Grass Boots

Over the next 5 weeks the eyes of the world will be on South Africa, and the finest footballers (including perhaps the greatest ever...we shall see) will be providing moments of timeless drama and incredible beauty.

In 6 weeks time, it will all be over. Thousands of tourists will have been and gone, the media focus will have shifted elsewhere, and the dust will be settling on what will hopefully prove to be the best World Cup yet.

So, left behind, will be millions of people with the legacy that the tournament creates - depending on your viewpoint this could be improved infrastructure, global presence, tourism boom, thousands of forcibly relocated people and a crippling national debt.

One thing for certain, regardless of the socio-economic argument or the morality of South Africa hosting this tournament, is that it should provide an opportunity for many to improve their lives. One group that are seeking to do this is Grass Boots FC, a youth football club set up in the Cape Town City Bowl.

They have a three-fold mission:

• Give kids from all areas the best possible training and make no discrimination on financial or any other grounds.
• Give every child a meal as part of their training
• Get children out of their houses and encourage them to be actively and productively stimulated.

As well as this the club are ensuring that each member receives an official birth certificate, which for many of the disadvantaged children is a formality that they simply would not have. They have also set up Boot Banks to allow people to donate football boots and other kit for the players to use.

The people behind this have been kind enough to allow us to meet them, and host a training session for the club when we are out in Cape Town. I have long believed in the almost unrivalled potential of football as a tool for bringing people together - regardless of background, race, nationality etc - and the Grass Boots FC initative is an excellent example of this.

Many of these children would simply never get the chance to meet their team-mates, or have their own kit and boots, or know what it is like to be part of a team - the values and education this provides are something that is hard to recreate outside team sports.

It is a privilege to be invited to meet the club, and I can't wait. I'll be bringing news of our training session on here - let's see how well they take to English tactics of hoof it to the big lad and the old timeless classic...'Get Rid'.