'Kick it to Malaria' initiative announced
Dream partnership hopes to eradicate malaria
And the way the former captain of the U.S. Olympic soccer team sees it, the same can be said about the partnership between the American Soccer Youth Organization, FC Barcelona and Malaria No More, which on Monday announced the "More Than A Club: Kick it to Malaria" initiative at a midtown Manhattan press conference.
"We kind of think it's a dream partnership," said Davis, who has been affiliated with AYSO since 1965 and is in his second year as the organization's executive director. "You have the name of Barcelona and certainly in the soccer community there's few, in any, at that level. You bring in an organization like AYSO, who certainly domestically is as good a name as any in the sport, bring in Malaria No More, talk about focusing in on children, which is something that we do exclusively. I'm not sure how stronger a position you can actually set something up which we'll hopefully be successful at."
Davis said AYSO, which will invite all 600,000 of its members to get pledges from coaches, parents and communities for the 2008 season to buy $10 bed nets for children in Africa, is a perfect organization to participate in the fight against malaria. AYSO's president, Mike Wade, is a survivor of the disease, having contracted it while in the army.
"It hits home within our organization," Davis said.
FC Barcelona, which has the motto of being "More Than a Club," will be wearing a special edition jersey with the Malaria No More logo on the left shoulder for Wednesday's international friendly against the New York Red Bulls. The La Liga juggernaut unveiled the jersey against Chivas de Guadalajara in a 5-2 victory Sunday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.
"Through our foundation, we're here to help a great cause, helping eradicate malaria," Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola said. "We're here to prepare for the season but we are also here to contribute what we can and share this message in order for all of us to act on something that affects mostly kids and pregnant women in the African continent."
Thierry Henry and his teammates will be participating in a 4-on-4 tournament at Chelsea Waterside Field in Manhattan Tuesday afternoon, with each team comprised of at least one Barca player, one AYSO player and one supporter, with all proceeds going to the initiative to try and prevent malaria, which kills 1 million children each year in Africa.
"It's always hard to hear, but it always seems to happen to the African continent," Henry said. "Somehow in Europe we always find a way to deal with it so it's always a good thing to make people aware that it is a terrible disease."
Added Barca captain Carles Puyol: "We are all very happy, very proud to be here and to be able to support this great cause which is a very terrible disease where every 30 seconds a kid dies in Africa. You're not going to be conscious of that until you're toward of this. We're going to have to work and be able to help as much as we can."
Malaria No More is just one organization that is using soccer to help fight the disease by purchasing bed nets for needy families in Africa. Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign has teamed with Major League Soccer's MLS W.O.R.K.S., with players such as Diego Gutierrez (Chicago Fire) and Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo) making a trip to Africa last winter to aid the cause.
"Nothing But Nets is a terrific program and we work hand in hand with them," said Martin Edlund, director of communication for Malaria No More. "The fact that it's American soccer fans through MLS and international soccer fans and increasingly American fans through the likes of FC Barcelona, soccer is really becoming a global platform for fighting this disease."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
