One World Futbol And Chevrolet – Bringing The Game Closer To The Less Fortunate

Somewhere in Hammanskraal, South Africa, a group of girls from the Mabu-a-tlou Primary School are enjoying a game of football thanks to the Chevrolet branded One World Futbol’s, today.

A few weeks ago, this school, which houses the Mabu-a-tlou Lebala La Metshameko (“Mabu-a-tlou Playground”), was the venue where Chevrolet had donated the 1 millionth “Futbol” as part of its commitment to support One World Futbol (OWF) with distribution of 1.5 million balls over three years to vulnerable areas in order to promote the idea of safe play. Through OWF Project, these balls are distributed to programs and schools in war-stricken zones, refugee camps, disaster areas and other disadvantaged communities worldwide, working with a broad network of organisations that use sport and play to teach conflict resolution, gender equality, health awareness and other essential life skills.

If you are not aware of what OWF stands for, here is a brief explanation. The balls produced by the non-profit is virtually indestructible, which means that it never goes flat even if you drive over it (as presented in the video below). If only it existed in our time, it would basically solve the problem all of us faced at some point – the need to constantly buy new balls.

Chevrolet had also restored the local ground for the Hammanskraal Girls Soccer program – a homegrown cluster aimed at inspiring more girls to participate in the game.

Needless to say, this is just one of the many examples of how the brand has taken its corporate social responsibilities seriously since entering the world of football after announcing its partnership with Manchester United in 2012.

Earlier, the automaker had finished up reviving two football grounds across continents. The first came in April in the city of Bandung, Indonesia where it helped a local organization working with that uses football to enhance the value of life for those with a drug addiction and those living with HIV. The second was built in June in a gang infested neighbourhood of Chicago, US. The pitch helped the brand promote the power of safe play among children in the area while educating them on priceless life skills.

Moreover, Chevrolet-branded One World Futbol’s have been delivered to more than 60 countries and have brought the game to an estimated 30 million youth globally, few being countries like Colombia, India, Kenya, etc.

The question which is always when it comes to this kind of charity work is whether they have done so for self-promotion or through a genuine concern for those less fortunate and the more we hear about it, the more it points towards the latter. We haven’t seen any activity related to OWF in the Middle East as of yet, however, we will be expecting Chevrolet Arabia to be involved in the program soon enough as the brand continues to endorse the power of play across the world.

But anyway, I think you all would be interested in Manchester United making a genuine attempt at qualifying for the Champions League next year, let alone contending for the title.