A A C I R FS U C O F - Laureus | SPORT FOR GOOD · A A C I R F S U C O F GE A P 30 o oject visits t...
Transcript of A A C I R FS U C O F - Laureus | SPORT FOR GOOD · A A C I R F S U C O F GE A P 30 o oject visits t...
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AFRICA FOCUS
PAGE 30Project visits to Kenya and Uganda by Marcel Desailly and Michael Johnson.
NELSON MANDELA
PAGE 3The Laureus World Sports Academy meets Nelson Mandela at the Laureus Academy Forum.
FIGHTING BACK
PAGE 32Martina Navratilova visits a Laureus Sport for Good Foundation project in the South Bronx, New York.
Messages from the Laureus World Sports AcademyACADEMYMEMBERSGiacomo AgostiniMarcus AllenSeveriano BallesterosFranz BeckenbauerBoris Becker Peter Blake (in fond memory)Ian BothamSergey BubkaBobby CharltonSebastian CoeNadia ComaneciMarcel DesaillyYaping DengKapil DevDavid DouilletEmerson FittipaldiSean FitzpatrickDawn FraserTanni Grey-ThompsonTony HawkMike HornMiguel IndurainMichael Johnson Michael Jordan Kip KeinoFranz KlammerDan MarinoJohn McEnroeEdwin Moses*Nawal El MoutawakelRobby NaishIlie NastaseMartina NavratilovaJack NicklausGary PlayerMorné du PlessisHugo PortaVivian RichardsBill Shoemaker (in fond memory)Monica SelesMark SpitzDaley ThompsonAlberto TombaSteve WaughKatarina WittYasuhiro Yamashita* Chairman
The mark of a great sportsperson is the
unwavering dedication and discipline they
have to their chosen field. It is heartening
to see how the Laureus World Sports
Academy members still possess these
qualities in their work for Laureus projects
worldwide. Academy members have been
forming active alliances with projects on
every continent and continue to show
how sport can be used as a tool for social
change. We are delighted to welcome
three new Academy members this year:
Marcus Allen, Marcel Desailly and Mike
Horn, who are already instilling the
‘spirit of sport’ into disadvantaged areas
through their support of the Foundation
and its projects. The city of Barcelona,
Host City for this year’s Awards, has
shown us exceptional support, which
in turn allows an ever-growing global
audience to learn more about the
important work of Laureus. Fundraising
activities will be an important part of
the Laureus agenda for 2007, as these
are necessary for sustaining both the
Academy and our projects worldwide.
Edwin MosesCHAIRPERSON
To see an idea grow, especially one that
touches the lives of so many children
worldwide, is immensely satisfying. The
launch of 10 new projects in 2006, added
to the existing projects, puts hope into
the lives of thousands of children. This
is a great achievement and a huge step
forward from the launch of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation seven years
ago. Once again the upcoming Laureus
World Sports Awards in Barcelona will offer
an opportunity to show the world the work
of the Laureus World Sports Academy
members within these projects. As well
as it being a prestigious global event, we
attend the Awards most importantly as
role models for young people who are
searching for someone to look up to. The
Laureus World Sports Academy, with the
involvement of so many great athletes,
is establishing a growing legacy for the
future and aims to show children living in
difficult situations that they too can find
inspiration and hope through sport. We
cannot change the world overnight but as
a group of sportspeople we are dedicated
to starting, one playing field at a time.
Nawal El MoutawakelVICE CHAIRPERSON
The Laureus World Sports Awards is
always a highlight in the Laureus calendar.
In fact, the prestige of the Awards has
grown to such an extent over the years
that they are now firmly established as a
special part of the global sporting calendar.
But it is also a time when all the members
of the Laureus World Sports Academy take
time to reflect on the inspiration behind
the event: the underprivileged children
around the world. They are the reason
we have all been driven to get involved
in the cause of Laureus, specifically the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Across
countries as diverse as Germany, India,
Australia and China, the Foundation rolls
up its sleeves to support projects and
help fight poverty, inequality, racial and
religious intolerance, and many other social
problems. The members of the Laureus
World Sports Academy are very proud to
play a part in helping to address these
issues globally, and continue to be inspired
by the courage and determination that
these childhood champions draw on to
overcome the problems facing them.
Boris BeckerVICE CHAIRPERSON
www. laureus .com3
From left (clockwise): Laureus Friend & Ambassador Deshun Deysel; Laureus World Sports Academy members Mike Horn, Daley Thompson, Franz Klammer, Ilie Nastase, Kapil Dev, Kip Keino; Discovery CEO Neville Koopowitz, Laureus Friends & Ambassadors ‘Baby’ Jake Matlala, John Robbie, Lucas Radebe; Laureus World Sports Academy members Bobby Charlton, Morné du Plessis, Edwin Moses (Chairman); MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture for Gauteng Provincial Government Barbara Creecy; Laureus World Sports Academy members Monica Seles, Martina Navratilova. Top: Nelson Mandela with (from left) Laureus World Sports Academy members Monica Seles, Edwin Moses, Morné du Plessis, Ilie Nastase.
Academy meet MandelaMEMBERS OF THE LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MET IN SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE LAUREUS ACADEMY FORUM.
In an emotional day, Laureus World
Sports Academy members met former
President Nelson Mandela, Patron of
Laureus, at the Laureus Academy Forum
held in Gauteng, South Africa, from 5 to
9 November 2006.
The members attended the Forum
to discuss organisational issues, the
consolidation and growth of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation and the
development of the Laureus sporting
community through the enlistment of
Laureus Friends & Ambassadors – many
of whom were also present at the Forum.
Particular attention was paid to Africa,
where Laureus tackles a range of social
issues – from the environment, the AIDS
pandemic and homelessness to poverty,
racial issues and abuse.
The members who attended the
Laureus Academy Forum were: Chairman
Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation Trust South
Africa Morné du Plessis, Bobby Charlton,
Monica Seles, Kapil Dev, Kip Keino, Franz
Klammer, Nawal El Moutawakel, Ilie
Nastase, Martina Navratilova, and Daley
Thompson.
It was on the final day of the Laureus
Academy Forum that the Academy was
introduced to Mandela. It was Mandela
who framed the mission statement of
Laureus at the very first Laureus World
Sports Awards in 2000 when he said,
“Sport has the power to change the
world. It has the power to inspire. It has
the power to unite people in a way that
little else does. Sport can awaken hope
where there was previously only despair.”
• The Laureus Academy Forum was
supported by Discovery and the Gauteng
Provincial Government.
PROJECT LEADER HONOURED BY QUEENMatthew Spacie,
Chairman of the
inspirational
Magic Bus project
in Mumbai,
has been awarded the MBE in
the Queen’s 2007 Honours List.
Matthew has dedicated his efforts
full-time to his philanthropic work
with Magic Bus, a highly innovative
programme that helps thousands
of underprivileged children by
bringing sports and education to
urban neighbourhoods and slums.
He is the second Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation project leader
to receive an MBE. Luke Dowdney
from the Fight for Peace project
was awarded an MBE for his
services to the community
in 2005.
Two-time Formula One racing champion and
double Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi
pushed back the years by taking to the grid
again this year. The 60-year-old racing ace,
who retired from racing in 1996, was one of the
legends racing in the GP Masters Series.
Back racing in his old number 7, Fittipaldi was
once again tackling Silverstone at speeds of
over 400 kph (250 mph) as part of a series
that saw him up against former racing legends
Nigel Mansell, Rene Arnaux and Ricardo Patrese
among others. A great champion of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation, Fittipaldi has carried
the Foundation’s marque as part of his racing
colours. As part of his return, Emo once again
sported his famous sideburns and returned to his
old race weight. “I haven’t felt this good since
1974,” he said in the pit lane at Silverstone.
Back on track
www. laureus .com 4
New members embrace the Academy idealsLAUREUS WELCOMES THREE NEW LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS.
From left (clockwise): Marcel Desailly; an ice-covered Mike Horn; Marcus Allen at the Laureus World Sports Awards 2006.
“Sport can achieve things that nothing else can. It has the ability to inspire youth living in difficult circumstances, and goes hand in hand with education and discipline.” Marcel Desailly
Marcus Allen, Marcel Desailly and
Mike Horn are the newest members
of the Laureus World Sports
Academy, bringing the total number
of members to 44.
MARCUS ALLEN, American
football legend and Pro Football
Hall of Fame inductee, said of his
election to the Academy, “This is
something I cherish and embrace.
My entire life has been devoted
to sport and the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation reflects what I
would like to do with my life from
now on. We are made rich by what
we give, and poor by what we
keep. What makes me happy is
doing good and I’m excited to be
part of an organisation that has a
worldwide reach.”
Allen, considered to be one
of the greatest goal-line and
short-yardage runners in National
Football League history, added, “I
have a great appreciation for the
people involved in Laureus and
feel honoured to be a part of a
Foundation that consists of fellow
sportspeople where the common
denominator is the desire to do
good in the world, using sport
as means of change. We have all
achieved incredible heights in our
sport of choice but what is most
important is the legacy we leave
behind us.”
MARCEL DESAILLY, former
captain of the French football
team and a member of the 1998
World Cup-winning squad, is an
enthusiastic supporter of Laureus
and a Trustee of the Association
Laureus France. He has already
been actively involved in the work
of Laureus projects.
“I am very proud to be associated
with other champions who share
the same world view,” Desailly
said. “Now that I have retired,
I would like to dedicate my life
to charity – there are so many
qualities sportspeople can show and
encourage in youngsters, such as
determination and perseverance.”
Desailly recently visited a
Laureus project in Mathare, Kenya
with Academy member Michael
Johnson (see pages 28-29). “It was
a great experience,” he said. “I was
overwhelmed by what I saw. It gave
me so much pleasure to be able
to kick a ball around with some of
the kids from the project. This is a
classic example of how sport can
make a big difference to the lives of
so many young people.”
MIKE HORN, extreme
adventurer and recipient of the
2001 Laureus World Alternative
Sportsperson of the Year Award,
said: “The best aspect of
representing Laureus is being
able to promote adventure sport
– a sport where you compete
with nature and yourself, not with
others. This teaches you respect
for your environment and I intend,
using the knowledge I have
acquired, to improve environmental
awareness among children of the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
projects around the world.”
In 1999, Horn circumnavigated
the globe, following the equator,
without using any motorised
transport. The trip took 17 months
and 28 days. Horn said, “The role
of Laureus in the environment is
one I would like to improve on,
as I think this is crucial in moving
the world closer to our source of
life – nature and our planet. My
playing field is not a cricket pitch,
soccer field or athletics track, it’s
the world. Humanity is destroying
it and we need to teach our kids
how to look after our valuable
natural resources. I have walked
around the world twice and seen
the value of what we have. It
takes a conscious decision to start
this process; when you move your
mind your actions will follow. This
is what I hope to achieve through
adventure sports and my work
with Laureus.”
www. laureus .com5
Bid The Dream Tennis SoireeFOUR NEW LAUREUS FRIENDS & AMBASSADORS ARE ANNOUNCED AT THE BID THE DREAM TENNIS SOIREE HELD AT THE ORANGERY, KENSINGTON PALACE.
Four inspirational heroes of sport were
named as the newest members of the Laureus
Friends & Ambassadors UK programme. The
announcement was made by Edwin Moses,
Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy,
at a Laureus EBS Bid the Dream dinner at
The Orangery at Kensington Palace, London,
attended by Laureus World Sports Academy
members and special guests in July 2006.
The new Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors are:
Dame Kelly Holmes – winner of 800m
and 1,500m gold medals in the 2004
Athens Olympics.
Henri Leconte – charismatic tennis star,
and member of France’s 1991 winning Davis
Cup team.
Barry McGuigan – former WBC featherweight
world champion and Boxing Hall of Famer.
Mansour Bahrami – the great entertainer of
tennis, and Champions Tour star.
All four were present at the Kensington
Palace event, which was hosted by EBS (ICAP
is a Global Corporate Supporter of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation, see below).
Also attending the dinner to welcome the
new Laureus Friends & Ambassadors were
Laureus World Sports Academy members Sean
Fitzpatrick, Ilie Nastase, John McEnroe and
Martina Navratilova.
Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus
World Sports Academy, said, “This is a very
special day for Laureus and I am delighted to
be able to welcome four new Laureus Friends
& Ambassadors, all of whom represent the
highest ideals of sport and have already
been great supporters of Laureus. They are
all very passionate about their sport and
were tremendous competitors at the highest
level. I am delighted they have accepted our
invitation to join us at Laureus and I know
that they will be energetic workers for the
causes that Laureus supports.”
