive of what
I have been trying to do. If you’re a footballer
one of the worst things that can ever happen
is losing your leg. This is happening to these
little kids without them even having the
chance to be a footballer. We must do
something to help.”
www.laureus.com
24 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
Moroccan Olympic legend Nawal El
Moutawakel founded the highly successful
Courir Pour Le Plaisir fun run for women in
Casablanca, and was also the inspiration
behind the Courir pour la Vie (Run for Life)
project, supported by Laureus, which uses
sport to help teenage girls in rural areas to
increase their confidence and fight against
gender inequality. In May 2007, fellow
Laureus Academy members Marvelous
Marvin Hagler and Daley Thompson joined
Nawal on a memorable and colourful visit
to Morocco
COURIR POUR LA VIE 25
“The look on the faces of Marvin Hagler
and Daley Thompson said everything. They
were watching 25,000 women streaming
past them, waving, at the start of the Courir
Pour Le Plaisir (Run For Fun) Women’s
Race in Casablanca – which is one of the
biggest female sporting events in the
world.
Marvin and Daley spent 48 hours with me
in Morocco visiting the Courir pour la Vie
project in the small village of Ben Abid,
before going to the race. By the end of the
their visit, I think they were overwhelmed by
what they saw, and I know they were
impressed.
To get to the project at the Imam Muslim
School we had to drive for almost an hour
down a dusty track. This really is rural
Morocco, but the news of our arrival had
been broadcast around and as we walked
into the school buildings there was
Moroccan music being played and children
singing and dancing – they were so happy
to see their visitors. Everywhere we went,
the children followed us giggling and
laughing.
www.laureus.com
Fun is an important element at Courir pour
la Vie, but there is a much more serious
purpose behind the project. Although in
many ways Morocco is a modern 21st
century country, there are still rural areas
where there is a very traditional attitude to
the role of women.
They still have less opportunity to go to
school than boys. The objective of the
project is to increase the confidence and
independence of the girls through sporting
activities and workshops so that they have
the resources to continue their education
rather than following the traditional pattern
of leaving school early.
Several of the girls from the project took
part in Courir Pour Le Plaisir, so Marvin and
Daley took it upon themselves to give them
some coaching before the race, and
helped them with their warm up.
I think Daley was profoundly impressed by
what he saw and what the girls from the
project told him. As he left Morocco he said
to me:
“
This was a fantastic
experience. I can see how
the power of a race like this
really can make things
change for the better.
”
It truly was an unforgettable 48 hours in
Casablanca.”
THERE ARE STILL RURAL AREAS WHERE
THERE IS A VERY TRADITIONAL
ATTITUDE TO THE ROLE OF WOMEN.
2007
COURIR
POUR LAVIE
The sporting highlight of the visit was a tug
of war with former World Middleweight
Champion Marvin on one team and Olympic
decathlon gold medalist Daley on the other.
I was somewhere in the middle, just
hanging on. The school grounds filled up
with hundreds of people watching the fun.
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
BY NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER, NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL, RUNNING WITH STUDENTS
OF THE COURIR POUR LA VIE PROJECT IN MOROCCO
www.laureus.com
26 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
FIGHT BACK USA 27
OPPOSITE: LAUREUS
ACADEMY MEMBER
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA,
FIGHT BACK, NEW YORK
BELOW: CHILDREN FROM
FIGHT BACK PROJECT
PRACTISING JIU-JITSU
2006
FIGHT BACK
NEW YORK, USA
BY MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
In July 2006, just days after she announced her impending
retirement from tennis after winning 58 Grand Slam titles,
Laureus Academy member Martina Navratilova visited the
Fight Back project in South Bronx, New York, which aims to
help women at risk of abuse by teaching them jiu-jitsu for selfdefence
“The visit to South Bronx came at a significant moment in my
life. After so many years playing tennis, to say you are going to
stop is quite an upheaval. I could probably have played on for
another five years if I had wanted to, but I didn’t.
It was time to move on to my next life and an important part of
that is my work for Laureus. So I was pleased to be able to
take part straight away in a visit to a project - though
I didn’t realise it would get me involved in a full-blown
jiu-jitsu session.
“
Fight Back helps women at risk of
abuse. They are usually AfricanAmerican or Hispanic, sometimes
unemployed, and always poor.
”
They need the confidence and skills that self defence classes
teach. The jiu-jitsu plays an important part in building selfrespect, which is vital if they are going to improve their lives.
The project also uses jiu-jitsu to keep kids out of gangs and
offers them positive sporting alternatives. In a community like
the South Bronx where toughness and macho behaviour is
important for young people, the martial arts have a natural
appeal.The aim is to make the youngsters realise that it is not
necessary to fight in the street or pick up a knife or a gun to
get respect.”
www.laureus.com
THERE WAS SO MUCH
POSITIVE ENERGY
AROUND THE PLACE.
I FOUND THE WHOLE
VISIT A SERIOUSLY
UPLIFTING EXPERIENCE.
www.laureus.com
28 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
PROJECT REFLECTIONS 29
2000-2010
PROJECT
REFLECTIONS
At the end of a relentless decade of growth, the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation now supports
more than 70 community sports projects around
the world. Those projects have helped to improve
the lives of over one million young people.
MATHARE YOUTH SPORTS ASSOCIATION
DAVID THIRU - ACADEMY DIRECTOR
Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) in Nairobi, Kenya, has been a
beneficiary of Laureus support for the last ten years. We are proud that
we were the very first community sports project to become part of the
Laureus Family back in 2000.
Over the years we have been privileged to have had many Laureus
Academy members come to visit us at Mathare. The first two were Edwin
Moses, the Chairman of Laureus, and Sir Bobby Charlton. And we have
also had Michael Johnson, Marcel Desailly and Martina Navratilova.
These visits serve to raise our profile in our country and internationally
and energise the youth to do even better.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation has helped MYSA in many
ways, for example helping to pay school fees for our top leaders and
volunteers through our leadership award programme that identifies the
most needy children who have shown leadership qualities. These leaders
are rewarded by having their school fees paid for them to keep them at
school. Laureus has also helped the Mathare community libraries to stay
open. I would say this has given as many as 10,000 of our young people
access to proper facilities to read. We have many examples of individual
success stories thanks to those libraries.
MAGIC BUS
MATTHEW SPACEY - FOUNDER & CEO
It has been nearly six years since we began our relationship with
the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. At the time we were just
ten staff operating from a tiny office in Mumbai, with about 1,000
children on the programme. At that stage, while we knew what we
were doing really worked, the concept of development through
sports was nascent in India with limited support.
I remember the first visit by a Laureus Academy member when
Edwin Moses turned up to one of our sessions and immediately
mucked in and played a match with the children – it must have
been 45 degrees that day.
It was inspiring to the children, but with Edwin pictured at the
Magic Bus project all across the front page of the Times of India, it
made an instantaneous impact on our credibility. Time and time
again, whether it’s been Boris Becker, Kapil Dev or Ian Botham,
the focus on visits has always been to meet the children and play
– and it’s always been competitive.
Laureus has given us funds to help us improve the quality of the playing
fields at Mathare, most of which were not level and needed to be
improved to reduce the risk of injury, and of course Laureus helps us to
organise our league. We have now grown to over 1,500 teams from
slightly over 1,000 ten years ago.
See pages 18 & 19 for Marcel Desailly and Michael Johnson’s project
visit to MYSA.
FIGHT FOR PEACE
LUKE DOWNDEY - FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Like the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, Fight for Peace was born in
2000. Unlike the first Laureus World Sports Awards which involved some
of the biggest sporting legends the world has ever known, Fight for
Peace began in a small room with 15 kids in the favela community of
Complexo da Maré, Rio de Janeiro.
From the beginning, Fight for Peace's aim has been to use boxing and
martial arts as a tool to access and work with young people in
communities adversely affected by crime, gangs and violence.
CENTRE: SEAN TUOHEY
CO-FOUNDER PEACEPLAYERS
INTERNATIONAL
The success of the projects depends on the passionate
young men and women who work on the front line in every
continent – the leaders, the coaches and the volunteers –
who are committed to making a difference.
