Sand River Soccer Leagues Project

Thanks to your support of their training, stud bull, two heifers, a scrap Land Rover, tools and spare parts, the Osero Community Soccer League are earning money from their stud bull and milk sale businesses and have completely rebuilt their scrapped Land Rover for the league’s use and for hire. They are also earning money from setting up a container camp which they are being paid to do privately in the Sand River Area.

The aim of this project is to empower each league to earn their own money sustainably to support new jobs and ongoing league costs like tournament, transport, and equipment costs.

So far, together, we are succeeding. This league is earning enough to support eight full-time salaries. They have also earned enough to cover the costs of one soccer tournament for their 188 members so far, and they have made a small profit in their first year of operating. Furthermore, three of the 11 selected trainees from Osero are now mechanic apprentices, and have passed their Grade III trade light vehicle Mechanic Exam at Nkoroi Technical Training Institute.

This project has dramatically changed the lives of these young people (all aged 18-25), who, without your support, would not have had access to these employment opportunities or sustainable income streams for their whole league to benefit from. They would instead be entirely reliant on donations to support themselves. For reference, this is a photo of some of the Osero League back in 2021 after receiving some of their first soccer kits and balls from us.

Also, speaking of new lives, so far, Osero’s two heifers and bull have had three calves, two of which are heifers and one born recently, which was a bull!

In the spirit of giving back and paying it forward, they are giving their two heifers to help the next league start their own stud bull and milk businesses, but they will retain their bull to keep growing their stud bull business.

How does this stud bull business benefit wildlife conservation? Well, their business is helping to improve the quality of livestock in their area, meaning less livestock will be needed for the same outputs, reducing the impact on their area, which is all made up of community-owned land. This way of farming these cows allows coexistence with a wide diversity of species native to this area.

Furthermore, training and empowering these leagues is all part of the wider Sand River project we are part of, and our foundation teams work to help make sure the benefits derived from conservation and tourism along the Sand River are shared equitably and sustainably.

With your support, we have begun the training of the next two leagues so they can follow in Osero’s footsteps. These two leagues are the Olderkesi Community Sports League from halfway between the Maasai Mara and the Naimina Enkiyio Sacred Forest and the Naimina Enkiyio Soccer League from near the Sacred Forest. The former has 8 teams and 133 members (including substitute members of the teams) and the latter has 8 teams and 163 members currently, so 296 more potential direct beneficiaries.

However, this does not count the inspiration these teams are for those around them. Just look at the kids watching one of the Osero League’s matches in the photos below. Osero is an inspiration to them. This project is also about supporting these leagues to become role models in their society who are pro-conservation, anti-drugs, anti-corruption, and give back to those around them. We hope they will represent a return to the old values of the Maasai Morani (Warriors), whose role included helping their communities.