The evening was a Laureus-EBS Bid
the Dream initiative, which aims to raise
valuable funds to support the work of the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation around
the world.
Laureus welcomes ICAPICAP IS A GLOBAL CORPORATE SUPPORTER OF THE FOUNDATION
Via its acquisition of EBS in 2006, ICAP became a Global Corporate
Supporter of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation last year.
ICAP donated the brokerage fees from the EBS FX dealing system
from last year’s annual global Charity Day to the Foundation. The
EBS and Laureus partnership was launched with the unique Bid the
Dream auction site, attended by Laureus World Sports Academy
members Lord Sebastian Coe, Sean Fitzpatrick and Michael Johnson
at the London Stock Exchange, the EBS Group’s former offices.
Above (from left): Laureus Friends & Ambassadors Mansour Bahrami, Henri Leconte, Barry McGuigan with Laureus World Sports Academy member Ilie Nastase. Below: The Orangery at Kensington Palace.
Above: Laureus World Sports Academy members Sean Fitzpatrick (second right) and Daley Thompson (left) at the ICAP Charity Day.
www. laureus .com 6
This year marks the launch of the book
Let the Children Play, a collaboration
between Laureus Founding Partner
IWC Schaffhausen and the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation to showcase
the work of the Foundation’s projects
around the world. The book turns
the spotlight on 10 of the projects
supported by Laureus to illustrate the
active involvement of the Foundation
around the globe. Georges Kern,
CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, explains
the rationale behind the book: “This
illustrated book was initiated and
produced by IWC because of a sense
of deep commitment to increase
awareness of the magnificent, creative
effort on the part of the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation in the cause of
underprivileged children.”
Let the Children Play, a hardcover
coffee-table book, published by IWC,
contains words and imagery from some
of the world’s leading journalists and
photographers and can be ordered
over the Internet at www.iwc.com. It is
a non-profit initiative and part of the
proceeds will go to the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation. The book will officially
be launched during the Laureus World
Sports Awards 2007 in Barcelona.
IWC has also produced the second
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
limited-edition watch. After last
year’s success, another drawing
competition was held to choose the
design engraved on the watch, with
children from all Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation projects asked to
submit their creations. The winning
artist was Jimena Mainé, an eight-
year-old girl, who takes part in the
Sports in Underdeveloped Areas
project in Uruguay. The drawing will
be replicated on the case back of the
limited IWC Pilot’s Watch Chrono-
Automatic Edition Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation, with some of the
proceeds from sales being donated to
the Foundation.
• For more on the IWC book and watch
see page 22.
Let the children playA BOOK HIGHLIGHTS THE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION’S WORK, THANKS TO IWC.
An image from the book Let the Children Play. Below inset: The book cover. Bottom: The winning drawing and the IWC Pilot’s Watch Chrono-Automatic Edition Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
The Laureus Media Prizes Germany is
a joint initiative between Mercedes-Benz
and Boris Becker, Chairman of the Laureus
Foundation Germany, to help showcase the
work of Laureus. The annual Media Prizes were
presented for the second time in November
2006 at a ceremony in Munich.
The Spirit of Laureus category honours the
best reports by journalists in print media, TV and
photography that captures the idea and purpose
of Laureus. Stefan Frommann (Die Welt ),
Konstantin Sauer (NDR Television) and the Getty
Images Agency were each presented with a
Laureus Media Prize 2006.
Wortmann was named Laureus Media
Personality of the Year for his World Cup film
Germany: a Summer’s Fairytale, while the
Laureus Honorary Media Prize was presented to
Franziska van Almsick for her work as a Laureus
Friend & Ambassador and with the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation in Germany.
The ceremony was held in front of more than
400 invited guests as part of the Witzigmann &
Roncalli dinner show in Munich. Guests included
host Boris Becker, Heiner Brand, Bruno Eyron,
Georg Hackl, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko,
Christoph Langen, Jochen Mass, Matthias
Sammer, Michael Teuber and Max Tidof.
In the newsLAUREUS GERMANY CELEBRATESITS SECOND ANNUAL LAUREUS MEDIA PRIZES.
Laureus Media Personality of the Year winner Sönke Wortmann, receives his trophy from host Boris Becker.
Fern
ando
Mol
eres
www. laureus .com7
Chukkas for goodARGENTINIAN POLO STARS PLAY IN IWC-LAUREUS POLO CUP TO RAISE FUNDS FOR LAUREUS.
World-class polo stars
Eduardo, Nachi and Pepe
Heguy and fellow Argentinian
star Adolfo Cambiaso played
in the highly successful IWC-
Laureus Polo Cup held at Ham
Polo Club, Surrey in June
2006. The event, inspired by
Laureus World Sports Academy
member and Fundación
Laureus Argentina President
Hugo Porta, was sponsored
by Laureus Founding Partner
IWC Schaffhausen and raised
funds for Fundación Laureus
Argentina.
Former Argentinian rugby
captain Hugo Porta said,
“This is a great day for the
Argentinian Foundation, not
only due to the loyalty and
solidarity of the Argentinian
community represented by the
polo players present today, but
also through the contribution
and support of individuals
with an enormous sense of
social responsibility from many
different nations.”
Fundación Laureus
Argentina currently supports
three projects. Unión y
Amistad de San Isidro in
Buenos Aires has set up
sports activity sessions and
educational workshops in
an area where crime, drugs,
alcohol, violence and the use
of firearms is prevalent. Cuidad
Oeste uses football, netball
and basketball to address
crime, delinquency and
drug abuse and to promote
community regeneration. The
newest project, Club Deportivo
Barracas will also benefit from
the funds raised at this event.
Simon Chambers of IWC
Schaffhausen UK said, “IWC
Schaffhausen is delighted
to support Laureus in this
worthwhile fundraising activity
for the benefit of such a
great cause.”
Also supporting the event
was Laureus World Sports
Academy Chairman Edwin
Moses and fellow Academy
member Daley Thompson,
who formally started two of
the match chukkas. The IWC-
Laureus Polo Cup Playoff
featured a match between the
IWC team and the Laureus
team. The four Argentinian
polo stars played with guests
Kassim Sharif, Mike Tripper,
Top Raksriaksorn and Vichai
Raksriaksorn.
The Playoff consisted of
four chukkas, resulting in
an exciting 8-8 draw. The
third chukka was particularly
thrilling with the IWC team
taking the lead with three
goals from the Raksriaksorn
family. The Laureus team
fought back in the fourth and
final chukka with goals from
Cambiaso and Heguy
to equalise.
The Playoff was followed by
prize giving, lunch for guests
and a silent auction. Guests
bid for a variety of items
including the IWC Portuguese
Chrono-Automatic Edition
Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation Watch (produced
in 2006).
Argentinean polo stands
head-and-shoulders above
the rest. It is almost as much
an obsession as football.
Indeed, the greatest players
in the world are Argentine.
World Polo Tour No. 1 Adolfo
Cambiaso and Eduardo
Heguy are both members
of the Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors programme
Fundación Laureus
Argentina has made great
strides since it was launched.
“We wanted to make a
difference,” explained Porta,
who along with his wife has
dedicated his life to helping
others. “Our own children
have grown up but we have
adopted over a thousand
young people, who are
now like our children. We
are talking of people right
on the breadline, people
who need to be included,
educated, stimulated. Some
of our children are so poor;
there are cases of mothers in
the countryside selling their
children for a pair of jeans. It
is that bad.
“When these children come
to our projects, all we want
to do is to make them smile.
So many of them do not even
know how to smile – or to find
any happiness in their lives.
Our job is to give them a start.
We are not looking for create
world champions in sport. But
if we can ignite the thought
in them one week, and they
think about coming back the
next, then perhaps they begin
to dream, and if they begin
to dream, then we are making
progress.”
NEWS FROM ARGENTINA
Above (from left to right): Top polo players and Laureus World Sports Academy members came together to raise funds for Laureus Fundacion Argentina; children from the Club
Deportivo Barracas project; polo action.
The French Foundation has adapted
its structure and changed its name
from Fondation Laureus – l’Institut de
France to Association Laureus France.
The change in the legal structure
was made for a number of reasons:
to work closer with the Laureus
Founding Patrons, the projects, the
athletes who support Laureus, and
to achieve greater independence and
generally increase the level of activity.
The new Board of Trustees
will include, among others,
representatives of the Founding
Patrons and Founding Partners,
as well as Laureus World Sports
Academy members David Douillet
and Marcel Desailly.
The Board members skills and
experience in sport and business will
all benefit Association Laureus France.
Another pool of sportsmen,
Friends & Ambassadors, are
designated by the Board of Trustees
to carry out the role of spokespeople
and representatives of Laureus. The
decision to appoint them will be
based on sporting performance, ethics
and integrity.
It is believed that the new
legal structure and dynamic team
will ensure a bright future for
Association Laureus France and
will help them meet their aims
and improve the lives of the many
children who are part of the
projects supported by Association
Laureus France.
www. laureus .com 8
Vive les Français!THE NATIONAL FOUNDATION IN FRANCE HAS BEEN RESTRUCTURED TO MEET ITS AIMS MORE EFFECTIVELY.
Above and top: Children from Golf Educatif.
NEWS FROM FRANCE
Spotlight: Golf EducatifA PROJECT USES THE RULES OF GOLF TO TEACH LIFE LESSONS.
Golf Educatif was established in 2000 by
Welsh professional golfer Bill Owens to
use golf as a tool to fight social exclusion
and reduce anti-social behaviour among
young people who live in the most
deprived areas in France.
It was originally established in a
suburb of Paris, but on 21 September
Golf Educatif launched in Vitrolles near
Marseille. Vitrolles is one of the poorest
cities in the south of France with high
levels of unemployment and violence.
Its philosophy is to demonstrate
how golf’s conventions can be applied
to everyday life. It teaches participants
the value of playing by the rules
and respecting the environment in
which they live and the people with
whom they interact. Golf Educatif has
adapted golf for suburban living by
using golf balls that are one third of
the normal weight to ensure that they
travel a shorter distance. The game
can therefore be played on smaller
golf courses making it ideal for urban
spaces. Above: Marcel DesaillyBelow: David Douillet
www. laureus .com9
Laureus joins an alliance for childrenAN INITIATIVE IN GERMANY SHOWS THAT TEAMWORK CAN YIELD RESULTS FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS.
The Laureus Foundation Germany
was part of a remarkable initiative
called ‘United Kids Foundations – an
alliance for children’. For the first
time in history, six major German
NGOs teamed up for one goal: to raise
awareness for their work.
The Alliance raised €1.2 million which
will benefit several social initiatives
and organisations from the cities of
Braunschweig and Wolfsburg. A week of
events took place in the cities between
22 October and 1 November 2006.
The Laureus Foundation Germany
celebrated the charity week together
with hundreds of children at the
run4charity and a soccer tournament
for schools in the region. Laureus was
represented by Edwin Moses, Chairman
of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
Off the streetTHE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION GERMANY SUPPORTED THE FIRST STREETFOOTBALLWORLD FESTIVAL HELD IN BERLIN.
Fore!The second Mercedes-Benz
charity golf tournament to raise
funds for the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation Germany
was held in Berlin in July 2006.
Players included Laureus World
Sports Academy members
Bobby Charlton and Boris
Becker, and Laureus Friend &
Ambassador Wladimir Klitschko.
(For more see page 20).
From 2-8 July 2006, 22 teams from five
continents played for the ‘Copa Andrés
Escobar’ in the first streetfootballworld
festival in Berlin, Germany. The trophy
was named after the Colombian
international who was murdered after
he scored an own-goal during the World
Cup in 1994.
Supported by the Laureus Foundation
Germany, the tournament was a huge
success with widespread coverage all
over the globe. 2006 Laureus Sport for
Good Award winner Jürgen Griesbeck
organised the gathering of 176 boys
and girls, from different countries
and projects. German-born Griesbeck
decided to demonstrate that football
could be used as a way to promote
peace.
A team of Laureus World Sports
Academy members and Laureus
Friends & Ambassadors – Sir Bobby
Charlton, Boris Becker, Daley Thompson,
Christoph Langen and Wladimir
Klitschko – joined the action and played
a friendly against a street football all-
star selection. The ‘Old Stars’ of Laureus
won the game 7-5.
Laureus World Sports Academy
Chairman Edwin Moses and Vitali
Klitschko supported both teams from
the stands.
Charlton was greeted with loud cheers
every time he touched the ball, and
played the entire game in boiling heat,
and three-time Wimbledon champion
Becker scored two goals and was named
man of the match.
Becker said, “Sport has its own rules.
