If you walked past a football field this week in Camps Bay and heard kids shouting phrases like ‘wash your hands’, ‘clean the toilet’ or ‘clean water’, before being able to score a goal, you weren’t witnessing a crazy new TikTok trend.
It was part of Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart’s foundation’s visit to Cape Town where they have been sharpening the skills of young footballers but also partnering with NPOs in communities to use football as a driver for social change.
Three weeks ago, they were at Zeekoeivlei Primary School in a different reality where a feeding scheme assisted with filling bellies. This past week in Camps Bay, during the school break, it was about sensitising children about the realities of life on the Cape Flats.
Mishalan Davids started playing football at 11 years old for the NPO Oasis, based in Schaapkraal. She was at the Zeekoeivlei training camp hosted by VfB Stuttgart. This week, she was teaching a drill of a different kind to the group in Camps Bay that centred around water, hygiene and homelessness.
‘Organisations like Oasis give support before and after school to kids who don’t have parents and other children whose parents are on drugs. We use football as a development tool, and today I’m the head coach of the women’s team. What was taught to me back then, I now give back,’ she said. ‘The aim is to do a life skill with each training session.’
Davids was with VfB Stuttgart partner NPO Viva Con Aqua South Africa in Camps Bay. They brought one of their custom–built trailers fitted with showers to areas where the homeless and housing insecure are located to enable them to wash with dignity.
The trailer is equipped with gas-powered hot water and affords a shower in private for up to 15 minutes, where a homeless Capetonian can stow their belongings in a waterproof box next to them while showering.
Adrian Kriel of Viva Con Aqua said the organisation was concerned with water, sanitation and hygiene. It also assists Team South Africa for the Homeless World Cup.
‘We like to bring our message across using universal platforms like art, music and sport. One of our projects is called Mother Water – providing a 15-minute hot shower for the homeless, free of charge. This also affords the homeless person 15 minutes of dignity,’ he said.
During a mini game, Coach Davids instructed the young footballers, aged from 9 to 16, that their goals would only count if it was preceded by a phrase involving water or hygiene.
The camps with VfB Stuttgart at the home ground of Camps Bay Football Club is a coup for Anees Abass, a Salt River local who is the head of Legends Soccer Schools and Head Coach of Junior Football at the club.
‘Last year, Stuttgart came out to promote the Club, the Bundesliga with Viva Con Aqua. We stayed in touch and today we’re hosting our first international camp as Legends Soccer Schools. It’s a great accomplishment to have a team from the Bundesliga that is currently in the Champions League and with a rich history to come down and see our culture and to work with elite coaches from Germany,’ he said.
‘Legends has always been there to develop kids and give them opportunities. We’re trying to create pathways. With Stuttgart, we’re trying to create another pathway.’
Micha Guering, Head of the international Football projects of the VfB Stuttgart, said: ‘As Stuttgart, we travel all over the world to promote the club and the Bundesliga, and for me this is a special place. I used to live here and it has stuck in my heart. The idea is to get the kids moving but get them interested in the Bundesliga and our club to create more fans.’
The camp concluded with awards for outstanding performers and certificates, as well as a ‘coach the coaches’ workshop for local coaches.
