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New Year, New Cheer! Clinics for Counsellors, Coaches, and Kids in KwaZulu Natal

New Year, New Cheer Clinics for Counsellors, Coaches, and Kids in KwaZulu Natal
TRIAD will be heading back to KwaZulu Natal, South Africa in January 2019 to partner with football-focused HIV education non-profit WhizzKids United to lead a series of coaching and counselling clinics.

Former US National Team midfielder Lori Lindsey and current NWSL defender and NCAA Champion Brooke Elby will be leading two trainings, both of which are designed to help WKU become more sustainable, less dependent on outside funding sources, and more supportive of gender equity and LGBT equality.

Brooke Elby will lead the training of nine psycho-social support counsellors who also happen to be top-notch soccer coaches for the Edendale, KwaZulu Natal-based organization. Brooke will work to certify these coaches as private training coaches, who will then develop an income-generating private coaching program that will serve higher-income communities around the district around Edendale. This training system is used to train several members of the US National teams, athletes in the English Premier League, and other top-tier European and US clubs. What a fabulous opportunity for the young football players around Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital city. Of course, this income-generating initiative will complement WKU's existing development efforts and improve the quality of WKU's own teams, but it will also serve as an additional income-generating opportunity for the individual coaches. Kids, counsellors, and our partners at WKU all win! Nothing like living our motto: Train to Sustain!

In addition to supporting Brooke Elby with the coaches' training system clinic, World Cup and Olympic veteran Lori Lindsey will be working directly with participants in WKU's Girls' Empowerment Program and LGBT support groups, and training the facilitators of those groups. Lori is an active advocate for and champion of gender equity and LGBT equality. She is an ambassador for Athlete Ally and played in an all-women's soccer match atop Mt. Kilmanjaro to bring attention to issues of women's access to sports.