News article
ESPN’s Built to Play initiative sees football pitch opened in Makoko, Nigeria
A new football pitch has been opened in the Makoko area of Lagos, Nigeria, as part of ESPN's Built to Play initiative, and serves a community of nearly 100,000 people where there is no other pitch.
Makoko is an informal settlement in Lagos, and is built largely on stilts, as one third of the impoverished area is built over Lagos lagoon. A common method of transportation is by canoe, and the primary industry is fishing, leaving very little space for sports fields.
In collaboration with Kick4Life, Slum2School, and Love.futbol, the first-in-Africa facility will serve the 3 000 learners of the school upon whose premises it is built, as well as the surrounding community.
The initiative provides not only sports courts for play, but holistic support that empowers the local community and provides jobs skills and life-skills training to enable young people to have a more positive future.
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