Sport does not know skin colour or
religion, as was seen here today. That is
its greatest secret.”
The Laureus team featured in their
side the only girl, Eliana, aged 21, from
Paraguay, who played side by side with
the legends and showed her strength
by scoring in the second half. “I still
can’t believe that I really played with
Bobby Charlton and all the others,”
she said.
Kenya beat South Africa in the final
4-3 in a penalty shoot-out. The Kenyan
team was from the Laureus-funded
MYSA project based in Mathare.
Above: Hundreds of Youngsters took part in the United Kids Foundations Run for Charity.
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Above: Boris Becker and Wladimir Klitschko play street football.
Below: Partners of United Kids Foundations – Edwin Moses, German singer Peter Maffay, German actress Veronica Ferres and Boris Becker.
www. laureus .com 10
It’s promo timeFONDAZIONE LAUREUS ITALIA HAS FILMED A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FEATURING MANY OF THE LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS.
A 30-second promotional video has
been produced by Fondazione Laureus
Italia to help spread the message of
Laureus and to promote the value
of sport.
The promo was produced during the
three days of the Laureus World Sport
Awards 2006 in Barcelona, and features
some of the Laureus World Sports
Academy members and Laureus Friends
& Ambassadors including Chairman
Edwin Moses, Giacomo Agostini, Dawn
Fraser, Miguel Indurain, Robby Naish,
Monica Seles, Alberto Tomba and Italian
ice dancer Maurizio Margaglio.
Three versions of the short film were
produced, one of them in English so
that it can be used by other Laureus
national foundations around the world.
The promo used the sportspeople to
deliver a clear, personal social message
of fairness, tolerance and hope. The idea
was to produce a film that had a human
dimension as compared to the usual
television images, full of make-up and
without any defects.
The promo was shown from 27
October to 1 November at the 24th
edition of the international review
“Sport Movies & TV”, the international
festival devoted to sports television
held in Milan. The festival organised
by FICTS (Federation Internationale
Cinema Television Sportifs), is attended
by producers, directors, Olympic
committees, sporting federations, and
advertising agencies, with delegations
coming from 99 countries. It was also
shown by other Italian broadcasting
stations: La Repubblica online (the
web portal of one of the main daily
newspapers), La7, Telelombardia, Dj
Television and All Music, some of the
best-known channels for young people.
The promo was also sent to 150,000
people through mobile video phones,
thanks to mobile media company
3 Italia, during the summer of 2006.
Phone the football starsFONDAZIONE LAUREUS ITALIA HAS TEAMED UP WITH AC MILAN TO LAUNCH AN INNOVATIVE FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE BASED ON MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY.
In an exciting move Fondazione Laureus
Italia have experimented with mobile
phone technology to raise funds.
Soccer giants AC Milan made their stars
available
so that
multimedia
content
of them
could be
produced
and then accessed through mobile media
company 3 Italia – with funds raised
going to Fondazione Laureus Italia.
In the campaign, which ran from 22
December till 31 January, customers sent
a text to receive a desktop image or a
short video for a donation of E2,5.
On 14 December 2006 Fondazione
Laureus Italia, together with a team of
video operators, was welcomed to the
sports centre Milanello, a place all AC
Milan soccer team fans dream of, to
record the images.
They were delighted to capture
photographs and videos of the young
Gourcuff, Davide Bonera in a Santa Claus
hat, Brocchi and Gilardino singing the
songs which their supporters usually
chant to them in the stadium, and Pippo
Inzaghi toasting a good new year
to everyone.
This innovative campaign was made
possible thanks
to AC Milan,
3 Italia giving
100 per cent of
the profit
to Fondazione
Laureus Italia,
and through
the hard work of Adriano Galliani,
Trustee of Fondazione Laureus Italia and
Vice President of AC Milan.
This is hoped to be the first in a series
of collaborations with mobile phone
companies in the field of corporate social
responsibility. Inzaghi
They were delighted to capture photographs and videos of the young Gourcuff, Davide Bonera in a Santa Claus hat, Brocchi and Gilardino singing the songs which their supporters usually chant to them in the stadium.
NEWS FROM ITALY
Gilardino
www. laureus .com11
The PeacePlayers International
(previously Playing for Peace) project
in KwaZulu-Natal received a double
bonus this year. Not only did they get
the opportunity to send 10 of their
project members to Northern Ireland
to participate in a cultural exchange
programme for a period of one
week, but they also received a visit
from Laureus World Sports Academy
member and cricket legend Kapil Dev.
Dev interacted with the kids during
their basketball drills and life-skill
sessions at the projects annual City-
Wide Tournament event and a few of
them took time out to entertain him
with some of their dance routines.
Big hitterLAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBER KAPIL DEV VISITS THE PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL PROJECT.
GrowthtimeLAUREUS ANNOUNCES TWO NEW PROJECTS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Two new projects have joined those supported by Laureus in South Africa. They are the Buffalo City Soccer School in East London, which uses soccer to address the social ills of drug and alcohol abuse in the communities of Duncan Village and Buffalo Flats, and Fight with Insight, a boxing project in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg, which targets young offenders. This takes the number of projects supported by Laureus in South Africa to nine.
Magnificent duo LUCAS RADEBE AND ERNST VAN DYK JOIN THE LAUREUS SPORTS FAMILY.
South African sports legends Lucas
Radebe and Ernst van Dyk were
unveiled as members of the Laureus
Friends & Ambassadors programme in
November 2006.
Lucas Radebe, who played for Bafana
Bafana, Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa
and Leeds United in England, said,
“When I look at the names of the great
sportsmen and sportswomen who are
part of the Laureus family, I know I am
very honoured.
I know from
personal
experience what
a difference sport
can make to an individual’s life. I had a
wonderful sports career, but if it had not
been for sport, it could have been very
different for me. I grew up in Soweto
during one of the most difficult times
in South Africa. I know how lucky I was,
but most young people are not. I want to
do what I can now to help young people
like that.” Radebe is also a Trustee of the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in
South Africa.
Ernst van Dyk won the 2006
Laureus World Sportsperson of the
Year with a Disability Award after
winning the wheelchair race in the
Boston Marathon for a record sixth
time. Even before his induction as a
Laureus Friend & Ambassador, Van
Dyk had shown his commitment to
Laureus by taking part in a project
visit to Alexandra last April.
The announcement was made at the
Laureus Academy Forum (see page 3).
Held at the same time was the fourth
South African Role Models’ Retreat, where
Trustees, Friends & Ambassadors, project
leaders and other stakeholders come
together to plan the future of Laureus in
South Africa.
“When I look at the names of the great sportsmen and sportswomen who are part of the Laureus family, I know I am very honoured.” Lucas Radebe
Above: Laureus Friends & Ambassadors Ernst van Dyk (left) and Lucas Radebe.
NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
www. laureus .com 12
Proyecto Grumet EXIT in
Barcelona became the first
Laureus project in Spain. The
project offers young people
the opportunity to enhance
their educational prospects
through a maritime project
based at the renowned School
of Maritime Professions,
Consorci EL FAR, in Barcelona.
It offers education and
training through the sport of
traditional sailing.
The objectives of the
project are to teach sporting
values inherent in the practice
of traditional sailing and to
teach seafaring skills.
The project targets boys
and girls aged 14 to 16 in
their last years of secondary
education, who are at risk
of academic failure or who
have special educational
needs. The aim is to offer
opportunities to 900 students
over three years, the highlight
of which will be the chance
to sail on the 23-metre yacht
FarBarcelona, dating from
1874, which was restored by
students at EL FAR Shipyard
in Barcelona.
Founded in 1993, Consorci
EL FAR has mainly focused
on developing occupational
training activities aimed
at increasing employment
opportunities, especially
those linked to traditional
sailing and seafaring
activities. Consorci EL FAR
has many years’ experience
developing educational
programmes for schools,
particularly vocational
training, carried out in
the School of Maritime
Professions. For this reason
Consorci EL FAR was selected
to develop the first Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation
project in Spain
Proyecto Grumet EXIT
is promoted by the sports
department of the City
Council of Barcelona, and
is funded by the Fundación
Laureus España.
Spanish legacyFUNDACIÓN LAUREUS ESPAÑA IS LAUNCHED.
Members of the Laureus
World Sports Academy
and representatives of the
Founding Partners were all
present at the launch of the
Fundación Laureus España in
Barcelona in May 2006.
“It’s a legacy for the
good of Spain,” said Juan
Antonio Samaranch Salisachs,
the President of the new
foundation in Spain. “The
Laureus World Sports
Awards in Barcelona is just
the beginning,” added
Edwin Moses, Chairman of
the Laureus World Sports
Academy.
Samaranch, member of
the International Olympic
Committee, is working with
a distinguished Board of
Trustees, which includes
Laureus World Sports Academy
members Severiano Ballesteros
and Miguel Indurain, and
representatives of the
Founding Patrons, Carlos
Espinosa de los Monteros
(President of DaimlerChrysler
Spain) and Phillipe Guillaumet
(CEO of Richemont Spain).
At the launch Samaranch
commented that it was a
privilege for him to be the
President of the Fundación
Laureus España and that he
would like to create a legacy
for good through the work
done by the Foundation
with the support of local
partners.
The then Mayor of
Barcelona, Joan Clos, also
expressed his enthusiasm
about the Foundation and
particularly the work done
with Proyecto Grumet
EXIT in Barcelona. This is
the first project chosen by
Fundación Laureus España
and the pioneer programme
is already yielding excellent
results.
Ahoy there!THE FIRST LAUREUS PROJECT LAUNCHED IN SPAIN WAS THE PROYECTO GRUMET EXIT IN BARCELONA.
Above: Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses, fellow Academy members Robby Naish (front) and Hugo Porta (left) with children from Proyecto Grumet EXIT.
NEWS FROM SPAIN
President of Fundación Laureus España Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs (centre) with Laureus World Sports Academy members Miguel Indurain (left) and Severiano Ballesteros.
Above: Robby Naish sets sail.
www. laureus .com13
Laureus tees off at The Bear’s ClubJACK NICKLAUS HOSTS THE FIRST LAUREUS CELEBRITY GOLF INVITATIONAL.
Laureus World Sports Academy member
Jack Nicklaus picked up his clubs again
to host the first Laureus Celebrity Golf
Invitational at The Bear’s Club, Jupiter in
Florida, in May 2006. The event raised
US$350,000 (€265,000) for the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation USA. The
funds will benefit Foundation projects,
and will help launch a new partnership
with CampInteractive which will be
expanding its charitable activities to
South Florida this year. CampInteractive
introduces the creative power of
technology with the inspiration of the
outdoors to under-privileged inner city
youth. (See www.campinteractive.org)
In addition to Laureus World Sports
Academy Chairman Edwin Moses
and fellow Academy members John
McEnroe and Robby Naish, celebrity
players supporting the cause included
golf star and TV commentator Ian
Baker-Finch, baseball superstar Mike
Schmidt, three-time RE/MAX long-
drive champion Sean Fister, Olympic
gold-medal sprinter Tommie Smith,
former NBA star and current NBA coach
Greg Anthony, NHL hockey star Danny
Quinn, Olympic gold-medal gymnast
Shannon Miller; Olympic gold-medal
long jumper Bob Beamon and Olympic
multi-medallist swimmers Gary Hall Sr
and Gary Hall Jr.
Nicklaus’ announcement that he
would play once again produced a
US$100,000 donation from corporate
sponsor EBS, and the golfing great
showed he had lost none of his
skill and appetite as his team of
John Carrion, John Gaudio, John
Donnelly, and Colin Devereux won the
competition. Each member received an
IWC watch and they contributed their
winnings back to Laureus.
The tournament was played on
Nicklaus’ own course at The Bear’s Club,
founded in 1999. Presenting sponsors
IWC Schaffhausen and Hamilton
Jewelers hosted a cocktail buffet to
welcome players and guests and there
was a Mercedes-Benz vehicle on offer
for a hole-in-one at the 14th hole.
An auction was also held to raise
funds for the US Foundation.
Gallery of stars13 STARS JOIN THE LAUREUS FAMILY IN THE USA.
An impressive collection of some of
the finest names of American sport
were announced as members of the
Laureus Friends & Ambassadors
programme in the USA in
December 2006.
The 13 names were unveiled at
a fundraising cocktail party hosted
by Laureus World Sports Academy
member John McEnroe at his SoHo
art gallery in New York.
Edwin Moses, Chairman of the
Laureus World Sports Academy and
fellow Academy members Nadia
Comaneci and Dan Marino joined
McEnroe at the event, which was
supported by Laureus Founding
Partners Mercedes-Benz and
IWC Schaffhausen.