Here the prime movers behind four of Laureus’ most longstanding and successful projects explain what it means to
them to be part of the Laureus Family.
PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL
BRENDAN TUOHEY CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
In 2002, PeacePlayers International (PPI) was just a small group
of individuals determined to make a difference in South Africa
and confident that basketball was the right tool to do it.
We didn’t have much experience, we didn’t have a business
plan, and – what seemed most important at the time – we didn’t
have much money. Our initial funds, raised from friends and
family, were dwindling.
We were living hand-to-mouth, and I remember thinking that
PeacePlayers International might not make it, even though we
knew our programme was working. Luckily, the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation had enough faith in our organisation to be our
first institutional funder, awarding PeacePlayers International a
three year grant.
www.laureus.com
We are proud that seven years on we are now a Laureus partner
in three different locations - Israel and the West Bank, South
Africa and Cyprus. Without the Foundation’s confidence and
support, PeacePlayers International would not be where it is
today. No question about it.
Years of partnership have created many memories: Laureus
Chairman Edwin Moses and Tanni Grey-Thompson coaching
PPI’s Palestinian girls’ teams in Ramallah; Boris Becker and
Morné du Plessis participating in PPI’s Citywide Basketball
Tournament with 2,000 children in Durban; and my brother
and I being part of the Laureus World Sports Awards in
St. Petersburg, Russia are just a few of the highlights.
Laureus first supported Fight for Peace in 2003, taking a risk on a small
project with big aspirations. Since that small room in Maré, Fight for
Peace has grown into an independent organisation, now directly
supporting over 1,600 children and young people per year.
LAUREUS ACADEMY
MEMBERS KAPIL DEV AND
IAN BOTHAM ON A PROJECT
VISIT TO MAGIC BUS, INDIA
CHILDREN OF THE MAGIC
BUS PROJECT
Laureus believed in our potential at an early stage, and has shown
consistent and unwavering support which has helped us to grow from
Rio to London and develop a model which we believe can be replicated
internationally to help other young people in need elsewhere.
Visits to Fight for Peace by Laureus Academy members, such as
Emerson Fittipaldi, and Laureus Ambassadors, such as Barry McGuigan
and Wladimir Klitschko, have undoubtedly been beneficial to the
organisation's profile. Yet more importantly, they have demonstrated to
young people so often ignored and downtrodden, that even World
champions care about them.
Equally important, though, has been the relationships and
learning that have come through Laureus’ network of Sport for
Good organisations. This network represents the best work
being done across the globe in this fast growing field.
These visits have been inspirational for both our young people and our
staff, and in all cases have lead to on-going individual involvement by
these Academy members and Ambassadors well outside the media's
gaze.
Back in 2002, the Foundation helped us make the leap from a
group of idealistic kids to a sustainable organisation. Today it is
still helping us enhance our programmes, broaden our impact,
and use our shared learnings to assist other organisations in
regions of conflict to develop and scale up their own initiatives.
This undoubtedly demonstrates their genuine commitment to the ideals
which Laureus upholds. For the future I can only hope that Laureus will
continue to be one of our most valued partners, and keep working with
us so that we in turn can support more and more young people in
disadvantaged communities around the world.
Brendan Tuohey and his brother Sean, Co-Founder of
PeacePlayers International were joint winners of the
Laureus Sport for Good Award, 2008.
See pages 20 & 21 for Emerson Fittipaldi’s project visit to Fight for
Peace, Brazil.
In these six years, Laureus and Magic Bus have stood side by
side and learnt together and today we recognise Laureus as a
crucial partner in our growth which has seen us expand to 200
staff and 150,000 children. The relationship has grown deeper and
while Academy visits are crucial for both the children, staff and an
ever hungry media, the content of the relationship has changed as
our needs have evolved.
The legacy we are both trying to create here in the subcontinent is
to become financially self-sustainable and reach 600,000 children
every week by 2012 - an exciting vision. I am really looking forward
to sharing that journey with Laureus. Well done on a fantastic start
to the journey.
www.laureus.com
30 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
LOOKING AHEAD 31
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Trust South
Africa was the first Laureus National Foundation
and now supports 12 projects in South Africa, the
most in any country.
GREEN POINT STADIUM, SPECIALLY BUILT
FOR THE 2010 FIFA FOOTBALL WORLD CUP.
PHOTOGRAPHER: BRUCE SUTHERLAND,
CITY OF CAPE TOWN
FROM LEFT: WALK THE TALK PARTICIPANTS:
LUCAS RADEBE, HUGO PORTA, DESHUN DEYSEL,
SYDNEY MAREE, BABY JAKE MATLALA (FRONT),
FRANK FREDERICKS, MORNÉ DU PLESSIS AND
BERTRAND SCHOLLER.
That was the day that we met President
Mandela, and we had all these great sports
stars shaking in their boots. President
Mandela looked up at Edwin Moses and
said ‘did you vote for George Bush?’ and
Edwin didn’t know what to say. I’ll never
forget it.
“
My late Dad had a
saying that no journey is
made in vain, and every
Academy visit to a project
has a special moment.
If you can change just one
child’s day, you know it’s
worthwhile.
Laureus Academy member and former
rugby legend Morné du Plessis is the
Chairman of the Laureus National
Foundation in South Africa. As the country
awaits an exciting World Cup summer,
he was interviewed by former rugby player
and star broadcaster John Robbie, from
Radio 702, himself a member of the Laureus
Friends & Ambassadors programme.
JOHN ROBBIE: Morné, this is the tenth
year of Laureus, you are the Chairman of
the Laureus National Foundation in South
Africa, but as a person, a human being
what does Laureus mean to you?
MORNÉ DU PLESSIS: John, it’s been a
great opportunity at this stage of my life to
be involved with Laureus. For me, it’s been
a chance to give something back in a small
way. I have met many incredible people
around the world in my life, many through
sport, but through Laureus I have now met
some who are definitely not famous, but to
me are probably more important.
I mean the people I have met in places like
India, and obviously in South Africa, who
run our projects. These are the heroes who
do the work on the ground, and just
meeting them and talking to them makes
me feel enriched. Every time I am in
contact with people like this, it really makes
me look at my own values.
JOHN: I know just how you feel. When I go
on a visit to one of the Laureus projects in
South Africa, I come away full of admiration
for the officials, the coaches and
volunteers. We have some amazing
community projects here, why do you think
the South African Foundation has grown so
much and been such a success?
MORNÉ: Well I think there’s a few reasons
for that. One, we have a fantastic support
base through our Country Patron
Discovery. You can have the best energy in
the world, but you just need that financial
kick-start. They are in their second term of
funding, so you cannot overstate how
important that has been.
Secondly, I think there is definitely a South
African theme that runs through Laureus in
terms of the founders, the people who
started it, and of course our Patron is
President Mandela. And then there is the
good old South African fighting spirit.
There’s a lot of work to be done in terms of
social awareness and social activity in
South Africa and we’re sports mad. So put
all those together and I think that’s the
reason.
JOHN: I love the spectacular ones that we
do. Here at Radio 702 we’ve got the Walk
The Talk sponsored walks where England’s
former cricket captain Michael Vaughan
came out. Last year we had Laureus
Academy members Daley Thompson and
Steve Waugh joining 50,000 people on the
walk. What are the Laureus moments that
have captured your imagination, Morné?
MORNÉ: I can remember many years ago
when we visited a street sport programme
in Cape Town and Daley Thompson was
there. He was asked by the Press
“
you famous guys, you
come in and out, I suppose
we’ll never see you again?’
And Daley turned to me,
then to the Press man and
said ‘don’t you worry, you’re
going to see me again.
”
And I can promise you that he was true to
his word. I think he’s been out four or five
times. And I think of Hugo Porta and the
sort of passion he shows when he comes
out. At the rugby project in Soweto, for
example, he gave his total self. And then of
course, I remember the Academy Forum
meeting we had in Cape Town with Edwin
Moses, Monica Seles, Martina Navratilova,
Ilie Nastase and Kip Keino.
