Wrexham AFC Executive Director Humphrey Ker looks back on trip to Lesotho and looks forward to bright twinning future.
I had the great good fortune, last week, to travel to Lesotho to visit the headquarters of Wrexham’s new international twinning partner, Kick4Life FC, where I got to witness first-hand the vital and effective work they do as a hub for both charitable and social enterprise-centric activities. Kick4Life play in the Vodacom Premier League, Lesotho’s top tier, and were national champions in 2021, but their mission goes far beyond what is happening on the pitch.
Together with about 20 tour members from the UK, each of whom had raised funds to help finance Kick4Life activities, I spent four days being shown a small, but impressive, cross section of the way in which the club uses its position in Lesotho to help some of that country’s most deprived and at-risk children have a better chance at a brighter future. Cultural site visits, delivering coaching sessions in schools and a cup of tea with the King of Lesotho were among the highlights, but every activity I participated in was enhanced by the highly-professional approach taken by the staff.
In a country with high instances of HIV, child poverty and gender-based violence, Kick4Life have, since 2005, delivered a wide variety of charitable activities from health education and HIV testing, to literacy mentoring and support towards long-term education and employment to over 250,000 children.
With a hotel/conference centre/restaurant attached to the first team stadium, the profits of which all go back into the charity, Kick4Life have always sought to deploy football as a way of bringing vulnerable people into the orbit of the club where they can be taught valuable life skills and sent back out in the community with a greater chance of thriving for themselves and the people around them. Almost the entire staff of the club, from hotel receptionists to coaches have come through the program, all imbued with a fantastic culture of positivity and professionalism. The welcome I received was second to none and while the quality of the food in the restaurant shouldn’t be a big factor in the success of such a visit, it goes a long way with someone as greedy as me!
Perhaps the jewel in the crown of Kick4Life’s activities is the academy, which seeks to turn out well-rounded and well-educated players, who can use their footballing ability to help get themselves into higher education. At present, 12 student athletes from Kick4Life are currently in the US college system, where they are both playing football to a high standard and receiving a top tier education. Speaking to some of the former students and those currently working towards this process, I was incredibly impressed by their attitude and work ethic, as well as being very excited for what we, at Wrexham AFC, can do to help facilitate more of these opportunities for the best of young people in Lesotho.
I left Lesotho enthused and energized about what each of these great clubs can do for each other, from cultural and coaching exchanges, to a player pathway and beyond. Wrexham and Lesotho have a long history of friendship and collaboration, going back to 1984 and it seems wholly appropriate in 2024 to be renewing and strengthening these bonds of friendship. Watch this space. We are just getting started.
https://www.facebook.com/kick4life
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