As well as being the platform
to announce the new Laureus
Friends & Ambassadors USA, the
evening also raised funds for the
work of the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation USA.
Jim Bouton, Gale Sayers and
Tommie Smith were honoured
for their work for social change
through sport and each was
presented with an IWC Aquatimer
watch. Renowned photographer
Reed Davis set up a studio and
took individual photographs
of guests with their favourite
sportsmen and women to raise
additional funds.
Moses said, “This is a very
special day for Laureus and I am
delighted to be able to welcome
our new Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors USA. They are all
very passionate about sport and I
am delighted they have accepted
our invitation. I know they will be
energetic workers for the cause
that Laureus supports: to help
underprivileged young people
around the world.”
Jeremy Bloom – Olympic skier and wide receiver for NFL team Philadelphia Eagles.Jim Bouton – pitcher with the NY Yankees and author of bestseller Ball Four.Len Elmore – former player, now President of the NBA Retired Players Association. John Franco – pitched for the NY Mets in the 2000 World Series.Jerry Kramer – 11 years with NFL’s Green Bay Packers, now bestselling author.Earl Monroe – basketball legend who scored over 17,454 points in his career. Donna Orender – President of the Women’s National Basketball Association.Gale Sayers – American Football icon, subject of legendary TV movie Brian’s Song.Tony Siragusa – NFL Pro Bowl star, TV personality and commentator.Dr Tommie Smith – Olympic gold-medal-winning sprinter and social activist.John Starks – former NBA star with NY Knicks.Amani Toomer – wide receiver for NFL’s NY Giants.Nelson Vails – cyclist who won silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Laureus Friends & Ambassadors USA
Top: Event host Jack Nicklaus Above: John McEnroe (left) and Jeff Ward from EBS.
NEWS FROM THE USA
www. laureus .com 14
Barcelona 2007BARCELONA WILL HOST THE LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS 2007 AS IT CONTINUES TO BUILD ON ITS SPORTING LEGACY FOR GOOD.
The vibrant, exciting city of Barcelona will
again be the host as sports stars, celebrities and
business people come together to pay tribute
to the year’s greatest achievers in sport at the
annual Laureus World Sports Awards. Judging
by the success of last year’s Awards, also held in
Barcelona, the event will be spectacular.
The Awards will be one of a series of events to
mark the beginning of the city’s Year of Sport,
which celebrates the 15th anniversary of the highly
successful 1992 Summer Olympic Games that took
place in Barcelona. The recently opened Olympic
and Sports Museum has become an important
symbol of this sporting heritage. The museum is
situated on Montjuïc, a hill that was the site of
several venues of the 1992 Olympics, including
the Olympic stadium. A focal point of this
museum is the private sports collection of Juan
Antonio Samaranch, honorary president of the
International Olympic Committee. It also contains
a Hall of Fame and areas dedicated to the history
of sport as well as the Olympic spirit. The City
has also accepted an offer from Laureus Founding
Partners Mercedes-Benz of the loan of the 1998
Formula One show car of Mika Häkkinen, a
semi-automatic McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13.
Two main aims of the city’s Year of Sport are to
www. laureus .com15
promote sport as a tool for improving
health and social integration, and to
showcase Barcelona as a centre for
high-profile international sporting
events.
As Jordi Hereu i Boher, Mayor
of Barcelona, said, “Sport is close
to the hearts of all the people of
Barcelona and we are delighted to
welcome the Laureus World Sports
Awards to the city once again.
Barcelona is a city with a proud
sporting tradition and has staged
many important sporting events. The
city offers world-class infrastructure,
backed by superb organisational
talent, which makes it the ideal
venue for events of global stature
such as the Laureus World Sports
Awards.”
Edwin Moses, Chairman of the
Laureus World Sports Academy,
considered the 2006 Laureus Awards
ceremony in Barcelona to be one of
the best ever. “Barcelona is a superb
sporting location and staged a truly
unique event. I am delighted that
we will be returning to play a major
part in Barcelona’s Year of Sport and
I look forward to another memorable
gathering of the great names in
sport,” he said.
Last year’s Laureus World Sports
Awards, with guest of honour His
Majesty The King of Spain, was
attended by global figures from
sport, entertainment, business and
fashion. His Majesty The King of
Spain also attended the Sport for
Good Breakfast held at the Arts Hotel
on the morning before the ceremony,
where he met national foundation
managers from around the world
and stressed the important work of
the Foundation.
The staging of the 2006 Awards
also created a lasting legacy
for good in Barcelona. The first
Laureus project in Spain, Proyecto
Grumet EXIT, was launched when
Moses and fellow members Robby
Naish and Hugo Porta met some
of the young people involved in
the project and joined them for
a sail in the harbour. This unique
maritime programme offers young
people the opportunity to enhance
their educational and job prospects
through the art of sailing.
This year’s Laureus World Sports
Awards, which will be televised to a
global TV audience estimated at 700
million viewers in over 190 countries,
will be staged at the Palau Sant
Jordi on the evening of 2 April 2007.
These awards not only honour great
achievements in the world of sport,
but also serve to raise the global
awareness of Laureus – how Academy
members and projects harness the
power of sport to promote social
change worldwide.
Opposite: The 1992 Barcelona Olympics closing ceremony. Clockwise from above: Barcelona waterfront; Academy members on stage at the Laureus World Sports Awards 2006; Founding Partners Mercedes-Benz loaned the 1998 Formula One show car of Mika Häkkinen to the Olympic and Sports Museum in Barcelona.
“Sport is close to the hearts of all the people of Barcelona and we are delighted to welcome the Laureus World Sports Awards to the city once again.” Jordi Hereu i Boher, Mayor of Barcelona
www. laureus .com 16
“Sport, has the power
to change the world,
it has the power to
inspire, it has the
power to unite people
in a way that little
else does. It speaks to
youth in a language
they understand.
Sport can create hope
where once there
was only despair.
It is more powerful
than governments in
breaking down racial
barriers.”
Nelson Mandela,
speaking at the Laureus
World Sports Awards
2000.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS
B A R C E LO N A 2 0 0 7
www. laureus .com17
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
AFAFA POWELL (Jamaica) Athletics
Commonwealth Games gold-medal winner.
FERNANDO ALONSO (Spain) Motor Racing
Won Formula One World Championship.
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (Germany) Motor Racing
Winner of seven Formula One World Championships.
ROGER FEDERER (Switzerland) Tennis
Three-time winner of this category.
TIGER WOODS (United States) Golf
Winner of 12 championship victories.
FABIO CANNAVARO (Italy) Football
Captained Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning team.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
AMELIE MAURESMO (France) Tennis
Won two Grand Slam singles titles.
JUSTINE HENIN (Belgium) Tennis
Winner of the French Open.
LAURE MANADOU (France) Swimming
Won four gold medals in the European Championships.
MARIA SHARAPOVA (Russia) Tennis
Won two Grand Slam titles at the age of 19.
YELANA ISINBAYEVA (Russia) Athletics
Rated the world’s best female pole vaulter.
CAROLINA KLUFT (Sweden) Athletics
No. 1 multi-discipline female athlete in the world
2007 NOMINEES
Laureus World Sports Awards
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDSB A R C E LO N A 2 0 0 7
LAUREUS WORLD BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR
AMELIE MAURESMO (France) Tennis
Won two Grand Slam singles titles.
GHANA MEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM (Ghana) Football
Won the FIFA Most Improved Team of the Year award.
LEWIS HAMILTON (United Kingdom) Motor Racing
Will become the first black Formula One driver this year after winning the G2 title.
MA XIAOXU (China) Football
AFC Women’s Player of the Year and Asian Young Footballer of the Year.
XAVIER CARTER (United States) Athletics
Won four titles at the NCAA Championships and recorded the second fastest 200m time ever.
BRITTA STEFFEN (Germany) Swimming
Won four gold medals at the European Championships.
LAUREUS WORLD COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
BEN CURTIS (United States) Golf
Claimed his first tournament win in three years.
MIAMI HEAT (United States) Basketball
Won the NBA Finals after losing first two games.
ROY JONES JR (United States) Boxing
Fought his way back to the American light-heavyweight title.
SERENA WILLIAMS (United States) Tennis
Won her third Australian Open after coming back from a serious knee injury.
ZINEDINE ZIDANE (France) Football
Came out of retirement to captain France to the World Cup Final.
DREW BREES (United States) American Football
Returned after injury to lead NFL with passing yards.
www. laureus .com 18
LAUREUS WORLD TEAM OF THE YEAR
ALL BLACKS (New Zealand) Rugby Union
Won the Tri-Nations Championship for the seventh time.
EUROPEAN RYDER CUP TEAM Golf
Achieved three straight victories over the USA.
ITALY MEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM (Italy) Football
Won the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
RENAULT FORMULA ONE TEAM (France) Motor Racing
Won a second Constructors’ World Championship.
SPANISH BASKETBALL TEAM (Spain) Basketball
Won the World Cup in Japan.
FC BARCELONA (Spain) Football
Won the UEFA Champions League for the second time.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS
B A R C E LO N A 2 0 0 7
LAUREUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
This award is given to an individual who has achieved outstanding sporting success in his or her chosen field over many years – a legend in sport and a person whose activity goes beyond the boundaries of sporting achievement and who has contributed significantly in other areas of human endeavour.
LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD AWARD
Sport has the power to change the world. This award goes to an individual who has brought that simple, elemental truth to life; an individual who has used this theme as an inspiration for his/her work; a person who has made an outstanding contribution to society through the medium of sport over many years and who has made a difference to the lives of young people in local communities.
LAUREUS WORLD ACTION SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR
AARON HADLOW (United Kingdom) Kiteboarding
Retains title as the world’s best freestyle kiteboarder.
GISELA PULIDO (Spain) Kiteboarding
At age 12 has won numerous national titles.
HANNAH TETER (United States) Snowboarding
Won an Olympic gold medal at Turin.
KELLY SLATER (United States) Surfing
Won an unprecedented eight World Championships.
KEVIN PRITCHARD (United States) Windsurfing
Won the Professional Windsurfers Association Wave World Championship.
SHAUN WHITE (United States) Snowboarding/skateboarding
Competed in and won 12 events during 2006.
TRAVIS PASTRANA (United States) Freestyle Motorcross
Executed the first double backflip in motocross history.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY
EDITH HUNKELER (Switzerland) Athletics
Won three gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships
JAVIER PALACIOS OTXOA (Spain) Cycling
Recovered from a coma with victories at the IPC Cycling World Championships.
KAZEM RAFABI (Iran) Powerlifting
Overcame polio to set two new world records
KURT FEARNLEY (Australia) Athletics
Won the New York City Wheelchair Marathon.
MARTIN BRAXENTHALER (Germany) Alpine Skiing
Won three gold medals at the Paralympic Winter Games.
ESTHER VERGEEER (Netherlands) Wheelchair Tennis
Remains undefeated for three straight years.
www. laureus .com19
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDSB A R C E LO N A 2 0 0 7
www. laureus .com 20
Mercedes-Benz
has supported
Laureus
from its
inception in 1999. It works
actively to raise funding and
awareness, lending financial
and logistical support to the
organisation, especially the
good work of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation,
both internationally and in
Germany.
It has been a particularly
busy year for Mercedes-Benz
and Laureus, with a number
of events held to promote the
work of the Foundation.
In July, for the second
time, Mercedes-Benz invited
customers and friends to
Berlin to play in a charity
golf tournament to support
the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation Germany. The
competition was played at the
Golf Club Seddiner See, near
Germany’s capital, during the
final week of FIFA World
Cup 2006.
Laureus World Sports
Academy members Boris
Becker and Sir Bobby Charlton
teed up under hot conditions
and Charlton joked under the
midday sun, “This is the worst
golf I have ever played. I have
never been so depressed in my
whole life but it’s for a good
cause, so we fight through.”
Laureus Friend &
Ambassador Wladimir
Klitschko, whose handicap
(36) was slightly over those
of the two legends added,
“Surprisingly I came back with
more balls than I started with!
I found a lot of older balls in
the rough but not my own
ones.”
The charity golf event was
preceded by a get-together
of 200 guests on the evening
before at the ‘in’ club
40seconds and a glamorous
gala event for more than 250
guests at the Mercedes-Benz
dealership Salzufer in Berlin
Charlottenburg.
The event was held to
raise funds for the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation.
Speaking at the golf day, Dr
Olaf Göttgens, Vice President
Brand Communications
Mercedes-Benz Passenger
Car, emphasised the strong
commitment from Mercedes-
Benz to the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation and
expressed his appreciation to
all players and partners.
