Ivory Coast Footballer Uses Sport to Get Kids in School

In a poor district of Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, former professional footballer Souleymane Cissé has founded a football club for young people. He aims not only to improve the ball skills of children and adolescents, but to encourage them to go to school and learn a trade.

Published

6 months ago

Categories

Sports

Topics

Africa, Youth Sports

People

Souleymane Cissé

Places

Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Transcript

SUGGESTED SCRIPT: This is a football club with a difference; Here at the Cissé Institute, in the Yopougon area of Abidjan, Young people aged 9 to 18 receive free training from former professional footballer Souleymane Cissé. He founded the centre with his own money and a clear idea of what he wanted to achieve. SOUNDBITE 1 Souleymane Cissé, President of the Cissé Institute Football Club (French, 9 sec): "The most important thing for me, isn't football. I've said it before and I'll say it again-the most important thing isn't football. It's school." Even if students are primarily chosen for their ball skills, they must also maintain good grades to keep their place. And as many are from disadvantaged backgrounds, financial help is available to fund places. SOUNDBITE 2 Souleymane Cissé, President of the Cissé Institute Football Club (French, 18 sec): "I see many children who come from the poor areas who have a real passion for football. I said to myself, why not use that to get the kids onto the path to school, because many don’t go. They're from poor backgrounds. So I said to myself, use football as a means to get them to go to school. " A skilled striker, Abdoulaye trains at the Cissé Institute. But like everyone else, he still goes to school, and the Institute keeps track of his academic progress. SOUNDBITE 3 Abdoulaye Traoré, Student at the Cissé Institute (French, 10 sec): "Whenever we finish our homework or oral tests, they ask us to show them our work so that they can see how we are doing at school. " The next stage for Cissé is to create a training centre for vocational skills like plumbing and carpentry. Not everyone at the Cissé institute can become a professional sportsman, but they can all use football, to get on the right path. SHOTLIST: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST, 16 JULY & 8 NOVEMBER 2012. SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR of students playing with a football at the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR Souleymane Cissé with children (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR of students playing with a football at the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) SOUNDBITE 2 - VAR Abdoulaye Traoré at his school in Yopougon (Abidjan, 8 November 2012) SOUNDBITE 3 - VAR of students playing with a football at the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) + AFP EXTRA RUSHES (01:39) - VAR of the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR of students who prepare to play (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR of students playing with a football at the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR students gathering to listen to Souleymane Cissé(Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR of students playing football at the Cissé Institute (Abidjan, 16 July 2012) - VAR Abdoulaye Traoré at his school in Yopougon (Abidjan, 8 November 2012)