Meet members of our Team Captains program that we just relaunched as our Captain and Youth Leadership Program.  The candidates were from a group of team leaders recommended by their teammates. Our coaches then chose the finalists based on their track records. 31 candidates went through an interview process with our Country Director James Louis-Charles and with our Program Coordinator Emilio Jean Paul.

The interview consisted of questions asking them to describe GOALS, the qualities of a leader, and questions on integrity.  A point system was used based on their answers and the ones with the highest points moved on to the final round of the selection process.  The final determining factor was their presence percentage in GOALS related programs.

A total of 20 participants were chosen from all 3 of our sites to participate in the program. These young leaders will assist in the Coaches Across Continent (CAC) program that uses soccer related games to discuss important issues in our communities. The curriculum deals with conflict resolution, gender equality and health risk awareness.  Our Program Coordinator, Emilio, who oversees the CAC program, will also manage the Captain and Young Leaders program. He will assess their performance by letting them take charge of the discussion process that usually follows the CAC games.  The leaders of the older teams will take down notes so that the CAC games serve as their apprenticeship. 

After spending a year into the Captain and Youth Leadership program, the older kids will be certified by GOALS as young leaders in their communities.  We will then invite them to take part in our outreach program in the summer of 2019 where they will be able to showcase their new skills as leaders to other communities.  We are giving our kids the tools they need to be empowered. We are excited for them to play an active role in deciding their own future and the future of their communities.