FUNDaFIELD - A word about a wonderful sponsor.

Sport Court® To Ignite Social Change in Northern Uganda

Sport Court Teams Up With Global Youth Partnership, Street Soccer USA, When High School Students in Danville, California, raise funds to build soccer fields for Kids in Uganda

Gulu District, Northern Uganda February 27, 2009 -- The Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA), a non-profit organization in the United States, with an office in Uganda, and Sport Court®, the industry leader in modular athletic flooring for over 35 years, have teamed up to bring the first Street Soccer Pitch to the Gulu District, a region that experienced more than 22 years of war, in Northern Uganda.

This venture was made possible by the efforts of FUNDaFIELD, a non-profit organization started by high-school students in Danville, California, that raised the money to build the two soccer fields in Uganda with GYPA.

GYPA is the organizer and manager of Uganda's Homeless World Cup team, which since 2006 has brought young homeless and displaced women and men to the international tournament in Cape Town, Copenhagen and Melbourne.

"Sports can bring social change and help create and enhance life in communities across Uganda. GYPA is thrilled to work with such a stellar group of public and private sector partners," said Jeremy M. Goldberg, GYPA Founder.

Anna Phillips, GYPA Program Coordinator in Uganda said, "The Street Soccer Pitch in Uganda will enable more training and new opportunity for GYPA's all-women's team who will represent Uganda at this year's Female Homeless World Cup in Milan, Italy." She continued, "It is our hope that the larger community, and world will realize the power of sports based solutions to social change."

The pitch will be shipped to Uganda the first week of March, and installation is set to be completed by May 2009. Following installation, try-outs and selection for Uganda's Women's Homeless World Cup team will take place, followed-by an official ceremonial tournament featuring members of FUNDaFIELD and Uganda's Homeless World Cup team Alumni.

Lawrence Cann, Founder and CEO of Street Soccer USA, said "We are pleased to be a sponsor for Uganda's street soccer programs that support the displaced and homeless of Northern Uganda. We recognize that our well being is interdependent, and congratulate our brothers and sisters in Uganda and in GYPA for all they have accomplished.

In addition, Africa Sports Outreach International is also donating jerseys and uniforms for the upcoming soccer tournaments that are slated to take place this summer in Uganda, following the construction of the soccer pitch.

Ron Cerny, President and CEO of Connor Sport Court International, said the company is proud of its continuing involvement in sports around the world.

"We have watched individuals and communities grow as the result of the installation of Sport Court surfaces. Just this past year we have installed new Sport Court facilities all over the world--on building roofs in New Delhi, in small towns in Haiti, in Malaysia, on South American beaches . . .we even installed 36 Sport Court surfaces in a single town in Romania. This is in addition to our leading position in sports surfaces here in the U. S. It is gratifying to watch the outpouring of community response wherever Sport Court is installed, whether it's for soccer, futsal, basketball or other sports," Cerny said. "We are happy to be a part of bringing sporting opportunities to people who would otherwise not have access to a safe, high performing playing surface."

The Global Youth Partnership for Africa was established in 2003, and founded by Jeremy M. Goldberg and Joseph Kaliisa-Bagambaki. GYPA aims to cultivate the skill-sets of youth who are changemakers in their community so they can improve health and wellness, economic opportunity and long-term, positive change in their country. GYPA programs encourage sport for social change, cultural exchange, peer-to-peer education, women's empowerment, entrepreneurialism and leadership. For more information visit: http://www.gypafrica.org/

About Connor Sport Court International

More athletic events are played on Connor Sport Court surfaces than on any other sports flooring in the world. Connor sports floors have established themselves as the standard for professional and collegiate sports since the company was founded in 1872. Sport Court® is a registered trade mark of Connor Sport Court International. Since 1974, it has identified the original and authentic modular sport surface, continuously improved and patented to provide the highest levels of quality and performance.

For more information visit: http://www.sportcourt.com/

Phone Jeff Morton, 801-712-6411

FUNDaFIELD is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations, run by kids, dedicated to enriching the lives of less fortunate youth in Africa through sports. Our goal is to provide soccer fields and equipment to African schools. For more information visit: http://www.fundafield.org/

Street Soccer USA

Street Soccer USA (SSUSA) utilizes soccer as a toolfor intervention, education, and empowerment among the homeless in the United States. Our purpose is to harness the power of sport to help the homeless "move off the sidelines of life" and into self-sufficient living. It is also our mission to engage the broader public in the issue of homelessness in new ways, humanizing the issue and changing negative attitudes, stigmas, and stereotypes about who the homeless are and what they need.

