It has long been recognised that football can be a powerful tool in bringing people together, and one of the most effective ways that FARE has been achieving this over the last few years has been through the use of the mobile ‘Streetkick’ game.
Streetkick was first developed by the Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD) project in Sheffield in 2002, when one of their project volunteers built a mobile wooden pitch to take out on to the streets of Sheffield to get young people to play together. Since that time, Streetkick has developed into an inflatable mobile game that has been used at major tournaments across Europe including Euro 2004 in Portugal, Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland and the World Cup in Germany in 2006, to help engage fans, local residents and ethnic minority communities.
It is hoped that the presence of Streetkick at Euro 2012 will have a positive impact on the interaction between fans and help to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere, and to reduce tension between fans of differing national groups.
As well as the chance for fans and the local community to come together to play football, the mobile game also provides an opportunity for FURD and FARE volunteers to distribute materials and messages, such as the Football Unites fanzine that supports other anti- discrimination activities.
During Euro 2012, for the first time FURD will be managing two Streetkick games, one based in Poland and one based in Ukraine.
Poland
8th – 12th June Warsaw Fan Camp
14th – 16th June Krakow FanZone
18th June Malta Lake Funzone/Poznan
19th June Poznan FanZone
Ukraine
11th June
Kiev (10.00-15.00) before Ukraine v Sweden, close to main Fanzone
15th June
Kiev (10.00-15.00) before England v Sweden, close to main Fanzone
19th June
Kiev (10.00-15.00) before Sweden v France, close to main Fanzone
