It’s a tournament celebrated like the World Cup.
People from different Haitian communities show up to the field. They’re cheering on their favorite of the 12 teams. For three months, they’re glued to the competition— rather than the crisis engulfing their country.
GOALS Haiti, a sport for development nonprofit, has hosted this marquee soccer tournament every year since 2011. They wrapped up the 2024 edition in early June, seeing 28 matches played across girls and boys teams from three neighboring villages – Bossan, Carrefour Croix and Destra.
The tournament has been a good distraction for both the young players and their respective communities, who are about 30 miles away from the heavy gang violence taking place in the capital Port-au-Prince.
“The joy is seeing that everyone in GOALS can still find happiness despite all the chaos that’s going on in Haiti,” said program director Kenneth Dossous. “You can see our GOALS kids, coaches and community residents with big smiles on their faces when the kids take the field and play the game of soccer that everyone loves. It brings the community out and is a moment of joy where parents can cheer on their kids, and the kids look forward to it all year.”
Since the assassination of Haiti’s president in 2021, the country has experienced extreme gang violence and political instability. To date, gangs control 80 percent of Port-au-Prince and key roads leading to the rest of the country. Nearly 580,000 people have been displaced according to the UN.
GOALS has particularly faced challenges getting food, water, clothes, fuel and sport equipment through roads controlled by gangs. But it’s not just supplies that concerns the GOALS staff.
A recent UNICEF report found that 30-50 percent of the armed group members are children. Some are recruited to join as a sense of belonging, and others out of pressure and desperation. For Dossous, that’s even more reason why GOALS programming needs to continue as normal as possible and for this year’s tournament to have taken place.
“The pride and joy are knowing that while the majority of the country is experiencing extreme hardship during the political and civil unrest, GOALS is still operating and an active presence in the kids lives and the communities,” Dossous said. “We are able to continue to fulfill our mission, which is to educate kids with essential life skills through soccer.”
One of those life skills is understanding what “playing for peace” means.
“’Playing for Peace’ is a critical message we at GOALS want our kids to understand, which is without peace, there’s no playing, there’s no normality,” Dossous explained.
Each year, the tournament has a theme that the young people will learn as part of GOALS’ Purposeful Play curriculum. Past themes have been community building and environmental protection. This year, the longing for peace is felt stronger than ever.
So, before every game, the coaches discussed with their young people about the importance of peace, the cause and effects of peace, and the cause and effects without peace.
“Playing for peace to me means that I should feel safe, and violence should never be tolerated,” said 13-year-old Maydalie. She just completed her sixth annual tournament, which was also her most memorable.
“I scored my first goal in this tournament, and everybody was just hugging and congratulating me,” Maydalie said. “The GOALS tournament is special for me because I feel comfortable, and I have a strong sense of pride playing for my community.”
For Jornadie, playing for peace is about supporting the people around you.
“During a match if a teammate made a bad play during the game, instead of telling her hurtful words, you tell her words of encouragement so that she feels motivated to make a better play next time,” Jornadie explained.
Kids can join GOALS from 7 years old. Jornadie remembered watching GOALS kids play year after year until she was old enough. Since joining, she developed into one of the program’s top talents and role models.
“The situation in Haiti really makes me stressed, but as soon as I’m on that GOALS soccer field, all my stress will disappear,” she said. “That is why I’m always heavily involved in GOALS activities because this organization means so much to me.”
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As a grantee partner of Play Academy with Naomi Osaka, GOALS Haiti advances youth leadership through soccer and education to create stronger, healthier communities in rural Haiti. Soccer is the heart of their programming.
Visit goalshaiti.com to learn more about the organization, and visit playacademynaomi.com to learn how Naomi Osaka, NIKE, Inc., and Laureus Sport for Good are changing girls’ lives through play and sport.