Recently Laureus World
Sports Award winner Valentino
Rossi tested a DTM car for the
first time at Hockenheim. The
27-year-old Italian impressed
with consistently fast lap times
with Mika Häkkinen’s 2006
AMG-Mercedes C-Class. As a
gesture of appreciation from
Rossi the car and his overalls
were branded with the
Laureus logo.
The superstar of motorcycle
Grand Prix racing, who received
the Laureus Spirit of Sport
Trophy last year, adjusted
quickly to the AMG-Mercedes
C-Class. After testing a Ferrari
Formula One car last winter,
this DTM test was another
opportunity for the multiple
MotoGP champion to gain
experience with a race car.
Rossi, a DTM fan, had asked
Mercedes-Benz for the
opportunity to test the car.
Valentino Rossi can draw on
16 years of racing experience.
He started racing karts in
1990 and changed from four
to two wheels one year later,
participating in minibike races
at the age of 12. It took him
just five years to become a
Grand Prix driver and in his
debut year in the 125cc World
Championship he won his first
Grand Prix. The next year he
became world champion in this
category. For ten consecutive
years since then he has never
finished lower than second in
the overall rankings of three
different classes. He became the
250cc world champion in 1999
and one year later the 500cc
titleholder. From 2002 until 2005
Rossi clinched the MotoGP title
four times in a row.
After the test, Rossi
said: “It was great fun. The
AMG-Mercedes C-Class is
an impressive race car and it
can almost be driven like a
Formula One car. I don’t know
yet if I will ever race on four
wheels; however, it is good to
know that I wouldn’t look so
bad doing so, and
I thank Mercedes-Benz for this
opportunity.”
Mercedes-Benz also
continues to support the
work of the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation through
events it is involved in, such
as the first streetfootballworld
festival which was held in
Berlin in July, and the week
of events held in November
to raise funds for United Kids
Foundations – an alliance for
children, an initiative where
six organisations teamed up.
(See page 9 for more on these
stories).
FOUNDING PARTNER REPORT MERCEDES-BENZ
HEROES OF SPORT RAISE AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR THE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION
CommitmentThe Laureus Media Prizes Germany is a joint initiative between Mercedes-Benz and Boris Becker, Chairman of the Laureus Foundation Germany, to help showcase the work of Laureus. Here, Vitali Klitschko (left) and his brother Wladimir Klitschko, both Laureus Friends & Ambassadors, congratulate Franziska van Almsick.
Valentino Rossi at the DTM testing, Hockenheim
www. laureus .com21
The world’s greatest sporting eventsTHE FIFA WORLD CUP THE OLYMPIC GAMES
How many watch it?
When did it all start?
How often is the event held?
How many days is the event held over?
How many matches/ events does it include?
How many countries participate?
The cumulative audience for all matches (64) in Germany 2006 was
26.29 billion. Games were broadcast to 214 countries and territories.
(Source: FIFA)
The first World Cup was held in
Uruguay in 1930.
The Finals are held every four years but qualifying matches start
up to three years before that. The first qualifying matches for
South Africa 2010 kick off in August 2007.
South Africa 2010 starts on 11 June
and concludes on 11 July.
There were 64 matches in the
Finals and 847 qualifying matches
leading up to Germany 2006.
All 207 member associations have been invited to participate
in qualifying for South Africa 2010. The host nation qualifies
automatically. 13 teams took part in the first World Cup.
The cumulative audience for the
Athens Olympics 2004 was estimated
to be 40 billion. (Source: IOC)
The Olympics were held from 776BC until
393AD but the first modern Olympics
was held in Greece in 1896.
The Olympic Summer Games are held
every fours years. The Olympic Winter
Games are also held every four years.
The 2004 Olympics was held
over a period of 17 days.
301 events were
held in 2004
202 took part in 2004.
This compares to just 14 in 1896
”It is marvellous to see these matches with the best players in the
world. At the same time, our game of football has the potential
to promote peace and understanding among the many different
cultures. For me, the FIFA World Cup has a special mission when
it comes to this. In 2006, the mission was accomplished.” – Franz
Beckenbauer, Chairman World Cup 2006 Organising Committee and
member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
“There are so many, really. Playing my first World Cup in 1966 was
such a tremendous experience, especially the final versus England.
Winning it all in 1974 was unbelievable. And then of course 1990,
when I coached Germany to the World Cup. But I know that I’ll
never forget the Fan Feste in 2006. It was great to see people
from all different nations and cultures celebrate together – with so
much joy and completely peaceful. That’s the way God wanted the
world to be.” – Franz Beckenbauer.
“The Olympics are special because the magical atmosphere
and uplifting spirit distinguishes them from any other
sporting event, creating an electrifying experience for
competitors and spectators. However, it is their power to
inspire that makes them truly special. London 2012’s vision
is to capture the imagination of young people around the
world and inspire them to take up sport.” – Sebastian Coe,
Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee and
member of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
“It is hard to choose one
but I think it would be Daley
Thompson winning his
second Decathalon
Gold medal in Los Angeles
in 1984.” – Sebastian Coe.
What is your greatest memory of the event?
What makes the tournament so great?
www. laureus .com 22
Swiss watch
manufacturer IWC
Schaffhausen joined
forces with Laureus
in 2005. Georges Kern, CEO
of IWC Schaffhausen explains
the company’s motivation
for the partnership: “The
privileged people on this
planet – and we are among
them – must do something to
help those who are socially,
physically or economically
disadvantaged. This applies
not only to individuals but
also to the economy as a
whole. We as a company bear
a social responsibility. Today,
people expect companies to
give them authenticity and to
represent genuine values, and
solidarity with underprivileged
individuals is one of these
values. In the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation, which helps
underprivileged children and
adolescents to help themselves,
IWC has found the ideal partner
for active social commitment.”
As founder, IWC
Schaffhausen has played a
particularly important role in
setting up the Swiss branch
of the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation, which will be
officially launched in June
2007. IWC strongly believes
in the work of Laureus and
provides not only financial
support but also offers its
worldwide network to Laureus.
In the book Let the Children
Play, IWC outlines the work
of the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation by focusing on 10
of the Foundation’s projects.
With contributions from leading
photographers and journalists,
the book captures the lives of
children in ground-breaking
projects supported by the
Foundation from Sarajevo to
Sri Lanka.
Kern said, “This illustrated
book was initiated and realised
by IWC out of a sense of
deep commitment to increase
awareness of the magnificent
creative effort on the part of
the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation in the cause of
children.”
Let the Children Play
includes the work of famous
reportage photographers like
James Nachtwey, Juan Medina,
Ivo Saglietti, Abbas, Fernando
Moleres among others.
Internationally renowned
journalists and authors such
as Roger Cohen, Eduardo
Galeano, Tahar Ben Jelloun,
Predrag Matvejevic lent their
keen powers of observation
to tell the stories of children
facing poverty, discrimination,
war, alienation and physical
handicaps.
The authors and
photographers visited Hong
Kong, Spain, Sri Lanka,
Germany, Morocco, Italy,
Bosnia, USA, Brazil and Kenya
in order to produce the book.
As His Majesty The King
of Spain and Laureus World
Sports Awards Patron said:
“Sport generates hope,
instilling in young people the
drive to achieve new goals
and turn dreams into reality.”
It is this hope which the book
aspires to capture.
Let the Children Play, a
hard-cover coffee table book,
published by IWC in English
and containing 276 pages, can
be ordered at www.iwc.com. It
is a non-profit making project
and part of the proceeds will go
towards the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation. The book will
be officially launched during
the Laureus World Sports
Awards 2007 in Barcelona.
IWC has also produced
the second limited-edition
Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation watch. After last
year’s success another drawing
competition among children
of Laureus-supported projects
was initiated to find the
design to be engraved on the
watch. The winning artist was
Jimena Mainé, an eight-year
old girl, who takes part in the
Sports in Underdeveloped
Areas programme in Uruguay.
Jimena’s drawing, called simply
‘Basketball’ depicts the joy and
happiness of three girls playing
basketball in the sunshine.
The drawing was replicated on
the case back of 2,500 limited
edition pieces of an IWC Pilot’s
Watch Chrono-Automatic.
IWC Schaffhausen has
been producing professional
timepieces for pilots and
passengers since the mid-
1930s. It was designed to
survive in the cockpits of
the aircrafts of the time. The
optimally legible dials with
their high-contrast luminous
hands for day and night
have always been regarded
as exemplary in terms of its
functionality. The Pilot’s Watch
Chrono-Automatic Edition
Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation will be officially
launched in April 2007
during the SIHH Watch Fair
in Geneva. Notable features
include the intense blue of
the dial and the blue crocodile
leather strap that corresponds
perfectly with the face. And
of course the watch contains
all features for which the IWC
Pilot’s watches are known:
maximum readability, soft-
iron inner case for protection
against magnetic fields and
resistance against sudden drop
of air pressure.
A substantial sum of the
sales proceeds of the limited
edition will be donated to
the Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation.
FOUNDING PARTNER REPORT IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
A BOOK AND WATCH ARE TWO NEW EXCITING PROJECTS AS IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN CONTINUE TO SHOW THEIR VALUED SUPPORT TO THE WORK OF THE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION.
Inspiration
Above: images from Let the Children Play.
Abba
sJa
mes
Nac
htw
ey
www. laureus .com23
Speed KingsWHY ARE WE ADDICTED TO GOING FAST? WE PROFILE FOUR LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS WHO KNOW MORE THAN MOST ABOUT SPEED.
Klammer won gold in the
Alpine Skiing Downhill for
Men at the 1976 Winter
Olympics in Innsbruck. In
1975 he won eight of nine
World Cup Downhill races.
On two skis. Klammer recorded an average speed
of 102.82 kph (63.89 mph) in his 1976
Olympic run.
“It’s about pushing the limits, finding where the
limit is. The worst thing is being cocky. Yes, push
the limit but be aware of the danger so you can
overcome the fear. You have to be proactive
when going fast not defensive. I got to the point
where I felt as if I was going in slow motion.”
FRANZ KLAMMER
Claim to fame How do you move fast?
How fast do you move? Describe the thrill of speed…
GIACOMO AGOSTINI Agostini won 15 world
Grand Prix titles in his 17-
year career (eight in 500cc
and seven in 350cc), 12
Isle of Man TT titles, 122
Grands Prix.
On two wheels. Agostini made the MV Augusta bike
famous by winning multiple world
championships. In August 2006 the
MV Augusta F4 became the fastest
production 1000cc bike in the world with
a speed of 299.14 kph (185.88 mph).
“There is something inside some of us that
craves speed. Some people just can’t go fast
enough. For me, it makes me excited when I am
going fast; I know I am pushing the limits and
proving to myself that I can do something that
is difficult.”
MICHAEL JOHNSON Five times Olympic champion
(200m, 400m and 4x400m
relay), nine times world
champion and the first
man to hold both the
200m and 400m world
records.
On two legs. In the 1996 Olympics Johnson set a
world record time of 19.32 seconds
in the 200m, an average speed of
37.26 kph (23.15 mph).
“Human speed is a feeling of freedom with no
boundaries and no constraints and I believe
that is why I have loved to run since I was a
child. But it is also pushing your body to the
absolute limit while simultaneously trying to
accomplish an efficiency of movement.”
EMERSON FITTIPALDI Fittipaldi won the Formula
One championship in 1972
and 1974 with 14 Grand
Prix wins. He also won the
Indianapolis 500 twice.
On four wheels. In 1990 on his way to winning the
Indianapolis 500, Fittipaldi completed
the 91st lap in 40.43 at a speed of
358.18 kph (222.57 mph).
“My most memorable experience was when
driving a racing car on a superspeedway. Driving
the car at its limit and approaching each curve
at over 400kph, within centimetres of the wall
and knowing that any little mistake at these
incredible speeds would not be forgiven, was an
amazing thrill.”
Michael Johnson’s legendary gold running shoes.
www. laureus .com 24
A1 GRAND PRIX Brazil Emerson FittipaldiTeam manager
2007 A Laureus world of sport year 2007 is a major year for world sport and where there are world sporting events you are sure to find members of the Laureus World Sports Academy involved.
This year there are at least four major world championships. They start in the pool in Melbourne, Australia then on to the sunny cricket pitches in the West Indies for their inaugural hosting of the Cricket World Cup.
France is host to the Rugby World Cup, one of the fastest growing sporting world championships and in Shanghai in October, the year ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, China will also host the Special Olympics World Summer Games.
