Fostering Equity

Beyond the Game holds an annual football tournament in Kilifi County, Kenya, dubbed the Esse Akida Foundation Tournament, which leverages the power of play to highlight and address critical issues facing severely marginalized youth in the coastal region of Kenya and beyond.

About Esse Akida

Our Focus Areas

Personal Development

Beyond the Scoreboard

Our annual tournament serves as a hub for life skills training, focusing on teamwork, leadership, communication, building community, and financial literacy. It incorporates workshops that foster self-awareness, build confidence, enhance critical thinking and enable young people to navigate challenges more effectively and make healthier life choices.

Education

Beyond the Blackboard

Teachers are influential figures in helping children pursue sports. They identify and nurture potential talent. We thus continually work with physical education teachers and school-based coaches to connect talented students with opportunities and resources to further their athletic development and support their overall well-being.

Access to Sports

Beyond the Sidelines

Parents are the primary enablers in ensuring children can exercise their right to play. We support parents to embrace the power of play and advocate for equitable access to sports. We have forums for open dialogue on the fears parents have about having a sporting child, such as injuries, abuse and exploitation.

Menstrual Rights

Beyond the Flow

We weave menstrual support and education into our annual tournament, providing a wider, mixed-gender audience with a forum to address the stigma around menstrual health. It also provides pathways to distribute menstrual hygiene products and reinforce the message that menstruation should not be a barrier to physical activity.

Minority Rights

Beyond the Sidelines

We leverage the unique collective environment of sports to challenge discriminatory norms, address the deeply entrenched root causes of systematic inequality, and build collective agency. We particularly seek ways to empower severely marginalized individuals to actively advocate for policy changes that dismantle discriminatory practices, promote a shared humanity and support resource-constrained communities for a more equitable future.

Participating Teams Per Year

Footballers Reached Annually

Support Our Work

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Join us in closing the opportunities gap in severely marginalised communities in Coastal Kenya and beyond.

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