2009
LOOKING
AHEAD
SOUTH AFRICA WORLD CUP 2010
MORNÉ DU PLESSIS & JOHN ROBBIE
www.laureus.com
”
JOHN: Those are amazing memories. But
how do you measure progress in terms of
the children that Laureus works to help?
MORNÉ: Maybe we’ll only know in 30
years time what it actually meant to them.
Because we’ve been going for ten years,
we are now trying to establish where the
money is best spent.
JOHN: Morné, you played a major part in
South Africa’s win in the 1995 Rugby World
Cup as manager. We know what staging
that tournament did for this country. Now
we have the 2010 Soccer World Cup on
the horizon which is going to dwarf
everything else. How important do you
think that is going to be for South Africa,
and for Laureus?
MORNÉ: I’m involved with the Cape Town
Stadium on the operational side. Our
company, together with a French company,
has the management contract for the
stadium and so we are at the rock face of
the construction site and seeing the plans
coming together and just the magnitude of
this thing is impressive.
The Rugby World Cup, as you know, was
an emotional awakening for South Africans
in terms of sport and how sport can be
used to pull them together. This one will be
total immersion. This is as big as it will ever
get here and you know it touches so many
people’s lives. Where ’95 might have
indirectly affected many of the people in
this country, this one I think is going to be
more direct at you.
I just think of the pride of the guys working
on the construction of the stadium. Can
you imagine what they will feel when they
see Germany running out to play England
and know that they built that stadium, it’s
just amazing, and it’s being beamed
around the world.
There are so many aspects, like the
volunteer aspect. Everybody that’s going to
greet somebody from overseas will play a
role, so I think we can say that this is going
to be as big as it can get in our lifetimes in
this country in terms of sport.
JOHN: Finally Morné, as you were the
manager of the South African team that
won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, if you had
to give some advice - I know you don’t like
giving advice - but if you were asked to
give advice to Bafana Bafana, the South
African soccer team, in terms of getting out
the maximum performance for the World
Cup, what would it be?
MORNÉ: I’d say to them that they have to
draw from the power of the support that
they’re going to get - and they will, it will
almost be impossible not to. They must
accept that support on the one hand, but
on the other hand they have to focus on
the task at hand because their job is to
go out and play. So really draw on the
support of South Africans, but don’t get
too carried away.
FROM LEFT: NDUMI MARMAN, A COACH FROM
LITTLE CHAMPS WITH ACADEMY MEMBERS DALEY
THOMPSON AND MORNÉ DU PLESSIS AND FRIEND
& AMBASSADOR, BABY JAKE MATLALA
www.laureus.com
32 10 YEARS OF PROJECT VISITS
LAUREUS SPORT
FOR GOOD
FOUNDATION
WORLDWIDE
PROJECTS
WORLDWIDE PROJECTS 33
HOST CITIES
LISBON, BARCELONA, MONACO, ST PETERSBURG & ABU DHABI
AUSTRALIA
34. INDIGENOUS SPORTS PROGRAMME - AUSTRALIA
EUROPE
PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE LAUREUS
SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION
AFRICA
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
COURIR POUR LA VIE - MOROCCO
BUFFALO CITY SOCCER SCHOOL - SOUTH AFRICA
COACHING FOR HOPE - MALI
COMMUNITY BASED AIDS PROGRAMME - UGANDA
DEVELOPMENT OF SPORTS AND RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES - RWANDA
FIGHT WITH INSIGHT - SOUTH AFRICA
FREE THE YOUTH - SOUTH AFRICA
FUTURE CHAMPS - SOUTH AFRICA
GRASSROOT SOCCER - AFRICA
GRUPO DESPORTIVO DE MANICA - MOZAMBIQUE
INDIGO YOUTH MOVEMENT - SOUTH AFRICA
JOHANNESBURG CUBS - SOUTH AFRICA
KICK4LIFE - LESOTHO
LITTLE CHAMPS - SOUTH AFRICA
LUNGISANI INDLELA - SOUTH AFRICA
MAKOMBA-NDLELA YOUTH MOVEMENT - SOUTH AFRICA
MATHARE YOUTH SPORTS ASSOCIATION (MYSA) - KENYA
MOVING THE GOALPOSTS - KENYA
ORPHANAID AFRICA - GHANA
PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL - SOUTH AFRICA
RUMBEK YOUTH SPORTS ASSOCIATION (RYSA) - SUDAN
SOWETO SCHOOLS RUGBY PROGRAMME - SOUTH AFRICA
SPORT FOR ALL - SOUTH AFRICA
ASIA
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
IMAGE – INDIA
MAGIC BUS SPORTS PROGRAMME - INDIA
OPERATION BREAKTHROUGH - HONG KONG
PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL - MIDDLE EAST
PERES CENTER FOR PEACE TWINNED BASKETBALL
SCHOOLS - ISRAEL / PALESTINE
SEENIGAMA SPORT FOR LIFE PROJECT - SRI LANKA
SPECIAL OLYMPICS UNIFIED SPORTS™ PROGRAMME SOUTH EAST ASIA
SPIRIT OF SOCCER - CAMBODIA
SPIRIT OF SOCCER - IRAQ
SPORT SANS FRONTIÈRES - AFGHANISTAN
www.laureus.com
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
ATHLETES DU MONDE - FRANCE
BLINDSPOT - SWITZERLAND
BUNTKICKTGUT - SWITZERLAND
BAS VAN DE GOOR ZOMERKAMPEN - THE NETHERLANDS
FIGHT FOR PEACE - UK
GOLF EDUCATIF - FRANCE
IT’S A GOAL! - UK
KICK IM BOXRING - GERMANY
KICK ON ICE - GERMANY
KICK THE ROPES - GERMANY
KICKFORMORE - GERMANY
KIDSWING - GERMANY
LA PALLA STORTA - ITALY
LAUREUS CAVALLO - SWITZERLAND
LAUREUS KICKING GIRLS - GERMANY
LAUREUS MARITIME CHALLENGE - THE NETHERLANDS
LAUREUS MOTORV8 - UK
LEER - AVONDCOMPETITIE VOETBAL VOOR JEUGD IN DEN HAAG
- THE NETHERLANDS
MAISON DE LA MER - FRANCE
MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL LEAGUE - UK
MIDNIGHT PROJEKTE SCHWEIZ - SWITZERLAND
MOVE&DO - GERMANY
NEW LAUREUS PROJECT - SWITZERLAND
PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL - CYPRUS
PROGETTO POLISPORTIVA I - ITALY
PROGETTO POLISPORTIVA II - ITALY
PROYECTO GRUMET EXIT - SPAIN
SPECIAL OLYMPICS - SPAIN
SPORT DANS LA VILLE - FRANCE
STREET LEAGUE - UK
URBAN STARS - UK
URBAN STARS WEST MIDLANDS - UK
USP FUNDACION ALEX - SPAIN
SOUTH AMERICA
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
CIUDAD OESTE (WEST CITY) - ARGENTINA
CLUB ATLETICO PLATENSE - ARGENTINA
CLUB DEPORTIVO BARRACAS - ARGENTINA
EL DESAFIO - ARGENTINA
LA LIGA LIMAKIDS - PERU
LUTA PELA PAZ - BRAZIL
SPORTS IN UNDERDEVELOPED AREAS - URUGUAY
UNIÓN Y AMISTAD DE SAN ISIDRO - ARGENTINA
VIRREYES HOCKEY - ARGENTINA
NORTH AMERICA
77.
78.
79.
80.
FIGHT BACK - USA
I CHALLENGE MYSELF - USA
MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL LEAGUE - USA
WORLD CLASS BOXING GYM - USA
www.laureus.com
34 GLOBAL PARTNER NEWS
35
GLOBAL PARTNER
NEWS
GLOBAL PARTNER
NEWS
The dedicated commitment of Mercedes-Benz
throughout 2009 helped the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation to significantly increase its
activity in the United Kingdom.
Laureus' Global Partner IWC Schaffhausen
sends two teams to compete in the Tortour
cycling race whose Charity Partner is Laureus
Foundation Switzerland.
The ground-breaking Laureus MotorV8 programme, which
uses motor sport and mechanical instruction classes to
engage at risk young people in the Oxfordshire area, is now
more than a year old and is receiving invaluable funding and
volunteer support from Mercedes-Benz UK.
