Stångåstaden Sweden - sports as a way of bringing communities together

Joy and being a part of something

Role models Role models

Night football Every Saturday (all year around) between 21.00 and 01.00 o’clock, a local group of young men opened the gym hall for free game of night football. They arranged random teames and then let everbody play against each other. Statistics from the police shows that the crime rate in the area sank with 48% during the hours when the night football was active. This means that some of the youths that play night football, otherwise would be hanging around the neighborhood and setting a bad mood. Effects of the night football are: lower crime rate, tired but happy youths, after one year the youths decided to create a new fotboll club that would play also during day time.

Leadarship / education The older boys that created a team for play in the higher divisions have now become role models for the younger kids. They have also gone through training to become leaders in the kids league. This is very important for them since it makes it easier for them to get a first real job.

Role models / One year after the start of the Night football, the youths decided to create a new fotboll club that would practice during day time. This is now up and running and engage over 50 children every week. Many of the older boys have created a team that plays in a higher division (level 5). We, as a housing company, support the initiative with the kids football. In our agreement we pay extra for each and every parent that help with the teams practice, driving to/from game days, washing game clothes etc. We think it is very important to include the parents!

Work preparation Some of the football coaches have gotten extra job from us, since they really show that they are reliable and want to work. This is also very good for their way into the leighbour market.

Other results Running track around the area (marked in green and yellow) Exercise and neighbourhood safety survey 5 km Through our agreements a lot of parents have started helping the football club, and ended up speaking to each other. Through their discussions they organized them selves into both exercise and neighborhood safety survey (two in one!). Now they are taking walks around the area every week and more than once a week. During the walks they have interesting discussions about life in their neighborhood. We love it!

What have we done? Supporting local initiatives Creating arenas for role models Engage the parents in the activities through written agreements Effects Neighborhood exercise surveys Running track Discussion groups (grown ups) Youths are better prepared for work Engaged citizens We have tried this in a neighborhood where about 9 000 people live. The amount of people from other countries (from out of Europe) is more than 70 %. This is an very interesting neighborhood with a lot of dynamics but also a lot of challenges. This is our way of trying to tackle the challenge of integration.