And that’s all without mentioning the iconic global sporting events of the Championships at Wimbledon, the US
Masters at Augusta and the Superbowl in Miami.
Members of the Laureus World Sports Academy will be involved in all of the above, some integrally such as IRB member Hugo Porta and the illustrious members of the IAAF Council. Add the preparations underway to hosting the Summer Olympic Games, a bid to host the Winter Olympics and managing a motor racing team, and that’s just some of the year in the life of the Laureus World Sports Academy.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS Barcelona 1-2 April Laureus World Sports Academy
Ian BothamCommentator
Kapil DevCommentator
Viv RichardsFormer West Indian manager and captain
CRICKET WORLD CUP West Indies March 11 – April 28
Steve WaughFormer winning World Cup captain
THE US MASTERSAugusta, Georgia2-8 AprilGary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Severiano Ballesteros
Former champions
SUPERBOWLMiami, FloridaFebruary 4Marcus Allen
OLYMPIC GAMES LONDON 2012London Sebastian CoeChairman
MANCHESTER UTDManchester Bobby CharltonDirector
www. laureus .com25
2014 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES SALZBURG BID AustriaFranz Klammer Chairman
Sergey BubkaIAAF Council Member
Nawal El MoutawakelIAAF Council Member
Sebastian CoeIAAF Council Member
Kip KeinoIOC Member
IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OSAKAJapan 25 August – 5 September
Boris Becker Commentator and former champion
John McEnroe Commentator and former champion
WIMBLEDONCHAMPIONSHIPS Wimbledon 25 June – 8 July
Hugo PortaIRB member and former Argentinean captain
Sean Fitzpatrick Commentator and former New Zealand captain
Morné du Plessis Former SouthAfrican captain and manager
RUGBY WORLD CUP France 7 September – 20 October
SWIMMING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Melbourne 17 March – 1 April Mark SpitzGuest, former Olympic champion and world record holder
SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD SUMMER GAMES SHANGHAI 2-11 October Nadia ComaneciGlobal Ambassador
OLYMPIC GAMES LONDON 2012London Sebastian CoeChairman
MANCHESTER UTDManchester Bobby CharltonDirector
www. laureus .com 26
The bus ride through the Atlas
Mountains saw us wind through narrow
mountain passes. Through the gaps
in the rock the plains to the Sahara
stretched out beneath us like quilted
mats.
We had left the bustle of Morocco’s
Marrakech behind us and driven out
at breakfast to the foothills of the
mountains. We were all dressed the
same, ill-fitting khaki shorts, cheap
trainers and dark blue Laureus T-shirts.
That is except for one immaculately
turned out American, who sported the
latest in one of the world’s most famous
track-shoe manufacturer’s designs.
The rest of us had arrived the night
before from the Laureus World Sports
Awards. Our luggage unfortunately
hadn’t. The first real chance of speaking
to two-time Formula One champion and
racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi was in a
crowded shopping aisle on the outskirts
of Marrakech while he was holding up a
pair of shorts.
Also in the aisles looking for socks,
shoes and toothpaste was the greatest
hurdler to have ever graced a race track,
Edwin Moses, and next to him, the
inspirational woman who won the same
event, the 400m hurdles, at the same
Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Nawal El
Moutawakel.
Back in the hotel meanwhile,
unpacking his safely arrived luggage and
a pair of smart trainers, was the greatest
200m and 400m runner of all-time
– Michael Johnson.
Less than a day before, these amazing
athletes were standing on stage at the
Laureus World Sports Awards, in the
presence of their legendary Laureus
World Sports Academy counterparts,
the greatest sports heroes of today and
the worlds of sport, fashion, film and
business to honour the achievements of
the year’s great sportsmen and women.
Now, as we wound our way up the
hillside, these ambassadors for the
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation were
reflecting on how, despite their collective
reputation, their personal belongings
added up to three pairs of shorts and
shoes and a bag of plastic razors. Where
they were going, and they knew it, these
items were luxuries.
This is typical of a Laureus project
visit, where the observer stands between
the greatest legends of sport and
children who are born into some of the
worst social conditions imaginable. It is
the very mission of Laureus in action,
to support, through sport as a tool for
social change, children around the world.
It is a bold mission and the legends
of the Academy realise that there can be
no magic formula. Nawal El Moutawakel
sums it up best: “We can’t change the
world overnight but we can start one
playing field at a time.”
Swapping the bus for donkeys, the
Laureus party made its way up steep
paths to a small Berber village. When
they arrive at the village, they are greeted
by a wash of colour and noise. Children
from one of the world’s most ancient
The spirit of LaureusFROM MOROCCO TO INDIA TO BOSNIA TO BRAZIL THE WORK OF THE LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION IS ABOUT TOUCHING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, REPORTS DAVID BUTLER.
www. laureus .com27
communities who have only ever known
separate developments join together in
classrooms. There is a football match with
the local village children and a girls’ cross-
country race across terrain that would
make a yak baulk. Behind the initiative
however, is education and integration.
Solar panels bounce sunlight off
whitewash village walls centuries old. The
life of shepherd children for the first time
is opened up to the wonders of internet.
The kaleidoscope that is the world of
Laureus can repeat scenes like this across
the globe. It is important to visualise
them and to paint their picture. It is
important to put names and faces to
the project leaders, heroes who provide
beacons of hope to children whose
bravery alone deserves to make them
Olympic champions in their own right.
Across the world in India, a red
‘Magic Bus’ arrives at the foot of a
tenement block that stands opposite
a slum that stretches from the side
of the road across acres of Mumbai’s
hinterland. The magic bus is a symbol,
and it is indeed magic, at
least for the 20 or so girls
who hop on board and are
taken to a playing field
where they can do what
children should have as their daily right
– the ability to play beneath the sky
in peace and safety. This is the idea
behind Magic Bus and the vision of its
founder, Matthew Spacie.
The girls are all immaculately dressed,
as, despite the heat and dust, nearly
everyone seems to be in India – and they
are smiling. But they are not ordinary
little girls. Many are orphans, some
were left on the doorstep, others have
escaped from factories and brothels,
others found on railway tracks or under
boxes and rubbish.
Beneath their bright smiles, their eyes
have been mirrors to untold difficulties
and horrors.
A dozen flights above in the tenement
their 20 pairs of shoes lie neatly outside
a metal grille door. Inside a young
woman in her 20s has turned her flat
into a school. There is orchestrated
pandemonium and a map of the world
to which Academy members Morné du
Plessis and Hugo Porta point to their
respective homes in Cape Town and
Buenos Aires. Points on a map a million
miles from this little room high up in the
heart of Mumbai.
In fact this room in Mumbai is a
million miles away from anything most
of us would consider to be normal. The
children share a dorm with small windows
high up on the walls, the only chance
of the outside entering in. This is their
world – or at least it would be were it
not for the Magic Bus that can take
them somewhere in safety. Were they to
wander out alone, the chances are they
would be snatched and run across the
road to the slum where they might be
forced into child slavery in the factories
– or worse.
Yet in Bosnia, it is the wide-open
spaces that provide the danger to
young children. Millions of landmines
lie undetected as a result of the chaotic
conflict whose horrors seemed to know
no boundaries. Retrieving a lost ball
brings with it the threat of standing in
a minefield. A metal object, a plaything
for most children, brings with it a
mortal danger.
Here, where not that long ago local
populations were once forced down a
mine shaft and shot, or held in factories
for systematic execution a dozen at
a time, Scotty Lee and the Spirit of
Soccer project uses a football as a way
of bringing children together to educate
them on the dangers of the mines
through a bright, simple and visual mine-
awareness programme.
The imagery works, with a drastically
reduced rate of child mortality due to
landmine accidents in the areas where
Scotty teaches his mine-awareness
course.
As Bobby Charlton, as ever unable to
resist the temptation of kicking a few
crosses said on his visit to the minefields,
“Wherever I travel in the world, a football
has the same affect. It brings people
together. It inspires a common language,
from the World Cup Final to a playing
field in Bosnia. Here that language
speaks out to literally save lives.”
Crossing to South America to the
favelas of Rio de Janeiro another brave
social entrepreneur, Luke Dowdney, is
also trying to save lives. He has built
a centre within a community that is
torn apart by violence and the drugs
cartels. Ironically the Fight for Peace
project brings young people together
through the ropes of a boxing ring
and in return for the training and the
kudos and the club spirit, the children
undergo citizenship classes. They have
also created a reputation for pugilistic
excellence. Taking their community’s
name to matches around Brazil, they
return with winners’ medals and
recognition for the right reasons.
Picture a street scene not unlike a
Lowry painting but in bright Brazilian
colours. It is afternoon and the
neighbourhood is bustling. Men sit at
corner shops and play cards. Children and
dogs run free.
The sound of a jukebox fills the air
with the beat of Brazilian rap. Scooters
whistle through the narrow gaps in the
drug-cartel-made road bumps that halt
the progress of any police vehicles.
Then picture the same scene after a
day’s training. Night has fallen; metal
tables stand at street corners full of bags
of white cocaine powder. Kids in football
tops and headscarves holding AK47s
stand next to them. A teenager waving a
machine pistol hops onto the back of a
scooter. A boy, no older than 14 taps his
gun on the windowpane of the car.
Imagine kids coming to the gym late
and tired for class because the machine
gun fire kept them awake all night.
Imagine shaking a kid’s hand, holding
the pads for him in a ring while he throws
combinations of swirling leather-clad
punches in bare feet – and then imagine
hearing a month later that he was killed
by machine gun fire in a shoot out on
the street.
The Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation is the mission of Laureus. It
is what binds the Academy together and
sits as the soul of a young organisation.
Its message is clear and repeated by
Academy vice-chairperson, Boris Becker:
“Laureus celebrates the universal power
of sport to bring people together as a
force for good” he says, “as Academy
members we carry that message with us
wherever we go.”
One cannot understand Laureus
without understanding the world in
which those involved in the Foundation
live and the work in Morocco, India,
Bosnia and Brazil is the tip of the iceberg.
It is a magical concept that affects
all that it touches. It brings people
together and unites them for sport is
a universal language that unites and
inspires. Its message is simply: Sport
for Good.
This is typical of a Laureus project visit, where the observer stands between the greatest legends of sport and children who are born into some of the worst social conditions imaginable. It is the very mission of Laureus in action, to support, through sport as a tool for social change, children around the world.
www. laureus .com 28
by the inhabitants of Nairobi’s more
affluent suburbs.
Johnson is no stranger to poverty,
having been involved with the work
of the Laureus World Sports Academy
– 44 iconic sports figures who since
2000 have brought their considerable
collective weight and influence to over
40 similar areas of the world’s most
troubled areas – and wears a deep,
permanent frown as we spend two
hours meeting, greeting, and witnessing
at first hand the realities of existence
where the average life expectancy is
35. Johnson admits that he found the
squalor unbelievable, and yet equally,
was humbled and impressed by the
group of 50 dedicated individuals
from the slum itself who work for the
Mathare Youth Sports Association
(MYSA). Founded in 1987, MYSA has
transformed the lives of an estimated
40,000 youngsters – using sport as
a motivational tool. “I have travelled
through real areas of poverty before,
appalling poverty in the poorest places
in India, and in China, but what I
witnessed in Mathare hit me to the
core,” explained Johnson. “When I
reflected on it, and learnt that there is
Michael Johnson conquered the
world and earned global acclaim with
five Olympic gold medals and nine
world championship gold medals in
a near-perfect 10-year sprint career.
The 39-year-old American now wants
to use his name – and influence
– to transform lives through sport.
He admitted, however, that nothing
could have prepared him for the
life-changing experience he felt in
Nairobi’s Mathare slum, on his mission
as an ambassador for the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation in October
2006.
Johnson said that many times
on his visit he felt like crying and is
determined that lives will continue
to be transformed through sport in
the world’s most poverty-stricken
communities.
The Mathare slum, an area that
sprawls over seven kms on the
outskirts of Nairobi, is one of the
largest and poorest in Africa. Sixty per
cent of Nairobi’s 2.3 million population
live in squatter communities, 300,000
of them in Mathare. I joined Johnson
on his ambassadorial visit to an area of
the slum, where tiny, tin-roofed adobe
shelters have sprung up, alongside
the stench of open sewers running
through them. After heavy rains,
the sewers often flood into the tiny
homes.
One morning, six weeks before our
visit to this area, the charred remains
of four bodies, and one of a headless
woman were found in an alleyway.