OPPOSITE: IWC CEO GEORGES
KERN AND URS LEHMANN,
FORMER DOWNHILL SKIING WORLD
CHAMPION AND PRESIDENT OF
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
LAUREUS FOUNDATION
SWITZERLAND, AT TORTOUR
Every six weeks participants in the project visit Mercedes-Benz
UK headquarters in Milton Keynes. After a day’s karting at a
local track, the young people are shown round the MercedesBenz facilities and presented with course-completion
certificates and prizes for the day’s karting.
Finland’s double Formula One World Champion and Laureus
World Sports Academy member Mika Häkkinen, who has
visited the project, says: “Motor sport is immensely popular in
the UK and Oxford is a big motor city, so this is the perfect
project in the perfect location.
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBERS HUGO PORTA AND DALEY
THOMPSON WITH MIKE BELK, MANAGING DIRECTOR
CUSTOMER SERVICES, MERCEDES-BENZ UK.
When the group arrived at Mercedes-Benz UK’s head office in
Milton Keynes, cheering crowds of employees lined up to
welcome them. Daley and Hugo took part in a Question &
Answer session with Mercedes-Benz staff and media did
interviews for local TV, radio and newspapers.
Mercedes-Benz UK also organised two karting events to raise
funds for Laureus, with 150 staff attending each, and two
successful golf days. In September three Mercedes-Benz UK
employees took part in the Laureus London-to-Paris
fundraising bike ride, which involved Daley Thompson and fivetimes Tour de France winner and Laureus Academy member
Miguel Indurain.
LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER
MIKA HÄKKINEN WITH
PARTICIPANTS FROM THE
LAUREUS MOTORV8 PROJECT.
This programme has very good elements because it
encourages young people to interact, work as a team and
gives them practical experience. For me being part of a team
was one of the most important aspects during my F1 career
and it is great to see how it is being used to motivate these
young people.”
During the year, Mercedes-Benz also provided support for a
range of Laureus’ activities as part of its corporate social
responsibility programme, most notably the logistical support it
gave to the ‘Breaking the Cycle of Violence’ bike ride in July
from Manchester to London, led by Laureus Academy
members Daley Thompson and Hugo Porta, which aimed to
raise awareness of the growing problems of gun and knife
crime in the United Kingdom (See pages 12 to 15).
Nine support vehicles were loaned including smart, Vianos and
an Atego truck. Not only did these vehicles assist with the
logistics but they also played a key role in ensuring the safety
of the riders. Over two days of the ride five Mercedes-Benz UK
employees cycled with Daley and Hugo from Coventry to
Milton Keynes and on to Oxford.
Wilfried Steffen, President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK, said:
“
This has been a significant year for us
in our relationship with Laureus. Not only
have we taken a direct role in the
excellent Laureus MotorV8 project, but
we are delighted to have been able to
contribute to a variety of Laureus’
initiatives over the year.
”
We believe very much in the power of sport to effect social
change and this is an important part of our corporate social
responsibility initiative. We look forward to playing an even bigger
part in Laureus’ activities in 2010.”
Mercedes-Benz Germany continued its very successful Laureus
Sport for Good campaign in high profile German print magazines.
Under the claim "We are Laureus" the ads feature Laureus
Academy members and German Friends & Ambassadors
together with project participants.
Katarina Witt, Wladimir Klitschko, Martin Braxenthaler and Axel
Schulz took part in a special shooting for this successful initiative.
The main objective of the campaign was to raise the awareness of
the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Germany.
For further details please visit www.laureus.de
www.laureus.com
PRESIDENT OF THE LAUREUS FOUNDATION
SWITZERLAND, URS LEHMAN, LOOKS AHEAD
AT THE NEXT DIFFICULT STAGE OF TORTOUR
IWC Schaffhausen has twice acted as main
sponsor of a Schaffhausen based team in
the world's toughest cycling race, the Race
Across America. In 2009 it went one step
further and entered two teams in Tortour - the
first multi-day non-stop cycling race around
Switzerland - for which Laureus Foundation
Switzerland was a Charity Partner.
Twelve sports-mad members of IWC staff,
with CEO Georges Kern leading the way,
caught the Tortour bug: “Our team's
preparations were time-consuming as we
didn’t want to leave anything to chance and
we selected our equipment very carefully
and planned the logistics down to the last
detail,” he said.
“Some members of staff were kind enough
to make themselves available to give
support to the athletes during the race by
providing supplies along the route and
driving the escort vehicles.
PARTICIPANTS OF THE TORTOUR
Such a strength-sapping race cannot be
mastered without so many helpers providing
support. Tackling challenges of this magnitude
together is a great team building exercise,”
comments Georges Kern, as he looks back
on all the trials the teams overcame.
“
It’s not enough to just
show mental strength.
You have to be able to rely
on each other as well,
even when everybody is
at their limit
”
None of the participants will ever forget the
fantastic scenery along the Swiss borders,
the challenging night stages, the sleep
deprivation, and also the tremendous teamspirit and the pride to have accomplished
something extraordinary together.
The team from the Laureus Foundation
Switzerland ended up being victorious in the
six-person team category. The President of
the Foundation, Urs Lehmann, said:
“We are very happy with our achievement as
a team and consider ourselves lucky that the
Laureus Foundation Switzerland, as a
Charity Partner of the Tortour, is provided
with such a platform to help us attract
more attention.
I’m convinced that this race has great
potential, which ultimately will benefit us as
well, and I am looking forward to the sequel
with excitement.”
Registration for the 2010 Tortour is now well
under way, and the IWC teams have already
stated that they will definitely be back next year.
For details on registration please visit
www.tortour.ch or email gwagner@tortour.ch
www.laureus.com
36 GLOBAL PARTNER NEWS
NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS 37
GLOBAL PARTNER
NEWS
Vodafone, as a long-standing supporter of sport,
greatly values its relationship with Laureus.
It encourages Vodafone local offices around
the world to become engaged with Laureus
activity in their own market. One of the
highlights of a busy year came in September
when Vodafone Ghana participated in a
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation visit to
Accra. The visit involved Laureus Chairman
Edwin Moses and his fellow Academy
member Marcel Desailly together with
Vodafone staff and invited customers.
The Laureus team met the local community
elders and project volunteers before taking
part in football and basketball sessions with
the young people.
Vodafone, together with Laureus, also
created a 'coaching masterclass' for aspiring
young football players from Accra.
Working with the Greater Accra Regional
Football Association, 22 young, talented players
were selected to benefit from the insight and
expertise of Marcel Desailly and Edwin Moses
to help motivate and inspire them.
Our primary objectives are to improve
positive brand opinion in Accra and Ghana,
associate Vodafone with supporting good
causes, involve staff and consumers in the
Laureus experience and enable the Accra
community to benefit from the Vodafone
Laureus Partnership. I must say it was also
terrific fun as well. We all felt we were doing
something that was really making a
difference to the young people we met.
I don't think we can say thank you enough
to Marcel and Edwin and the entire
Laureus team."
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
ARGENTINA
FUNDACIÓN LAUREUS ARGENTINA
ANA LIA SANTARELLI
asantarelli@fundacionlaureus.org.ar
www.fundacionlaureus.org.ar
THE POWER OF CLUB PLATENSE
What little Maria enjoys more than anything else is to play
football. It has become her life.
Now nine-years-old, her love affair with football began when
she was just three when she used to kick a ball around with her
four elder brothers at Club Platense, a project supported by the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in Argentina.
Based in Laprida, near Buenos Aires, the club has played an
indispensable part in giving Maria some focus and meaning to
her young life.
For many boys and girls like Maria, who come from difficult
family backgrounds in a deprived area, Club Platense is
providing opportunity and hope.
Maria started off training with the infants and then graduated to
playing with the youngest team that represented the club in the
local league. She became a regular and proudly wore the No 4
shirt. Over the years she has played with passion and
commitment and has become known and respected in the
league.
