LFC in Cape Town: A diary

Project manager Mark Chester travelled to the country that hosted the 2010 World Cup as a follow on to the presentation he gave at the world famous Yankee Stadium in New York after the club was nominated for the Sport Team of the Year accolade.

It proved to be a memorable trip for one of LFC's community staff and once again illustrated the important role sport can play within society.

Here's the full story of Mark's trip. 

Day One

The Beyond Sport Summit is an annual gathering of hundreds of sports organisations from around the world, all of which are united in their aim to use sport to meet the needs of people and communities. I am privileged to be representing Liverpool FC at what is sure to be an inspirational event in Cape Town. In the awards segment of the summit, the club has been shortlisted for the prestigious Sport Team of the Year award for its Tactics 4 Families project, but we face stiff opposition from Manchester City, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Memphis Grizzlies.

The 12 hour flight to Cape Town is giving me plenty of time to reflect on why sport is such an effective medium for helping others. My first thought is that sport is glue because it binds people together and fixes memories. But how does it do it? Take football as an example; when we play the beautiful game together we make time for one another - and we talk and smile and laugh (most of the time). We also remember and recall funny or momentous incidents, often for many months and years. So the effects of sport can be seen long after the glue has dried.

I am very much looking forward to hearing stories from around the globe about the glue we call sport over the next few days.

Day Two

The first day of the conference has been a special event focusing on the power of football to change lives. To hear stories about how football is being used to lift people out of poverty, to rebuild war-torn communities, reconcile separated people and rehabilitate prisoners is truly humbling. I was particularly moved by hearing about three segregated communities separated by a piece of waste land. Someone had the vision and determination to lay a football pitch there and the people, who previously would not mix, began to meet and play football together on the pitch.

This story demonstrated another reason why sport is such a powerful medium for helping others; the sports field is a meeting place. It brings separated communities, cultures and races together. On a football field differences are dispelled and people gather there as equals.

On the floor of the conference room was the outline of a football pitch. We all gathered together on it and talked - people from all parts of the world, united in their love of football and belief in the power the game has to make a difference. The only barrier to communicating with each other that remained was my Liverpool dialect! I now know that this week I will have an uphill task to educate people in the intricacies of our special language!

Day Three

A panel of Cape Town's young people shared their thoughts today on what should be done to provide them with safe spaces to play sports in. A young woman explained that their "sports fields are sometimes used as combat zones" and that they need places to play where their parents could feel confident that they would be safe from crime, shootings and drugs. The youngsters were articulate and wise. These are some of the things they said:

"I am an athlete. I just want to run in a safe place."

"What makes the townships unsafe is people being idle. Take away idleness and the crime disappears too."

"Change does not begin with sitting around talking. Change begins when one person decides to do something."

It struck me that another reason why sport can be so powerful is that it can be a refuge, an antidote to the everyday stuff of life. It might give us a break from our duties and responsibilities or, especially for these South African young people, an escape from the effects of crime. The refuge might be temporary, but it is likely to make us feel better and help equip us for normality. 

I finished my day having a meal with the representatives of our fellow shortlisted teams: Jenny (Memphis Grizzlies), Sarah and Rachel (Philadelphia Eagles) and Mike (Manchester City). All rivalries were temporarily suspended as - in good humour - we debated British and American stereotypes, a discussion sparked by our American friends expressing surprise that we Brits had not ordered fish and chips!

Day Four

Today a group of us visited Drakenstein prison, which is where Nelson Mandela was released and began his walk to freedom. An organisation called Ambassadors in Sport run an elite football academy with 20 of the prisoners there.

Fittingly, it's called the Hope Academy, and it's aim is to use football and faith to rehabilitate the young men and give them a more positive future. When I walked into their cell I was greeted by a huge picture of Steven Gerrard! Two of the prisoners, Nkosinathi and Warren, showed me around before we posed together for a photograph in front of the poster of Steven.

The prisoners spoke movingly about how they were trying to change themselves by moving away from making bad decisions in their lives. We then watched and listened as the young men took part in a pre-training session life skills discussion - that is until one of the prisoners asked me to speak. So sat on a prison football pitch - which was little more than a piece of waste ground - I had the privilege of talking with these incarcerated young men about the importance of teamwork, using Jamie Carragher as an example.

I realised that for these men in the Hope Academy, football is an oasis. All around them is a desert of prison life, which for many seems endless, but they have found refreshment, sustenance, and a route to other places through the opportunity football has given them.

This evening, the winner of the Sport Team of the Year award was announced and unfortunately we did not win. Many congratulations go to the Philadelphia Eagles - a very deserved winner. It was a great honour to be on the shortlist with them and the other teams.

Day 5

The Beyond Sport Summit reached its conclusion today with an interview with Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister and now Chairman of the Beyond Sport Ambassadors. He set the tone of the interview with a humorous reflection on his own sporting prowess:

"I'm as passionate about sport as an agent of social change as I was incapable of excelling in it!"

He then went on to talk with conviction about the power of sport and the priority it should have in government policy:

"Sport is the best health policy; best anti-crime policy in modern government."

It was a fitting end to a trip in which I have learned a lot about the power of sport and reflected on what football can do to make a difference in people's lives. I have reached the conclusion that football is glue; a meeting place, a refuge and an oasis. 

For helping me to reach these conclusions, I must say a big thank you to Beyond Sport for putting on such an inspirational, encouraging and challenging week of activities and for highlighting the excellent community work that is carried out by so many sporting organisations around the world. My thanks must also go to the people of Cape Town, who have made us so incredibly welcome. You are a great city.

This week I have met many good people who have made a lasting impression on me. However, the memory that will stay with me most is my tactics session with the young men in Drakenstein prison. Football has given them and those around them hope and we know that with hope in your heart you never walk alone.