Pigs feed on the sewage and in the
tiny alleyways, strewn with litter and
effluence. Even embryos have been
found washed up in the sewage. HIV
and AIDS are rife. Most families live
on less than one US dollar a day. It is
a place where even a mafia operates,
drugs are prevalent, and small firearms
can be bought for US$20. The gangs
operating here even sell water to
the locals at four times the rate paid
Hope amid despairLAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBER MICHAEL JOHNSON FINDS A LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE ON HIS VISIT TO A LAUREUS SPORT FOR GOOD FOUNDATION PROJECT IN KENYA, REPORTS GARETH A DAVIES.
Michael Johnson
www. laureus .com29
little Government support for the most
incredible work, I felt angry. You want
to blame someone because you look
at the children there and feel there is
no reason why they should live in such
conditions. It is so difficult to smile at
seemingly happy children, when you
see sewage running through people’s
homes. What can you say when you
have sewage running past someone’s
house, bubbling up, and mothers are
sitting beside, on the floor, cooking pig
intestines to feed her children.”
“In the US, I’m running
with wipes as soon as
my six-year-old son has
touched the ground. Many of them
have no reason to be hopeful, but they
keep going. People don’t understand
in our countries. I could literally get joy
from helping just one of those kids.
Coming to a place like this is addictive.
I want to help more. The things I saw
have left a deep impression on me.
Even more incredible is when you
meet people like Peter Karanja, the
director of MYSA, who has grown up
in Mathare, the son of a single mother.
He is the embodiment of what can be
achieved. He is running an organisation
on small donations and changing
thousands of lives.”
Indeed, MYSA’s young sportsmen
and women are busy making footballs
from plastic bags wrapped in twine,
gleaned and cleaned from the rubbish
tips, slowly enrolling team after team
of youngsters from the hundreds of
thousands of inhabitants from the slum
for football and volleyball training. The
discipline of sport has transformed
many lives here. Today, 17,500 girls and
boys from the slum make up over one
thousand football teams, playing in 90
leagues. But their work does not end
when the whistle blows. This football
league is not just about winning
trophies. Teams earn extra points in their
leagues for organising refuse collections
every weekend, and part of enrolling in
a football team is signing up to take on
60 hours of community service a month,
then later becoming educators and
coaches in the community. The process
has saved thousands from being drawn
into gangs, crime, and more often than
not, an early death.
Since 2000, the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation has been donating
funds to MYSA, which has helped
them to buy their own pitch, a training
facility, an office area and a repair area
for garbage trucks and tractors which
are used in clean-ups. In 2003 MYSA
was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
“With what I have seen of the Mathare
Youth Sports Association’s work, I can
understand why they were nominated
for a Nobel Peace Prize,” said sports
icon Johnson. “I don’t know if we
can eradicate completely the poverty
that exists in continents like Africa.
We are already trying. Look at what
Bono and Bob Geldof have done, using
their medium of the music industry to
leverage the G8 leaders into action. No-
one has changed the world completely.
No-one at the UN or within G8 can just
wave a wand and change the entire
world. Poverty is the result of a chain of
events. Will Laureus ever be able to help
all the people who are living in poverty?
No. I’m not saying we cannot radically
change poverty in Africa, but we must
support projects which are clearly doing
wonderful, life-changing work, like
MYSA. It is so humbling to experience
it. I was blown away in the Mathare
slum. I would have cried if I had walked
through there on my own. I’ve been to a
lot of places and to see that was just so
shocking. It blew me away.”
Johnson added: “I will always be
involved, whether it is travelling to these
places physically, or simply by lending
my name to them. Listen, the three
and four year old kids who met me
never saw me win an Olympic or World
Championship gold medal, but they
know that I am considered ‘someone
special’, who came to where
they live, held their hand,
gave them attention. They
don’t know what Laureus does with
MYSA, supporting their community, but
they know someone special is there who
cares, wants to see them, and wants to
make difference. Their real role models
are the guys from MYSA, and from their
communities who show them what can
be done on the ground, and who are
blossoming in front of them. The role
people like myself can play is to bring
the reality of the life these people are
enslaved in to the attention of the
global media.”
• Gareth A Davies is a sports journalist
for The Daily Telegraph.
This photo: Michael Johnson. Left: MYSA training.
“You want to blame someone because you look at the children there and feel there is no reason why they should live in such conditions.”
www. laureus .com 30
Into AfricaLAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS MICHAEL JOHNSON AND MARCEL DESAILLY VISIT LAUREUS PROJECTS IN AFRICA, REPORTS GARETH A DAVIES.
Kabete Children’s Remand Home,
in Nairobi, Kenya, houses teenage
murderers, thieves, former drug runners
and orphans under the same huge
corrugated tin roof. But it has not
stopped the Mathare Youth Sports
Association (MYSA) from turning child
offenders into formidable footballers, and
thence into beacons of one of the most
poverty-stricken communities
in Africa.
Marcel Desailly, the former France
and Chelsea footballer, and a World Cup
winner in 1998, joined Michael Johnson
on a four-day visit to Kenya and Uganda
as ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation.
Laureus assists over 150,000 young
people in troubled areas, through sport,
providing funding since the year 2000,
now in 48 different projects worldwide.
The inaugural project Laureus backed
was MYSA, a huge, sprawling slum, with
its open sewers and tiny adobe shacks,
home to 300,000 people, and where the
average life expectancy is 35.
In spite of being of African origin,
and well aware of the plight of many in
developing countries, Desailly openly
admitted he was in shock at what he
witnessed in the slums of Mathare. The
former Chelsea full-back, whose family
hail originally from Ghana, supports
an orphanage of 140 children in that
West African country, but he was both
moved and shocked by his
visit to Kabete Children’s
Remand Home, where he
oversaw a football match
between two highly-
competitive, bare-footed teams. “Yes,
I was born in Africa but grew up in rich
neighbourhoods in Europe. I had never
imagined there existed such conditions.
It is terrible. It is difficult for the kids
in Mathare. There is a better place for
this youth and it is through sport,”
Desailly said.
Even the football shirts made it clear
why the children were there. Printed
on their backs were ‘remand centre’.
The rules on the wall spell out the harsh
regime. It is a spartan place, the dorms
locked during the day, the only luxury
a television, inside a padlocked tin box
mounted on the wall. Beside the television
are enscribed the remand home rules.
“Escaping is not permitted”. “No girls in
the boy dormitories”. “No smoking – no
drugs”. “No one is permitted to carry an
axe or knife”. What the Mathare Youth
Sports Association is attempting to do,
is rehabilitate young offenders through
the discipline and team-work involved
in sport. Desailly learnt the stories of
several children who had come to Kabete
with horrific childhoods and had been
transformed through sport. Maria, a 12-
year-old girl, is an exceptional volleyball
player. She is in the remand home for
murdering her boyfriend, who was also
12. They had a child together, and a
few months ago, when she found
him in bed with another girl, she took
her revenge. The next night, when he
was sleeping, she stabbed him to death.
Grief-stricken to be separated from
her own child, Maria went into a deep
depression. Sport has been her salvation.
Likewise, Simon, a 17-year-old who is
a gifted centre-forward. He murdered
his grandmother after his own mother
persuaded him that they would able to
inherit her money. Hollywood script-writers
might raise their eyebrows at the validity
of these histories, and yet this is real, raw
life from the Mathare slum.
“I am very proud to be a part of this
movement,” said Desailly. “The part these
people are playing in transforming this
society is so important. I’m from Africa,
I am used to poverty, but these people
need the chance of a better
future.”
• Gareth A Davies is a
sports journalist for The
Daily Telegraph.
In spite of being of African origin, and well aware of the plight of many in developing countries, Desailly openly admitted he was in shock at what he witnessed in the slums of Mathare.
Laureus World Sports Academy member Kip Keino (in blue) also visited MYSA and Kabete in July 2006.
www. laureus .com31
England football legend
Sir Bobby Charlton
launched a Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation
project in August 2006
based at Old Trafford,
the home of Manchester
United, which aims to save
young people’s lives.
Charlton, a Director of
Manchester United and
a member of the Laureus
World Sports Academy,
unveiled It’s a Goal! @ The
Theatre of Dreams, an
initiative that will combat
depression in young men.
It’s a Goal! estimates
that each year around
1,300 young men in Britain
commit suicide because
of depression, while
two million people take
anti-depressant drugs,
including over 100,000
children. One in three
people will suffer from
depression at some time
in their lives, yet it is an
incredibly difficult illness
to treat as people tend to
withdraw from society. It’s
a Goal! project combats
this with a non-clinical
programme based on
football and operated from
a football stadium with the
aim of appealing to these
hard-to-reach groups.
Charlton said, “Young
men who are resistant and
even fearful of going into
a mental health unit are
much more likely to walk
It’s a Goal!SIR BOBBY CHARLTON LAUNCHES LAUREUS PROJECT THAT ‘WILL SAVE LIVES’.
into a football stadium.
Once they are here, we
can offer them the kind
of therapeutic help they
just cannot get anywhere
else. I really believe this
can be a life-saver. This
is a major breakthrough
and I am delighted that
my club Manchester
United is able to help
with this. We all know
sport has the power to
change lives, and maybe
in this case it can save
lives.”
It’s a Goal!, devised
by Malcolm McClean,
a businessman and
social entrepreneur
based in Alderley Edge,
Cheshire, has just
completed a two-year
evaluation scheme
at Cheshire football
club Macclesfield
Town. McClean said,
“Depression is a clinical
condition which is
debilitating, and which
can turn into a killer
illness.
“We are achieving
some amazing results.
There is a football
stadium in every town
and city in the world.
The opportunities are
enormous. The power
of Laureus sporting
ambassadors such as Sir
Bobby to lend credibility
to ground-breaking new
ideas like this is great.”
Edwin Moses, Chairman of the
Laureus World Sports Academy,
joined track legend Frankie
Fredericks and South Africa’s
wheelchair racing star Ernst van
Dyk both Laureus Friends &
Ambassadors, on a memorable
visit to Laureus Sport for Good
Foundation projects in Alexandra,
South Africa, in May 2006.
The three sports personalities were
welcomed to Alexandra by Morné
du Plessis, Chairman of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation Trust
South Africa, and took part in sports
coaching workshops with children
from the Laureus-supported Little
Champs and Starfish Sports projects.
Children from the nearby Free
the Youth and Alexandra Football
Academy projects also took part in
the event, which took place at The
Altrec Centre in Alexandra.
Fredericks, who became a
member of the Laureus Friends
& Ambassadors programme in
December 2005, was joined in
Alexandra by fellow members Deshun
Deysel, the celebrated mountaineer,
South African boxing legend Baby-
Jake Matlala and radio presenter
John Robbie.
Ernst van Dyk received a hero’s
welcome in Alexandra after winning
the wheelchair race in the Boston
Marathon for a record sixth time
in April.
Moses said, “The work done by
Laureus in South Africa is inspiring
and a shining example to the rest
of the world. Under the leadership
of Morné du Plessis and with the
backing of so many great South
African sports personalities and
the support of Country Patron
Discovery, great progress has been
made. Future plans for expansion
will enable Laureus to help even
more underprivileged young
people.
Teams get togetherLAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS & AMBASSADORS VISITS SOUTH AFRICAN PROJECTS.
PROJECT REPORTS
www. laureus .com 32
Tennis legend Martina
Navratilova thrilled an
audience of children and
young adults as she took
part in a jiu-jitsu coaching
session for at-risk New
Yorkers at the Fight Back
project in the South Bronx
in July 2006.
The Laureus World
Sports Academy member,
who announced she would
retire from competitive
tennis at the end of the
season, was making her
first visit to the project
which focuses on domestic
and gang-related violence
in the East Tremont
neighbourhood.
Navratilova, who won
58 Grand Slam titles in her
career, including 18 singles
championships, said: “I
could probably play on
for another five years if I
wanted to, but I don’t. It
was time to move on to my
next life. An important part
of that will be my work for
Laureus. All the members
of the Academy want to
give something back to
society and it was uplifting
to be here to meet the
people who participate
in the project and those
who donate their time to
running it.”
Gang violence is
prevalent in this area of
South Bronx. The main
work of the project is
to keep children out of
gangs and on track with
positive alternatives. The
support of the Laureus
has also enabled the
project to start working
with abused women,
teaching them jiu-jitsu for
self-defence.
The Peres Center for Peace project’s busy year
culminated in a momentous Peace Match, on 26
December in Andalucia, Spain between a mixed
Palestinian-Israeli Peace Team and a Andalucia XI.
Significantly for the Middle East project, which aims
to break down religious barriers, the match took
place in the historic city of Seville. The city’s history
witnessed the fusion of the three monotheistic
religions, all who lived together peacefully under
Muslim rule for some 500 years.