TOP LEFT & MAIN PICTURE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER MARCEL DESAILLY
PRESENTS MEDALS TO YOUNG FOOTBALLERS WHO TOOK PART AT A COACHING
CLINIC AT THE NATIONAL STADIUM HOSTED BY VODAFONE
BOTTOM LEFT: LAURUES ACADEMY MEMBERS MARCEL DESAILLY & EDWIN MOSES
ORPHANAID AFRICA IS A NON-PROFIT
ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO HELPING
ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN GHANA
French World Cup winner and former
national football captain Desailly was born in
Ghana and has now returned to live there.
He has been an enthusiastic supporter of
the OrphanAid Africa project for some time
and Laureus has supported the project
since 2007.
OrphanAid Africa is a non-profit organisation
dedicated to helping orphans and vulnerable
children in Ghana to grow up in a safe,
permanent and loving family setting with
care and protection.
Like Laureus, OrphanAid believes that sport
can help at risk children and provides a
variety of sports activities, led by trained
coaches, for the inhabitants of Ayeniah
community, just 45 minutes from Accra, and
the foster children in the surrounding area.
www.laureus.com
The activity included a sprint coaching
session from Edwin and football skills
coaching by Marcel, followed by an
11-a-side game played at the National
Stadium in Accra.
Football is hugely popular in Ghana and with
the recent success of the Ghana Under 20
World Cup win, many of the young players
who benefited from this Laureus experience
may well go on to achieve great things.
Ruth Maafo, Vodafone Ghana sponsorship
manager, said:
“
The activity was an
invaluable experience.
The interaction opportunity
provided was a huge plus
for Vodafone
”
Laureus Academy member Marcel Desailly
said: "Three years ago I met Lisa LovattSmith who runs the OrphanAid project. She
persuaded me to go and see it and when I
did I knew immediately I wanted to get
involved. I decided to raise money for food
and medicine for the children, but I also
realised the need for a sport element at the
project, as I saw good potential in the
children.
Then one day Maria’s world suddenly collapsed. The club
received an official letter stating that Maria could no longer play
with the boys in the league. Everyone was puzzled and
dismayed. This was discrimination because of her sex and
Club Platense asked the league to reconsider.
Soon it became a big story in Laprida. The support for her was
widespread and many spokespeople from the town came
forward to back her. But time was passing and Maria could not
do what she wanted - play football.
So Club Platense decided to make a statement of principle by
hiring a female coach to train female football groups. The
response was amazing. In the very first week, 50 girls and
young women turned up to join the course, and out of prejudice
and discrimination had come a marvelous new opportunity.
All kids deserve a chance to be able to play
sport. Sport gave me so much in my life, so
this is all about what I can give back to these
children. I am delighted that Laureus has
become involved and I would especially like
to thank Vodafone for their support. It added
enormously to the success of the visit.".
TOP LEFT AND MAIN PICTURE: MARIA ARIAS AT CLUB PLATENSE
TOP RIGHT AND BOTTOM LEFT: PARTICIPANTS AT CLUB PLANTENSE
THE RESPONSE WAS
AMAZING IN THE FIRST
WEEK 50 GIRLS TURNED
UP TO JOIN THE COURSE
Club Platense continues to work with children from
disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging team spirit and a
sense of community through the provision of football, rollerblading, chess and educational workshops. It has also become
an important part of social life in Laprida which was amply
demonstrated at the project’s Children’s Day when more than
1,000 people, adults and children, came to the club. There
were organised games for the whole family and two plays put
on in a makeshift theatre. There was a raffle with 80 prizes,
including four bicycles, and every child left with a small gift bag
of sweets - including Maria.
But for Maria, the club has provided much more than sweets.
She is happy once again and able to enjoy playing football with
girls of her own age. And her team-mates are thankful to her
since her problems have created the opportunity for many of
them to be able to play football which they could not do before
and to give them, in turn, a focus in their life.
www.laureus.com
38 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
FRANCE
NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS 39
ASSOCIATION LAUREUS FRANCE
LAURENT GUTSMUTH
laurent.gutsmuth@laureus.fr
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
GERMANY
LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION GERMANY
STEFANIE MOELLENKAMP
stefanie.moellenkamp@daimler.com
www.laureus.de
CHARITY FOOTBALL MATCH
URBAN GOLF
For Abou and Brahim, the Laureus-supported Golf Educatif
project has proved to be a life-changing experience. They are
both from an inner city area of France and three years ago golf
would have been the last thing on their minds.
But now Golf Educatif offers French school children and young
adults, like Abou and Brahim, an alternative to urban crime and
violence. Based in the poorer neighbourhoods of cities, the
project gives children a sense of responsibility, respect for
other people and personal motivation - qualities that help them
to integrate much better into society.
THE PROJECT GIVES
CHILDREN A SENSE OF
RESPONSIBILTY, RESPECT
FOR OTHER PEOPLE AND
PERSONAL MOTIVATION
PARTICIPANTS FROM GOLF EDUCATIF
Boris Becker v Wladimir Klitschko might
seem to be something of a mismatch on a
tennis court or in a boxing ring, but bring
along a few famous friends, a football and
an enthusiastic crowd and you have the
perfect recipe for a thrilling night of sporting
action which produced significant funds for
the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
Germany.
Numerous World and European champions,
Olympic medallists and show stars came
together for the first charity footballl match
Klitschko & Friends meets Becker & Friends
at the Carl-Benz Stadium in Mannheim.
The spectators saw an entertaining game
that Team Becker won 6-4, and both
'managers' - Laureus Academy Member
Boris Becker and Laureus Friend &
Ambassador Wladimir Klitschko - expressed
their gratitude to the players who took part
and the spectators who turned up to watch.
Stars of the Becker team were: Nadine
Angerer, Birgit Prinz (Women's World and
European soccer champions), Jürgen
Kohler, Jens Nowottny, Steffen Freund, Mario
Basler, Thomas Hässler (former German
Bundesliga players, World, European and
national champions), Stefan Kretzschmar
(handball legend), Bruno Spengler and
Bernd Schneider (Mercedes-Benz DTM
drivers).
KICK START
Sergey Bubka, Edwin Moses and Nawal El
Moutawakel, three great legends of track
and field, took time out from the World
Athletics Championships in Berlin in August
to visit young people at KICK im Boxring, a
project supported by the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation Germany.
The three Laureus World Sports Academy
members met the young Berliners at the
project in Treptow and coached them as
they took part in a mini-athletics competition,
involving running, hurdling, shot putt and
long jump.
KICK im Boxring aims to give young people
a legitimate outlet for their aggression, as
well as offering opportunities for social
learning. The project began in Treptow in
2007, and has now expanded to the
Marzahn, Kreuzberg and Tiergarten districts
of Berlin too.
World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir
Klitschko said: "I am very grateful to the
public who supported our match. My team
lost by two goals, but in reality we saw only
winners today." And Boris Becker added: "It
was a magnificent day for Laureus. I am very
grateful to the many athletes and show stars
that supported us.”
After just a few hours practice, Abou showed a natural ability
for the sport. Now, three years later, he has become a
promising golfer and is so determined to succeed that it has
changed his whole attitude to life. He is more positive and
optimistic about his future.
Brahim, who is older than Abou, originally played football in the
district of Les Bosquets, a suburb of Paris, but after a few
sessions at Golf Educatif he became hooked.
“
Now he has passed his teaching
diploma to become a golf coach, and
his enhanced self-esteem has enabled
him to find a job.
”
Supported by the Laureus National Foundation in France, today
there are 16 Golf Educatif courses where 7,000 young people
play each week. They use golf balls with 35% of the weight of
standard ones, which fly a third of the distance, yet with a similar
trajectory to that of a real golf ball. It means that a three-hole
Golf Educatif course can fit into an area the size of a football
field, and courses can be of varied length, of three, six or nine
holes. This makes the sport affordable and accessible for young
people like Abou and Brahim, who might not otherwise get the
chance to play and benefit from the lessons it can teach.
The game was initiated by the TV channel
Deutsches Sport Fernsehen (DSF) and
broadcast live. A cheque for 100,000 euros
was handed over to the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation.
