As Generation Amazing, the flagship corporate social responsibility programme of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), prepares for a new phase of its international Football for Development initiative in Lebanon, coach Mouna al-Said is already anticipating the progress that will be made by the boys and girls of the Beddawi refugee camp.
Girls play football with coach al-Said in Lebanon with Generation Amazing.
It has been seven years since al-Said began her association with the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as an influential partner in Generation Amazing during Qatar’s successful bid campaign.
She rapidly became a champion for the programme in Beddawi, the camp where she spent her childhood. She worked tirelessly to ensure the new Generation Amazing football pitch was used by the community and preserved for use in their leisure time.
“The pitch we are playing on is an idea born from the 2022 World Cup bid and must be protected,” said al-Said. “Many girls and boys in the camp congregate on the pitch to learn football and life skills and we continue to contribute to maintain this precious play space that Generation Amazing built in 2010.”
She continued: “I am looking forward to the imminent future involvement of Generation Amazing in Lebanon. It will help to further strengthen what we have passionately believed in – better access for marginalised girls and boys to educational and leisure facilities.”
Now, even as the 43-year-old Right To Play employee looks forward to renewing her engagement with her region’s first ever FIFA World Cup, she is engaged in the pursuit of ensuring the very same pitch continues to be accessible for all.
Through Right To Play, the local delivery partner, Generation Amazing was operational in Lebanon during the months preceding the historic bid win on December 2, 2010.
The SC initiative had helped build ten football pitches across Pakistan, Nepal and Syria including the one in Beddawi and had appointed three youth ambassadors from Lebanon who attended the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Right To Play has continued its Lebanon operations and al-Said has been working towards implementing many projects targeted at the boys and girls of Beddawi, including coaching a Football for Development curriculum on the pitch built by Generation Amazing.
Al-Said is a firm believer in the ‘learn-as-you-play’ principle. “I studied physical education at university and took courses in the theory and practice of football,” she said.
“I was also lucky that my father was the president of Al Quds, the football club of the locality, because of which I was able to play with boys. However, most boys and girls in the camp do not enjoy such privileges. Therefore, Football for Development is vital to help their personal development.”
She continued: “Some of the youngsters can also build on their training to seek a career in professional football. Generation Amazing’s expertise in the field of Football for Development is unparalleled and we are all awaiting the day we sink our teeth into their sophisticated curriculum.”
Meanwhile, al-Said and Right To Play are actively helping the local community to safeguard the pitch built by Generation Amazing. A local sports committee, for which al-Said organises sporting activities on the pitch, balances out the leisure requirements of the boys and girls of the eight clubs operational in the camp.
“Generation Amazing’s programme will give a huge boost for the youngsters in the Beddawi in terms of opening up better learning and employment opportunities. On a slightly less serious note, they are also looking forward to welcoming Xavi just as their peers in Jordan did last year,” concluded al-Said with a smile.(SC.qa)
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