Empowering Young Soccer Leaders — New York City FC, Manchester City and Etihad Airways Team Up
As part of Manchester City’s global community work, over 70 young leaders from 18 cities around the world traveled to City Football Academy in Manchester. The young leaders took part in a week-long summit offering cutting-edge training in community soccer leadership.
New York City Football Club along with sister club Manchester City Football Club and Etihad Airways joined forces to develop young leaders who are battling social issues in their communities through the power of soccer.
Cityzens Giving campaign empowers fans to support community football projects in cities around the world.
Returning for its fourth year, the Cityzens Giving Young Leaders Summit welcomed more than 70 young leaders from Manchester City’s global network of community projects to Manchester’s state of the art training facility, City Football Academy on the Etihad Campus.
The week-long program saw leaders from 18 global cities participate in a variety of classroom and pitch-based workshops to equip them with the skills and confidence to deliver life-changing community soccer sessions in their local communities.
On the final day, the young leaders put all their newly developed skills and knowledge into practice as they organized and delivered a soccer festival for over 200 school children from the local area.
As the official summit partner, Etihad Airways helped connect young leaders from 10 cities around the world by flying them to Manchester to join their fellow peers for the summit.
For several leaders, this was their first experience of international travel.
Six young leaders traveled to Manchester representing New York–Kwame King and Diana Salinas from Brooklyn, Ebrahim Conte representing the Bronx, Yasmin Sanchez from Queens, and Brady Molina and Jose Silvano Candia from Manhattan.
Returning leaders from New York, Melbourne, Beijing, Bandung, Kolkata, Sao Paulo and Mexico City traveled to the Manchester for an intensive training program as they prepared to co-deliver the summit with coaches from Manchester City’s foundation, City in the Community.
The group, aged between 16-30 years old, are currently delivering community soccer projects addressing a range of social issues affecting young people, including gang crime, substance abuse, HIV / AIDS, obesity and creating safe spaces for children to play soccer.
“We are extremely proud that our community footprint continues to grow and develop every year both here in Manchester and across the globe,” said Omar Berrada, Chief Operating Officer for Manchester City FC.
“The Young Leaders Summit epitomizes how soccer can be used to tackle a range of social issues and bring people together,” said Berrada. “We are delighted to be working with Etihad Airways, SHB, SAP and Nexen Tire to connect our young leaders and give them the opportunity to share their experiences and develop new skills.
“Using the Club’s community philosophy and years of coaching experience, we are privileged to be able to equip the young leaders with the tools they need to go out and deliver life-changing projects back home in their local communities,” added Berrada.
“Etihad Airways is committed to contributing to, and connecting, communities around the world,” said Dr. Nadia Bastaki, Vice President, Medical Services & CSR, Etihad Airways,
“We are honored to be able to fly young leaders from all over the world into Manchester, so they can be part of the Cityzens Giving Young Leader Summit. This is another example of how the power of football can be used to address a wide range of social issues and give young people new opportunities and a brighter future,” said Bastaki.
Source: NYCFC Press Release