Stars of the Klitschko team were: Silke
Rottenberg, Renate Lingor (Women's World
and European soccer champions), Fredi
Bobic, Guido Buchwald, Thomas Helmer,
Maurizio Gaudino (former German
Bundesliga players, World, European and
national champions), Jonas Reckermann
and Julius Brink (current World beach
volleyball champions), Felix Sturm (current
WBA World middleweight boxing champion)
and Laureus ambassador Axel Schulz.
Laureus Chairman Edwin Moses said: "KICK
im Boxring is a great concept and I am
delighted that Laureus can support it. It
takes care of young people at an age when
it is really important to get them off the
streets and prevent them from getting
involved in crime and drugs."
The visit of the Laureus Academy members
and the general excitement in Berlin for the
World Athletics Championships encouraged
the young people at the project to leave the
boxing ring and put on a small track and
field championship amongst themselves.
CLIMBING THE ROPES
Laureus World Sports Academy Members
Boris Becker and Mika Häkkinen found
themselves all tied up as they tried out the
rope garden during their visit to the Laureussupported ‘move&do' project in Stuttgart.
They joined the youngsters, aged 10-12, in
some challenging action. After a race on
wooden skis, Boris climbed up to a height of
seven metres with 11-year-old girl Shabnam,
while double Formula One World Champion
Mika and the rest of the group secured the
ropes.
"You have to be in good shape to make the
rope course. It is really tough even if it does
not look like it from the ground," said Boris
and Mika congratulated the boys and girls:
"It has been a great day for all of us. You
have shown great team work. We are proud
of you. Keep up the good work."
The whole group provided proof of its team
spirit and how working together can
overcome difficulties.
‘move&do' is a mobile unit that travels from
school to school in Stuttgart, Germany.
Project leader Marcus Weber explains:
"Team spirit, discipline and trusting each
other are the key skills they have to prove in
order to fulfil the objectives - if you don't cooperate the whole team can't win. Thus a lot
of kids that think they are leaders in the
school class must admit that others, maybe
more quiet ones, have more skills and better
ideas. That makes the youngsters think
about themselves and leads to more
tolerance and less aggression from them.”
LEFT: LAUREUS FRIEND & AMBASSADOR, WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO AND ACADEMY MEMBER BORIS BECKER HOLDING A CHEQUE FOR THE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD
FOUNDATION GERMANY MIDDLE: EDWIN MOSES TRAINING WITH THE PARTICIPANTS RIGHT: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER BORIS BECKER AT THE MOVE&DO PROJECT
www.laureus.com
www.laureus.com
40 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
ITALY
NEW SPORTS HALL IS OPENED
In September 2009, children from the Rozzano region of Milan,
an area well known for its mix of immigrant communities
characterised by the inevitable issues associated with low
investment, high crime, and poor education and health, came
together to celebrate the opening of the new Laureus 2 Sports
Hall, with some very special guests present.
NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS 41
THE ITALIAN FOUNDATION
HAS ADDRESSED ISSUES,
SUCH AS SOCIAL
INTEGRATION, FAMILY
BREAKDOWN AND
DRUG ABUSE
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
SOUTH AFRICA
PIONEERING WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
Since its inception, the South African Foundation has grown steadily in
strength and numbers and 2009 saw the foundation supporting two
new projects bringing the total to 12.
Laureus World Sports Academy member Morné du Plessis, Chairman
of the South African Foundation, has continued his pioneering efforts to
direct the Sport for Good movement in South Africa with the assistance
of an active board of trustees, engaged funding partners in Country
Patron Discovery Health as well as local businesses of Laureus Global
Partners Mercedes Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone, committed
Friends & Ambassadors and a diverse portfolio of projects that
embody the spirit of Laureus and the power of sport for social change.
LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION
TRUST SOUTH AFRICA
PRUDENCE FESTER
pfester@ssisa.com
WE AIM TO GROW AND
IMPACT ON EVEN MORE
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIVES
IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
ABOVE: CHILDREN PRACTICE UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF FORMER ENGLAND
CRICKET CAPTAIN AND LAUREUS FRIEND & AMBASSADOR, MICHAEL VAUGHAN
It was a busy year for Laureus South Africa. Among the many
highlights, in June the Johannesburg Cubs project, a joint venture with
the Gauteng Cricket Board, was launched with a large supporting cast
of Laureus Friends & Ambassadors, including Deshun Deysel, Baby
Jake Matlala, Lucas Radebe, John Robbie and Cynthia Tshaka. In
addition former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan joined to lend
his support.
ABOVE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER TONY HAWK AT THE INDIGO YOUTH
MOVEMENT PROJECT
In addition to Laureus World Sports Academy members
Giacomo Agostini and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the event was
awash with living legends of the Italian sporting world including
rugby union player Alessandro Troncon, New York Nicks
basketball star Danilo Gallinari and Italian rally driver Miki
Biasion.
The Fondazione Laureus Italia established the programme,
in partnership with Fondazione Umana Mente, at the behest of
social services in the area. The children, who come from
outlying or problem schools, take part in sporting and
educational activities which promote integration, respect for the
rules and confidence.
Children on the project who best exemplify the characteristics
of determination, discipline and team spirit, during their
sporting and educational development, have the opportunity to
win scholarships that allow them to participate in level one
coaching courses operated by the prestigious Centro Sportivo
Italiano.
FONDAZIONE LAUREUS ITALIA ONLUS
SILVANA DE GIOVANNI
silvana.degiovanni@fondazionelaureus.it
www.laureus.it
www.laureus.com
Topping off a great year for the South African Foundation was the visit
by Academy member and former world skateboarding champion Tony
Hawk to the Indigo Youth Movement project in August. The project is
nestled in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Kwazulu Natal, where the
super modern skateboard ramp sticks out incongruously against the
background of traditional Zulu housing, mountains and grazing
livestock. The new project on the outskirts of Durban is a development
of a programme that started eight years ago to help young people in
rural communities develop life skills and confidence through
skateboarding.
ABOVE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER MARVELOUS MARVIN HAGLER
JOINS THIAGO SILVA, NADEGE DUBOSPERTUS & MAURIZIO MARGAGLIO
AT THE OPENING OF THE LAUREUS 2 SPORTS HALL
“
Participants can see that, with
determination, it is possible to change
their future and go from being a course
participant to being a teacher or from
being a player to being a coach
”
said Silvana De Giovanni, Director of the Fondazione Laureus
Italia. Chairman Ruggero Magnoni added: “The Laureus
intervention scheme, using coaches, teachers and
psychologists, devised with the Sacro Cuore Catholic
University, guarantees a scientifically based intervention.
We believe that it is essential to invest in quality and to
continually measure the scheme’s effectiveness.”
Since its inception in 2005, the Italian Foundation, through the
use of sport, has addressed issues, such as social integration,
high school drop out rates, family breakdown and drug abuse.
ABOVE: MICHAEL VAUGHAN AT THE JOHANNESBURG CLUBS PROJECT
The following day Michael joined Lucas, Baby Jake, Deshun and
Ntambi Ravele for an 8km walk in the annual Discovery 702 Walk the
Talk event. They were accompanied by 60 children and coaches from
the Sport for All, Soweto Schools Rugby Program, Fight With Insight
and Little Champs Projects.
Laureus Academy member and environmental adventurer explorer
Mike Horn, who is currently circumnavigating the globe in his
remarkable sailing vessel Pangaea, visited South Africa in March and
called in at the Foundation supported Little Champs project in
Gugulethu which teaches children basic sporting skills and at the same
time improves their learning abilities. Since 2000, more than 5,000
children in Alexandra and Duduza have benefited from the programme.
Later, children from the Future Champs project based in Khayelitsha,
on the outskirts of Cape Town, were able to visit Pangaea at the Cape
Town waterfront.
Amongst the most significant moments of the year took place in May
when project leaders from two South African projects - Free the Youth
and Sport for All – met up with the successful Mathare Youth Sports
Association project from Kenya for an exchange of ideas. The meeting
was also highly successful for sharing expertise on how projects work
on the ground. Free the Youth and Sport for All then passed that
information on to the rest of the Johannesburg-based projects and it is
hoped there will be a significant dividend in the future.
