12 girls and 2 coaches from the slums of Mumbai, India, returned home after spending two highly successful weeks at a football training camp in Moraga, California recently.

This trip was part of an exchange programme between the Laureus-supported Magic Bus  project and the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy, the football training camp founded by the former US national team captain.

The Magic Bus girls prepared to play football with their US peers

To the Mumbai girls, this trip was much more than just mastering football drills. Coming from a country where girls playing football is not widely accepted, the girls learned lessons of leadership and self-confidence through the football exercises and in mixing with the 100 American girls, who also participated in the camp. 

The Magic Bus women's football team at the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy

Tutor Mira Ahmad was the one who witnessed the progress of the Indian girls after only five days at the Academy when the Magic Bus girls all ran around talking and chilling out with their new Californian friends and having the time of their life.

Mira remembered how shy these Magic Bus girls had been on the first day and how hard it was to push them to speak their limited English with their US peers. However, after doing team building and leadership activities via playing great soccer, “they were not afraid of the mistakes they were making. They are babbling away in Hinglish (Hindi/English) and making friends,” said Mira.

What better results can we ask for? We are proud of these kids who are riding the Magic Bus. As Mira said: “For those of us who have tried and tried again with little success, we know that making a mistake and taking that first step is the best way to get the ball rolling.”

One of the best things about working for Laureus is that you are always motivated by inspiring stories from around the world that offer hope.

Maqulate Atieno Onyango, from the Laureus-supported Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) project in Kenya is the youngest person and the first Kenyan woman to be selected as a Match Commissioner by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF).  Her achievements have made her a role model to thousands of young people from the project and across the notorious Mathare slums.

MYSA role model Maqulate Atieno

Mathare contains one of the largest and poorest slums in Africa with several hundred thousand inhabitants, of which over 70 per cent are women and children. Disease is widespread and AIDS has stolen the lives of many in the community.

Born in abject poverty, Maqulate is one of four children in her family who used to live in a tin shack and survive on one meal a day. Childhood, for Maqulate, was like a nightmare, “with no running water, electricity and food”.

At Mathare, some of the girls in their early teens turn to drugs and prostitution to make ends meet. However,  Maqulate changed her life by joining the Mathare Youth Sports Association in 1995 as a 13-year-old footballer and went on to become the first female referee at MYSA. In 1997 she was elected Secretary of the Mathare Zonal Executive Committee and two years later she was trained as a referee and started officiating at MYSA league matches, eventually progressing to the higher leagues with older players.

Maqulate joined the MYSA staff in 2000 as a project officer in the Jailed Kids Project and in 2006 she was appointed by MYSA as a project leader for an international sport for development project in Kampala, Uganda. Later, Maqulate became Manager for the MYSA Zonal Sports and Training Project. She was also trained as a referees’ assessor and in 2010 she was selected by CAF to become a Match Commissioner.

Today 29-year-old Maqulate is not only a role model but she has also been able to transform the life of her family.  Now Maqulate pays school fees for her brothers, takes care of her parents and has moved them from Mathare to a more secure place. But what makes Maqulate feel prouder is that she is impacting on the lives of so many young people not only in Kenya, but across Africa with her role in MYSA.

“I attribute all my success to MYSA for believing in girls and giving us the same opportunities as boys to excel on and off the field. I thank God he led me to football and I avoided all negative vices. Joining Mathare Youth Sports Association transformed my life for good,” Maqulate said.

Maqulate encourages the many boys and girls who would like to emulate her, “In life you have to be patient, committed, disciplined ,work hard and put God first and you will be successful in whatever you do.” Her story impressed us a lot.

It isn’t everyday a child can say that they’ve met one of the world’s biggest rugby union legends.

But today, the kids at the Laureus-supported Soweto Schools Rugby Programme can boast even more than that. Earlier today, they met both All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick AND the worlds BIGGEST rugby ball too!

World Cup winner he may be, but even Sean needed a little help from some friends to tackle this rugby challenge

Laureus Academy Member Sean Fitzpatrick along with South African sports commentator and Laureus Ambassador John Robbie were in Soweto to meet the young rugby enthusiasts and see the work being done at the project.

All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick with kids from the Soweto-based rugby programme... and the world's largest rugby ball

One of the more unusual parts of Sean’s visit, however, involved the enormous rugby ball.

And the ball has a story all of its own.

The ball’s journey to Soweto  started half-way round the world in Hong Kong. It was there that it was first brought into the Laureus family at another project visit on the occasion of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.

And who was in attendence that day? None other than kids from the Soweto rugby programme and Sean himself.

Needless to say, the reunion was an emotional one.

As well as having some fun with the ball, the young rugby players took a lesson from Sean to learn that most famous of dances: the All Blacks’ ‘Haka’.

The kid's from Soweto take a lesson in the 'Haka' from Sean

Also celebrating on the day was Bongiwe Nhleko, who was celebrating her 21st birthday at the project visit.

‘Bongi’ is a real success story for the programme in Soweto.

Her father died when she was just five, making the pursuit of her goal of becoming a professional rugby coach extremely difficult. However, she joined the Soweto project in 2009 and has already progressed to the position of project manager.

And, just in the past few weeks, Bongi has received the fantastic news that she has been chosen to go on a coach exchange that will take her all the way to Millfield School in Somerset, England to help further develop her skills.

Bongi will be taking this opportunity up in October this year.

Young people such as Bongi at the Soweto project just go to show how constructive sport can be across the world in transforming people’s lives for the better.

This isn’t a question I thought I would ever have to ask.

But, at the launch of the new Laureus-supported Urban Stars project in Manchester yesterday, I can reveal it did actually happen.

And the evidence below has captured it for the ages…

A smarter street dancer than Sir Bobby you surely never will see... and isn't Michael getting into it??

The Ashes-winning cricket captain and legendary World Cup winner were in Salford, Manchester for the launch of the new project that aims to tackle youth crime.

It hopes to do this by drawing in young people and offering them a chance to get off the streets and involved in sporting opportunities.

In addition to trying their hand at some street dancing, the two sports legends handed out awards to some project participants and watched some of the young sports enthusiasts take part in football exercises.

Sir Bobby and Michael with their street dance teachers

You can find out more about the event and read what Bobby and Michael had to say about sport and youth crime in our news section here.

And for video of Michael and Sir Bobby’s street dancing efforts, head over to our Facebook page!

In the meantime, be sure to follow Laureus on Twitter @LaureusSport to get the latest news and pictures from our events and top insight into the world of sport.

The site of the new Laureus-supported football project in Haiti

It is always really exciting to watch as Laureus helps build a new sports project from the ground up.

And to see some of the kids who might benefit from the project enjoying some sports action with Laureus Academy Member Boris Becker, then it really starts to show how much the new venture could help improve the lives of the kids in Haiti.

Boris Becker leads an impromptu group calisthenics session

Just yesterday, Boris, along with his wife Lily Becker and Laureus Ambassador Sabine Christiansen, visited the project to meet some of the kids and to see the progress of the development.

Boris with the President of the Haiti FA and the football school director

The Laureus project will begin as soon as the building is completed.  The facility will also be shared with The Haitian FA and will educate talented footballers to serve as coaches for the project.

Sabine Christiansen and Lily Becker