The Andalucia team, which won 3-1, included
Reyes and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanito
(Real Betis) and Jesus Navas (Seville). Maccabi
Haifa star Abbas Suan played alongside a selection
of Palestinian soccer players from the Palestinian
Authority, and along with Israel’s former star
player Chaim Revivo and Dudu Awat who plays for
Spain’s Deportivo. The Peace Team was coached
by Abraham Grant, Technical Advisor for England’s
Portsmouth, and Guy Levy and Jamal Hadada.
The Peres Center for Peace and the Al Quds
Association for Democracy and Dialogue joined
forces in forming a delegation of Palestinian and
Israeli government members, political affiliates,
sports personalities and soccer players, all of whom
traveled to Seville in support of regional peace.
Vice Premier of Israel Shimon Peres proudly kicked
off the Peace Match alongside Former National
Security Advisor to the PA President and Member
of Fatah Committee Jibril Rajoub, President of
the Israeli Football Federation Itzhak Menachem,
former Israeli soccer prodigy Mordechai Shpigler and
FIFA Executive Committee Member and ex-French
international soccer star Michel Platini.
The four players representing Seenigama regularly play volleyball competitions back at home supported by Laureus. In Jersey they competed against 12 other teams in a weekend-long competition, playing in 10 matches. Despite one of them having a mild case of chicken pox and one having a not-entirely healed sprained ankle they won all of their matches and pulled through an extremely close final to come out as champions. This is the first time that three of the team had ever been on a plane, let alone travel as far as the UK, so it’s no surprise that the team were treated to a heroes’ welcome when they returned home.
On the soccer field, peace is possibleSEVILLE PEACE MATCH, DECEMBER 2006
Fight BackLAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBER MARTINA NAVRATILOVA VISITS THE FIGHT BACK PROJECT.
Digging deepA BEACH VOLLEYBALL TEAM REPRESENTING THE SEENIGAMA SPORTS PROGRAMME IN SRI LANKA BEAT 12 OTHER TEAMS IN A COMPETITION IN THE UK.
PROJECT REPORTS
www. laureus .com33
A boxing team consisting of fighters
from Brazil and boys from across
Belfast combined for a unique boxing
tournament at the Holy Family Gym,
North Belfast in 2006.
The team fought an All Star
Selection from the English Midlands,
managed by Birmingham’s Frank
O’Sullivan at the Laureus Fight for
Peace Night.
The Lord Mayor of Belfast hosted a
special dinner for the teams after the
weigh-ins at City Hall, Belfast.
The Laureus Fight for Peace event,
supported by the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation, was initiated
at Laureus World Sports Awards in
Portugal 2005, where Belfast’s Gerry
Storey received the Laureus Sport for
Good Award for his services to sport
and the community.
Also attending the event was Laureus
project leader Luke Dowdney, an
inspirational community worker who
has pioneered research into youth
gang violence and created the Luta
Pela Paz (Fight for Peace) project in
Rio de Janeiro’s Complexo do Mare.
At the project they use a combination
of boxing, citizenship classes and
educational activity to lure young people
away from the all-pervasive influence
of the local drug cartels. Dowdney was
recognised by the Queen two years ago,
aged 31, and awarded the MBE for his
work in Brazil, and Luta Pela Paz has
become one of the Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation’s flagship projects.
“Fight for Peace is a sanctuary
amidst an area where drug trafficking
and organised armed violence
dominate,” said Dowdney, whose
young fighters constantly live among
the fear of machine gun street battles
between rival factions and police.
The Intensive Sport and Life Programme pilot project in the East London borough Newham was held from 10 September until 3 December 2006. The programme was a partnership between three organisations: Community Links, British Milers Club, and Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
The aim of the project was to offer a programme to youth that are on the verge of getting into trouble either in school or on the streets and to help and motivate them to aim higher. The strategy underlying the project is one of prevention, diversion and education in a large variety of life skills.
The project uses intensive sports training, with a focus on athletics, and professional coaching in combination with a large number of contact hours with youth workers to produce behavioural change among the target population. It also has an indirect impact on the families of participants through their
involvement in the programme. Fourteen members of the Newham Youth
Inclusion Programme participated in this project, through which they learned how to lead a healthier life, manage their own time, work in a team towards common objectives, and dedicate time and effort to achieving their own personal goals. The commitment required from the participants was considerable but the rewards were obvious to everyone, not least their schoolteachers, their parents and to themselves.
The project culminated in a Community Mile – with just under 100 participants – organised by the participants themselves. This taught them organisational and teamwork skills as well as providing them with an opportunity to give back to the community. Through this event they were seen as leaders among their peers, boosting their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Boys from Brazil (and Belfast)BOXERS FROM BRAZIL AND BELFAST COMBINED TO FORM A LAUREUS TEAM IN THE LAUREUS FIGHT FOR PEACE EVENT.
Community MilePILOT PROGRAMME IN EAST LONDON IS A BIG SUCCESS.
www. laureus .com 34
“Sport has the power to change the
world,” declared Nelson Mandela at
the Laureus World Sports Awards in
2000. Nowhere is this more apparent
than in the many Laureus Sport for
Good Foundation projects around the
world.
Mandela no doubt had people
such as Michael Johnson in mind
when making his speech. Johnson
was the ultimate vision of speed on
the athletics track – he still holds two
world records that have yet to be
beaten – and is an inspiration to young
people everywhere. Johnson said, on
the other hand, “Mandela inspired
people like me.” Which just goes to
show that even people at the top of
their field need someone to look up to
for inspiration.
Tennis champion Ilie Nastase
recognises the importance of finding
inspiration in the people around you.
“My biggest challenge in life has been
to be number one like other sporting
greats I saw around me. There were
times when I wasn’t sure of getting
there but my passion and love of
tennis allowed me to enjoy the game
along the way, and I had fun doing it,”
he said.
The pure enjoyment of sport is
a crucial factor many sport stars
acknowledge. The global influence of
sport is another. “Sport is probably the
only language everybody understands,”
said Nastase. “When you talk sport, it
doesn’t matter which language you’re
speaking; people understand you. I’ve
seen proof of this in the Laureus Sport
for Good Foundation projects around
the world. As Laureus World Sports
Academy members we believe that
each child in the world has the right
to play sport. We take time to give
back to children around the world by
inspiring them through sport.”
Monica Seles didn’t have the luxury
of watching Wimbledon or the French
Open on TV for inspiration, as so
many youngsters do these days. Her
father was a tennis champion and he
inspired and nurtured her. “My father
was a good athlete and was my main
inspiration,” she said. “At the age of
12 I started winning tournaments and
realised that I had a talent for tennis.
I started playing professionally at age
14 and it was then that I realised I
was good at something and that my
love for the game might be more than
just a hobby.” Seles believes that no
matter the level at which you play, you
will learn valuable lessons. “Sport in
general teaches you teamwork, self-
confidence, discipline and so much
more that go beyond the realm of
sport. Young people should really pick
any sport they enjoy playing, that is
the key.”
Seles also acknowledges the
difference in attitude towards sport
depending on where you live, “In the
US there is so much emphasis on the
glitz and the glamour of sport, and
high expectations are created of what
you should become one day. There
are wonderful opportunities to get
a great education and a job within
sport without becoming a professional
player. Sport also gives you tools with
which to tackle the rest of your life. I
think it’s important to only play sport
if you love it. You should follow your
passion, whatever it is – be it arts or
science or anything else.”
Laureus World Sports Academy
Chairman Edwin Moses never really
thought of himself as a sportsman
while growing up and also didn’t
have any steady role models. He
acknowledged, however, “There were
some inspirations which any 10-year-
old could not have failed to notice
at the time, such as athlete Tommy
Smith and boxer Muhammad Ali who
achieved things that I will remember
for the rest of my life.
“Ongoing commitment is important
if you want to achieve greatness,”
Moses said. “I put in the same
amount of work and discipline into
my athletics career – from my teenage
years right through to when I went to
the Olympics in 1976. I always had a
professional approach to my training
and looked at it from a serious point of
view,” he said. “The way I saw it then,
I was the horse and the jockey: I rode
and I was ridden. This self-discipline
has kept me going outside of sport.
When I involve myself in something,
I like to do it with the same passion
that I did with my sports training,
Since retiring from professional
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS ACADEMY MEMBERS TALK ABOUT WHAT INSPIRES THEM AND HOW THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THE POWER OF SPORT. GRANT SCHREIBER REPORTS.
The inspiration of sport
sport, my work for Laureus has
become something I have engaged in
passionately.” Moses believes sport is
a great equaliser, something everyone
has in common and something to be
enjoyed by everyone.
Rugby legend Morné du Plessis
was blessed with parents who inspired
him to achieve greatness in sport
– especially his father. As a boy he
saw the respect his father got from
being a national sporting hero (he
captained South Africa) and wanted
to be like him one day. His father,
though, realised that motivation has to
come from inside each person. “Even
though he achieved greatness he never
tried to pressure me into achieving
what he had accomplished. Ambition
was never discussed with my parents.
They led by example,” said Du Plessis.
“I was inspired by athletes such as
Muhammad Ali, Edwin Moses and
Daley Thompson who I admire for their
consistency and sporting genius, and
who had also inspired a generation of
young people.”
Du Plessis stopped playing rugby
at a time when sport in South Africa
became more than just the game
– with politics playing a big part in
the sport. He said, “I felt the need
to re-motivate myself and train as
I had when I first felt passionate
about playing rugby. I also wanted to
transfer this passion to something else
– something I managed to do quickly.
Once you’re motivated in a field such
as sport, you transfer that passion very
easily to other occupations – in my
case doing the work of the Laureus
Sport for Good Foundation around the
world, among other things.”
“I believe that every child is a
better human being when given the
opportunity to partake in some form of
physical activity. Sport teaches valuable
lessons such as discipline, sharing,
learning to lose and, at best, an
opportunity to travel and meet people
you would normally never meet. Sport
breaks down racial barriers and gives
us an opportunity to judge ourselves to
see how we react under pressure. Sport
can build a nation,” says Du Plessis.
Physical strength and training is only
one part of becoming successful says
Du Plessis, “A big mental challenge
in sport is not to become crippled by
the fear of losing. The importance of
winning – especially in a team sport
– can put huge pressure on you as a
player to perform. You can become
almost overwhelmed by the fear of
losing. Try to not take the game too
personally and do your best to shake
off the weight of expectation which
can effect your performance.”
The Laureus World Sports Academy
has become the ultimate “world
sports team”, encompassing athletes
from across the spectrum of sport.
Who could have guessed that the 44
members of this team – who each
drew inspiration from their peers at the
height of their sporting careers – would
in turn inspire a child soldier in Sierra
Leone, a physically disadvantaged
wheelchair athlete in Italy, an HIV-
positive child in Uganda or a struggling
immigrant teenager in France?
Perhaps Laureus World Sports
Academy vice-chairperson Nawal El
Moutawakel sums it up best: “When
you are part of a team you say ‘we’
and not ‘I.’ ”
www. laureus .com35
The pure enjoyment of sport is a crucial factor many sport stars acknowledge. The global influence of sport is another. “Sport is probably the only language everybody understands,” said Nastase. “When you talk sport, it doesn’t matter which language you’re speaking; people understand you. I’ve seen proof of this in the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects around the world.”
Opposite: Morné du Plessis is carried off the field after a 1980 Test Match. Top (clockwise): Edwin Moses clears a hurdle in 1989; Ilie Nastase at Wimbledon, 1975; Monica Seles during the 1989 Wimbledon Championships.
Speed ace Valentino Rossi teamed up with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation at a recent DTM testing day in Hockenheim, wearing the Foundation’s marque as part of his livery.
The multiple world champion on two wheels impressed with consistently fast lap times in Mika Häkkinen’s 2006 AMG-Mercedes C-Class.
Last year, the 27 year old Rossi received the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award from the Laureus Academy.
For this king of speed no doubt it won’t be his only appearance on the Laureus stage.
THE BIG PICTUREValentino Rossi
For donations to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation cheques can be made out and posted to: Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, 460 Fulham Road, London SW6 1BZFor general enquiries please e-mail [email protected]
Editorial Director: David ButlerNewsletter enquiries: Emma ChesworthTel: +44 (0) 20 7514 2730e-mail: [email protected]
This is the official newsletter of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was established by the Founding Patrons of Laureus, DaimlerChrysler and Richemont in partnership with the Laureus World Sports Academy as an innovative charitable venture. The Foundation is financed by the two Founding Patrons and their designated brands, Founding Partners Mercedes-Benz and IWC Schaffhausen.
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