2009 has once again been a tremendous year for Laureus in South
Africa. Never an organisation to sit back and relax, these achievements
simply spur the team on to continue to build on 2009’s successes,
learning and growing with our partners to impact on even more young
people’s lives across the country.
See pages 30 & 31 for a cross chat between Morné du Plessis and
Laureus Friend & Ambassador, John Robbie.
www.laureus.com
42 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS 43
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
SPAIN
NEW FRIENDS & AMBASSADORS
The Fundación Laureus España was honoured to be able to
announce former tennis great Arancha Sánchez Vicario and the
highly respected sports broadcaster Matías Prats as the
newest members of the Laureus Friends & Ambassadors
programme in 2009.
THE THREE KEY ISSUE
AREAS ARE HEALTH,
EDUCATION &
SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Having recently become a mother herself, and all too aware of
the blessings that sport has given her, she is keen to ensure
that all children are given the opportunities which sporting
programmes can bring.
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
SWITZERLAND
LAUREUS FOUNDATION SWITZERLAND
EVELYN FANKHAUSER
evelyn.fankhauser@laureus.ch
www.laureus.ch
TOP RIGHT: IRISH ROCK STAR, RONAN KEATING
BOTTOM RIGHT: THE CHARITY NIGHT RAISED 236,600 SWISS
FRANCS FOR THE LAUREUS FOUNDATION SWITZERLAND
NIGHT MOVES
The Montreux Jazz Festival held each July is one of the most
notable music events of the summer, and this year, thanks to
the Laureus Foundation Switzerland, it was jazz with a
difference, as the first ever Midnight Basketball community
sports programme was taking place simultaneously in
Montreux Market Hall.
Midnight Basketball aims to take young people off the streets
and out of trouble on Saturday nights by offering regular open
sporting events as an alternative. This session certainly proved
to be highly popular with youngsters from the Lausanne,
Montreux and Villeneuve areas who had filled the hall by late
afternoon to play basketball, football, table football, volleyball
and other sports. The teams were formed from among those
who arrived and matches were played without referees.
Former tennis star Marc Rosset and freestyle world snowboard
champion Manuela Pesko, both Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors, came along to see for themselves what was
going on and to join in the activity. Marc Rosset said;
“
I have always known that sport and
movement can have a positive effect,
but it is much nicer to experience closeup how integration works in real life.
”
The event was made possible by the Laureus Foundation
Switzerland, which is now helping the Midnight Basketball
organisation to develop their project activities in other areas of
the French speaking part of Switzerland.
LAUREUS FRIEND & AMBASSADOR ARANCHA SÁNCHEZ
VICARIO SHARES A MOMENT OF GLORY AND HAPPINESS
WITH A SPECIAL OLYMPIC TENNIS PLAYER
Chair of the Fundación, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs said:
“
I am delighted at the support that two
bastions of the sporting world like Arancha
and Matias are able to provide.
”
The announcement came as the pair visited the Laureus
supported Special Olympics programme, at the Chamartin
Tennis Club in Madrid, which aims to promote the personal
development and integration of individuals with mental
disabilities through a diverse range of sporting activities.
On this particular occasion the participants had the opportunity
to play with the three time Roland Garros winner Sánchez
Vicario, a moment few of them are likely to forget.
Sánchez Vicario was chosen thanks to her outstanding
achievements on the tennis court including no less than 14
Grand Slam titles: four singles, six women's doubles and four
mixed, which makes her one of the greatest female tennis
players Spain has ever produced.
The three key issue areas for the Fundación Laureus España
are health, education and social integration, promoted through
projects such as Special Olympics and USP Fundación Alex,
which also works with mentally handicapped children, helping
them to integrate into society through sport. During the coming
year it is looking to tackle the rising problems associated with
an over sedentary lifestyle, by offering programmes that
promote sports and healthy lifestyles.
ARANCHA SÁNCHEZ
VICARIO AND MATIAS PRATS
WITH THE PRESIDENT OF
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
MR. GAIZKA ORTUZAR AT
THE PRESS CONFERENCE
Laureus Switzerland also supports the Laureus Cavallo
equestrian based project in Winterthur; Blindspot, which aims
to bring children with and without disabilities together to play
sport; and Buntkicktgut street football league. In a busy 2009,
there were many successful fundraising events including a
Laureus Golf Day and the Laureus Charity Night in Zurich
which raised 236,600 Swiss francs and included a performance
by Irish rock star Ronan Keating.
MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL
AIMS TO TAKE YOUNG
PEOPLE OFF THE
STREETS AND OUT OF
TROUBLE ON SATURDAY
NIGHTS BY OFFERING
REGULAR OPEN
SPORTING EVENTS AS
AN ALTERNATIVE.
THE COOLTOUR CAMP OF BLINDSPOT WHERE DISABLED AND
NON-DISABLED YOUTH EXPERIENCE SPORTING ACTIVITIES TOGETHER
FUNDACIÓN LAUREUS ESPAÑA
PABLO OPAZO
pablo.opazo@laureus.org
www.laureus.es
www.laureus.com
www.laureus.com
44 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
THE NETHERLANDS
LAUREUS FOUNDATION THE NETHERLANDS
OLAV BEKKER
olav.bekker@laureus.nl
www.laureus.nl
NATIONAL FOUNDATION NEWS 45
THE NETHERLANDS HAS
ALREADY BEGUN ITS
SPORT FOR GOOD WORK
BY INITIATING SUPPORT
FOR 3 PROJECTS IN 2010
NEW FOUNDATION IS LAUNCHED
Tuesday, 22 September dawned bright with hope in
Amsterdam as some of Holland’s greatest sports stars came
together to launch the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation the
Netherlands.
ABOVE: LAUREUS ACADEMY MEMBER ROBBY NAISH
AT THE MARITIME CHALLENGE YOUTH PROJECT
They included triple Olympic swimming gold medallist Pieter
van den Hoogenband, Esther Vergeer, the greatest wheelchair
tennis player of all time who has won two Laureus Disability
Awards, and speed-skater Yvonne van Gennip, who won three
gold medals in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
www.laureus.com
MEETING AT THE WHITE HOUSE
One of the stated aims of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
globally is to promote as well as fund the use of sport as a tool for
social change. Following the success of the ‘Breaking the Cycle of
Violence’ campaign, which saw Academy members presenting
Laureus research to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in October, it
was the turn of Academy member Monica Seles to visit the White
House to discuss the value of youth based sport development
programmes across the United States.
Her visit to the White House and subsequent presentation at the
Up2Us National Conference was aimed at highlighting to policy
makers the risks the country faces in cutting an estimated US$2
billion from youth based sport development programming in schools
and a gradual move towards ‘pay to play’ mechanisms where
families must pay to access even the very basic sports education
and facilities.
Monica highlighted the findings of the most recent report by Laureus
partner Up2Us which draws the link between massive cuts in
spending on youth sports and the increased levels of youth obesity,
diabetes, crime and particularly gang activity, school truancy and
many other social ills afflicting young inner city communities across
the United States.
As the three were inducted into the Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors programme, the applause was led by German
tennis legend Boris Becker, the Vice Chairman of the Laureus
World Sports Academy, and Prince Pieter-Christiaan van
Oranje, the Chairman of the emerging new Netherlands
Foundation.
Although just months old, under the leadership of Prince PieterChristiaan, the Laureus Foundation the Netherlands has
already begun its Sport for Good work by initiating support for
three projects in 2010 - De Laureus Maritime Challenge,
De Zomerkampen van de Bas van de Goor Foundation and
an evening football competition for young people from
disadvantaged families in the Hague.
NATIONAL
FOUNDATION NEWS
USA
The conference after the meeting brought together representatives
from over 150 development projects from across the country to
debate and discuss best practice in youth sport, projects, monitoring
and evaluation and the sectors response to the financial crisis.
