Sports have always provided a lifeline for the underprivileged and downright destitute, and for the rest of us more fortunate but less gifted, a trove of heartwarming, Alger−esque stories. This brand of story has appeared and reappeared over time in some form or another, but the theme remains the same: how athletics helped a young man or woman out of poverty.
This phenomenon is certainly not unique to America, as countless athletes across the globe have risen from wretchedness to fame and prosperity. In South Africa, a country rife with crime and still reeling from the Apartheid era, the story is the same.
At age 17, current Everton F.C. winger Steven Pienaar was plucked up by local club Ajax Cape Town and just two years later was shipped off to Holland to play for Ajax, a club distinguished by the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wesley Sneijder. This meteoric rise to stardom stands as a stark contrast to what Pienaar endured as a young boy, when he was routinely beaten up by white kids and pelted with BB bullets.
What sets Africa's southernmost nation apart from much of the poverty−stricken world, however, is its AIDS epidemic. South Africa ranks fourth in AIDS prevalence according to the most recent CIA World Factbook, and the nation's last president, Thabo Mbeki, went so far as to deny any correlation between HIV and AIDS. And despite his successor Jacob Zuma's efforts to administer more tests, rates have scarcely declined. In fact, the only monumental governmental move in recent years was Zuma's publication of his own HIV test, which came out negative.
Unlike politicking, which has proven fatally ineffectual, the establishment of a burgeoning soccer league in South Africa's eastern Mpumalanga Province −− where medical workers estimate that "65 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 … carry HIV," according to Jeré Longman of the New York Times −− has the potential to bring about lasting change.
That's where Sarah Kate Noftsinger comes in. A former women's soccer assistant coach at Stanford University, she filled a crucial void in the heart of AIDS country when she established this league nearly four years ago.
Having traveled to South Africa in December 2008 to give a two−week clinic, Noftsinger returned at the behest of five young native advocates who urged her to set up a permanent league with the aim of educating the local community, not only about HIV and AIDS, but also about self−confidence and domestic violence.
Her predominantly hands−off, instructional approach has been perhaps the most successful and least invasive component (e.g. voluntary HIV testing) of the program primarily because it places tremendous emphasis on the power of information, the positive results of which are eye opening. "I was not aware that I could get pregnant and have a baby from sexual activity," one participant told the New York Times.
Noftsinger's ultimate goal is to transfer control of the organization to the locals, the benefits of which would be twofold: reduced unemployment and boosted awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Reggie Bush, Carmelo Anthony, Clint Dempsey, Carl Crawford −− the list of indigent−kids−turned−pro−athletes goes on and on and spans all major sports. Unlike these highly successful athletes, though, the children involved in Noftsinger's program will most likely not play professional soccer. Many of them will remain mired in poverty as adults, and the ones who have tested positive for HIV are already at a disadvantage.
To outsiders, poverty alone would appear to offer sufficient adversity. But, when coupled with an HIV/AIDS juggernaut, it becomes all the more daunting. Utilizing soccer as a means of education renders a simple game profoundly consequential and, with support, could have an impact on the prospects of an entire country −− and maybe even on all of sub−Saharan Africa.
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Sam Gold is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Samuel_L.Gold@tufts.edu.
