By Gavin Hollett

We are very excited to report that Play Soccer So They Can successfully launched this past year with participants from all over North America. From a pick up game by medical students at Queens University in Ontario ($100 raised) to a full scale tournament in Hollywood, California (over $500 raised), many people came together to play soccer so that war affected youth in northern Uganda can too. (The group in LA even produced a video, check it out here)

Although some groups that wanted to participate were unable to for various reasons, the Play Soccer So They Can community raised over $2,600 and continues to do so. Over the holidays, a grade 12 student in Victoria, BC, ran a soccer camp for younger students in her school to build support for soccer-based peacebuilding.  Additionally, a former University of Kentucky men’s player hosted a game this weekend in Richmond for soccer players wanting to support the youth in northern Uganda — they raised over $800 (pushing the total over $3,000)!

(students from Queen’s medical school after their game — credits to C. Newcombe)

Some of the other participating teams/games in 2009 were:

• Gordon Head Blazers (Victoria, BC)
• Bays United U14 Girls Team (Victoria, BC)
• Bays United Over 30 Women’s Team (Victoria, BC)
• University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Women’s varsity soccer team
• NorthShore U14 Girls Caps (Vancouver)
• Richmond Men’s Premier Teams — Dragons vs. Ante Up (Vancouver, BC)
• Mall of America LUSH (Minnesota)
• University of Alberta Men’s soccer team in a game vs UVic Vikes (Edmonton, Alberta) — 1st recorded event
• Bays United Mens Div 1 (Victoria, BC)
• Boys and Girls Club (Nanaimo, BC)
• Cordova Bay Men’s team (Victoria, BC)

The funds raised by your collective efforts will be put to use during a 4-month project expansion in northern Uganda this year. Between April and July, OA will be working with our partner, the Youth Coalition for Peace, to continue to help establish a locally driven peacebuilding framework that connects war affected youth with local youth leaders to play soccer and to discuss important post-conflict issues related to community reintegration, peacebuilding and gender equity. The full project expansion proposal is available now here.

Click here for a short video that will give you a visual of how your funds will make an impact on the ground, during the upcoming project.

More photos and updates will come in the next few days as will more information about Play Soccer So They Can’s plans for 2010 and our budding partnership with a large youth soccer association in Vancouver, Canada.

A huge thanks to all who participated and helped kick start the community.

The first look into OA’s Project Uganda, created by our friends at the Vancouver Film School:

Hi Friends and Family!

I wanted to let you all know about a cool and tangible gift.

After much anticipation, Opportunitas Aequa (OA) has just launched a new line of t-shirts called the “1 for 1 tees”.  For every t-shirt sold, OA guarantees that a soccer ball will be donated to a local program helping at-risk and war affected children. For the next 3 months, any 1 for 1 tees sold represent soccer balls going to war-torn Northern Uganda in April (pics of the balls in action will be posted on our site).

We are launching this line of shirts in time for Christmas so that you can not only provide a gift for someone you know but also for a child in need. 

The t-shirts (made from 100% organic materials) come in 2 designs and are $34 each.

Also, for $60 dollars, you can get a package that includes: a t-shirt of your choice, an OA Calendar and the guarantee that a ball gets donated (there are only 20 of these packages available).

The t-shirts and calendar packages are available online, at our shop: http://shopoa.bigcartel.com/products
Or, if you live in Victoria, you can also get the t-shirts at HTO on Broad St.

If you are having any difficulty please send an email to theoashop@gmail.com and we will get back to you right away.

We have limited #’s of these shirts available and we are hoping to sell all of them by Dec 21st.

Many thanks in advance for your support and also to those who have already purchased shirts. Your purchase will directly impact the lives of children who have been affected by war!

Best wishes!

Gavin (for the OA Team)

p.s. Please pass on this msg to your friends and family and/or post it on your Facebook profile. The success of these projects is only possible with your support. thanks!

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OA is very excited to announce the creation of a preliminary online shop aimed at not only providing a tangible way for people to support its projects but also providing consumers with a product that has both high ethical and quality standards. 100% of the proceeds from the sales at the OA shop go directly to help facilitate OA’s projects — both abroad and locally.

For now, the OA shop consists of an assortment of OA t-shirts and select photos from our most recent projects in Rwanda and Ecuador.

The OA Shirts are available in two general categories:

1) a brand new line of 100% organic cotton shirts, with original OA designs, manufactured in a sweatshop-free environment;

2) past OA designs from our fundraisers and soccer camps, which are available at a discounted price.

The new line of shirts comes in a variety of colours and are also available at HTO Sun Surf and Swimwear, on Broad Street, in Victoria.

The shirts are screened locally, in Victoria, by Incite Screening Company (we should also note that they have given OA a significantly discounted price allowing a greater % of the retail cost to go to OA’s “groundwork”, overseas and in BC), and the stock is from American Apparel’s organic line of shirts.

Furthermore, for every project, OA will illustrate what the funds raised from the OA Shop specifically contributed to the project. From number of soccer balls to the % of an Eco-friendly field re-construction, those who bought something from the OA Shop will know how much of a collective impact they had.

Also, if you have specific questions about the shop or if you want to get more involved with the Shop, then please email OA’s Andrew Brownlee at brownleeandrew@gmail.com

Everyone at OA is very excited about the shop, and we are asking everyone in the OA community to spread the word about it and about our shirts in HTO.

Many thanks!

The OA Team.

You can support OA through volunteering (we always need help!), donations, and sponsorship.

For more information, click on the appropriate link:

- volunteer with OA

- donate to OA

- sponsor OA