ABOVE: PIETER VAN DEN HOOGENBAND, BORIS BECKER, YVONNE VAN GENNIP, PRINCE
PIETER-CHRISTIAAN VAN ORANJE, AND ESTHER VERGEER AT THE LAUNCH OF THE
LAUREUS FOUNDATION NETHERLANDS
LAUREUS FOUNDATION USA
LUCIANA PORTA
ABOVE: FORMER KNICKS STAR AND LAUREUS FRIEND
& AMBASSADOR JOHN STARKS AT THE 'I CHALLENGE
MYSELF' PROJECT VISIT
BELOW: JOHN STARKS AND MONICA SELES WITH THE
CHEQUE FOR ‘I CHALLENGE MYSELF’
During the conference the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation hosted
a presentation - ‘Sports-based Youth Development around the World’ with representatives of six of Laureus’ international programmes also
visiting Washington.
The meeting at the White House and the conference were highlights in
a year that also saw on-going support for programmes in the United
States and visits of Academy members, Friends & Ambassadors and
other dignitaries to supported Laureus activities.
Our thanks go to all our supporters, national and international and in
particular to our network of friends from US sport who visit the kids in
projects on a regular and unsung basis but who bring so much
inspiration and enthusiasm to otherwise marginalised and at-risk
young people.
THE MEETING AT THE
WHITE HOUSE WAS ONE
OF THE HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE YEAR
luciana.porta@laureus.com
www.laureus.com
46 10 YEAR HISTORY OF LAUREUS
MEMBERSHIP SCHEME 47
NEW FRIEND &
AMBASSADOR
MEMBERSHIP
SCHEME
LAYNE BEACHLEY JOINS LAUREUS
In 2009 the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Membership Scheme was launched. The scheme is an opportunity for members of the public
to show support for the work of the Foundation by making regular or one-off donations. The three levels of membership offered (Gold, Silver
and Bronze) give the chance to donate different amounts and all members receive Laureus merchandise as part of their membership.
If you would like to join the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Membership Scheme please
visit our website: laureus.com/foundation/membership
FRIENDS &
AMBASSADORS
Paul ACCOLA Alpine Skiing
Kurt AESCHBACHER TV Personality
Natasha BADMANN Triathlete
Mansour BAHRAMI Tennis
Robert BAKER Golf
BASCHI Pop Singer
Layne BEACHLEY Surfing
Marco BERTOLAMI Rugby
Miki BIASION Motor Racing
Denise BIELMANN Figure Skating
Stefan BLOECHER Hockey
Annabelle BOND Adventurer
Bronwyn BOCK JONATHON Netball
Martin BRAXENTHALER Skiing
Adolfo CAMBIASO Polo
Fabian CANCELLARA Cycling
Maria CECILIA ROGNONI Hockey
Jackie CHAN Movie/ Kung Fu
Sabine CHRISTIANSEN TV Personality
David DE ROTHSCHILD Eco Adventurer
DECO Football
Deshun DEYSEL Climbing
Natalie DU TOIT Paralympic Swimming
Frank FREDERICKS Athletics
Barbara FUSAR POLI Ice Skating
Alejandra GARCIA FLOOD Pole Vault
Danillo GALLINARI Basketball
Lara GUT Alpine Skiing
ABOVE: LAUREUS FRIEND & AMBASSADOR, LAYNE BEACHLEY
Layne Beachley, the greatest female surfer of all time, became
a member of the Laureus Friends & Ambassadors programme
in February 2009, at a Laureus supported project in the surf of
Jan Juc beach in Australia.
Australian sporting legend Beachley won the World Surfing
Championship a record seven times and set the pace for women
in a previously male dominated sport. She received the Laureus
World Alternative Sportsperson of the Year Award in 2004.
Layne said: “I was delighted that I was able to get down to
work straight away as a Laureus Friend & Ambassador at such
an inspiring project. It was even more pleasurable for me that it
was based on surfing. I hope to be able to work with Laureus
to set up more projects in this country and use sport as the
means to help disadvantaged young Australians.”
The announcement was made by Laureus World Sports
Academy members Cathy Freeman, Robby Naish, Daley
Thompson and Steve Waugh, who were attending the
Indigenous Sports Programme surfing project at Jan Juc, near
Geelong, in Victoria.
Run by Surfing Australia, the project promotes healthy lifestyles
and provides the local community with the opportunity to
experience surfing in a fun, safe and supervised environment and
gives individuals the opportunity to become coaches and officials.
www.laureus.com
Ruud GULLIT Football
Bryan HABANA Rugby
Eduardo HEGUY Polo
Edith HUNKELER Wheelchair Racing
Kelly HOLMES Athletics
Butch JAMES Rugby
Heinz KARRER Business Personality
Jacques KALLIS Cricket
Oliver KAHN Football
Conny KISSLING Free Skiing
Taig KHRIS Inline Skating
Vitali KLITSCHKO Boxing
Wladimir KLITSCHKO Boxing
Janica KOSTELIC Skiing
Christoph LANGEN Bobsleigh
Dr Thomas LADNER Business Personality
Henri LECONTE Tennis
Jens LEHMANN Football
Baby Jake MATLALA Boxing
Fabrizio MACCHI Cycling
Filippo MAGNINI Swimming
Herman MAIER Skiing
Maurizio MARGAGLIO Ice Skating
Rainer MARIA SALZGEBER TV Personality
Barry MCGUIGAN Boxing
John MOETI Football
Thomas MUSTER Tennis
Alexander PEREIRA Cultural Personality
Manuela PESKO Snowboarding
Umberto PELLIZARI Free Diving
Santiago PHELAN Rugby
Birgit PRINZ Football
Bertrand PICCARD Adventurer
Matías PRATS Broadcaster
Lucas RADEBE Football
Antonio ROSSI Canoeing
John ROBBIE Rugby
Marc ROSSET Tennis
Arantxa SÁNCHEZ VICARIO Tennis
Axel SCHULZ Boxing
Matthias SCHWEIGHOFER Actor
Jochen SCHÜMANN Sailing
Gian SIMMEN Snowboarding
Alain SUTTER Football
Michael TEUBER Paralympic Cycling
Alessandro TRONCON Rugby
Cynthia TSHAKA TV Presenter
Franzika VAN ALMSICK Swimming
Pieter VAN DEN HOOGENBAND Swimming
Edwin VAN DER SAR Football
Ernst VAN DYK Wheelchair Racing
Leontien VAN MOORSEL Cycling
Michael VAUGHAN Cricket
Esther VERGEER Tennis
Filippo VOLANDRI Tennis
Yvonne VON GENNIP Figure Skating
Beachley and windsurfer Naish, who won over 30 World titles
between them, gave a surfing demonstration for the young
people. Cathy Freeman, 400 metres gold medallist
in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said:
“
We welcome Layne warmly into the
Laureus family and I am personally
delighted that she was with us at Jan
Juc. This project is something very close
to my heart.
”
All photographs provided by Getty Images / Laureus unless specified otherwise below:
P. 22 Image of Wayne Rooney, Spirit of Soccer project P. 28 Image of Sean Tuohey, PeacePlayers International P. 31 Main image by Bruce Sutherland City of Cape Town
P. 34 Tortour images, IWC Schaffhausen P. 37 Fundación Laureus Argentina P. 38 Main image, Association Laureus France P. 39 Laureus Foundation Germany
P. 40 Fondazione Laureus Italia Onlus P. 42 Fundación Laureus España P. 43 Laureus Foundation Switzerland.
www.laureus.com
THE LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY WISHES
TO THANK THE MANY INDIVIDUALS AND
ORGANISATIONS THAT OVER TEN YEARS HAVE
HELPED LAUREUS TO FULFIL ITS GOALS.
In particular, the Laureus Academy pays tribute to its Patrons Daimler and Richemont,
who founded Laureus, and to its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen
and Vodafone who provide such unwavering and invaluable support.
Donations to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation can be made via our website www.laureus.com or cheques can be made out and posted to:
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, 460 Fulham Road, London SW6 1BZ. For general enquiries please e-mail: foundation@laureus.com
This is the official magazine of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which is supported by its Global Partners Mercedes-Benz,
IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone. The Foundation is a global initiative of Daimler and Richemont.
Registered in England and Wales No. 05083331. Registered Charity No. 1111364
Magazine Editorial Director: Emma Chesworth
Published by Ratcliffe Fowler Design +44 (0)116 2420200