For more information: www.communityworks945.org/StreetSoccerUSA

About Africa Sports Outreach International, Founded by Paul Goodrich a former All-American soccer player and coach, is a non-profit organization that helps kids create a more positive image of themselves in their communities. ASO does this by facilitating sports equipment donations. For more information: www.asointernational.org

We Made It!

I was home with not enough time to settle, but to become familiarized. With the next skip and hop i am standing in front of the check in for Continental Airlines to begin my 28 hours of sitting, trying to sleep sitting and hauling luggage from one terminal to another. As you can see in the pics below we have successfully packed all of the wonderful donations. At check in we were asked if we were moving to Uganda due to our mass amount of luggage :) Matt and I flew Seattle-Newark-Amsterdam-Entebbe. Our driver Max picked us up at the Enttebbe airport and said "Welcome to Uganda, you are now swimming in a sea of black people."

We drove into Kampala in the dark. I can say that driving felt like an intense game of leap frog. And don't get caught leaping for too long or the on coming traffic well blast you then Game Over! I didn't know that people drive on the left side in Uganda. I continued to have a moment of panic when we would jerk to the left to avoid traffic because my initial reaction was OMG we are on the wrong side of the road!!

Max loved his music, he was jamming all the way to our hostel. Where he got into a tiff with the security guard at the Red Chilli Hostel. The security guard asked Max to turn down his music (Thriller, Michale Jackson) and Max reacted by turning is car around pointing now at the guard and turned up his beats. As Matt and I were placing our luggage into storage we watch our driver and the security guard get into a quarrel. The guard was now fining the driver and wouldn't open the gate for him till he paid. Max was having none of it and refused to pay. I know eventually Max got out, but I'm not sure which side won.

I woke up the next morning to a rain storm that rolled in with a couple claps of thunder then after 10-15 mins, poof gone. sun came out and everything was pleasant. A chicken came in during the Storm to take shelter on one of the dorm beds. I heard the day before the same chicken came and laid an egg on one of the beds.

I am amazed from the 2 days I have been here, I have not witnesses a signal person smoking cigarettes. hmmmm.... I know people do, but I can't believe i have not seen it. Makes my day more pleasant.

The people here wear vibrant colors, could be that it stands out tremendously from the contrast of their skin. It is beautiful here and greener then I though it would be. I saw the gigantic ugly vultures too, ewwwww.

Cheers to another adventure. Pics coming straight from Uganda will be posted soon! :)

Oh Firewire!

A girl like me is not savvy with electronics, so let me tell you I feel that I have learned a lot. Who would of thought uploading images from a camcorder to computer could be tricky. For a few days I spent hours trying to get digital imaging using a good 'ol USB cord. After spending 30 mins on hold with Panasonic, I am told I need to be using a Firewire Chord. First I learned that there is difference between Firewire and USB. I found and purchased a Firewire chord and was so excited to plug in only to find that the Female end didn't fit to either the computer or Camcorder. The male end fit perfectly on both sides, hmmmmmm, I went out to the stores again and discovered there is Ieee 1394 4 pin to 6 pin and Ieee 1394 4 pin to 4 pin. so I bought the wrong sized cable! Luckily I have heard there are adaptors, searched 2 stores then finally found the adaptor I wanted. This adaptor saved me $30. Also keep in mind there is a port especially made for firewire, DON'T try and jam it in the USB port you will break it. If you head is spinning then you know how I felt when I was trying to get all my ducks in a row simply over a silly firewire.

With all this aside, I have the pre-departure jitters. I am really excited to have all of the donations packed and now I only need to pack my own things.

The Number s Are In

In the neatly packed bags below you will find:

211 Jerseys

75 Pairs of Socks

64 Pairs of Shorts

15 Pairs of Cleats

13 Soccer Balls

What an Amazing display of generosity! Thanks to everybody who has contributed to this stockpile!

We're off this Saturday, bright and early at 7:30 am. Meaning, it is likely we'll be at the airport by 4:30. Something tells me a nap on the plane will come easily.

Matt

3, 2.. and Packing

4 Days, UPS and a Firewire Cable

4 days to go and we're still working hard. Today, our friendly UPS delivery man dropped off 3 more boxes of uniforms. I haven't counted the exact number, but I'm confident in saying we're gonna have about 150 decked out players sportin' some fly digs while planying for the trophy!

Also, I went in search of a firewire cable today and came as close as the wrong size connector! The silver lining of this story is that I now know of 4 stores that ALMOST have what we need. So, I'll go in search of one again tomorrow.

With tomorrow in mind, I'd like to inform you all that Margaret and I will be picking up ANOTHER package of goods. A very generous donation of equipment has been arranged by our friend Andy's father. He is the coach of a local soccer team. His players and their families have made this contribution to the players of Uganda. If you are one of these players, one of their family members, or supported this effort in any other way, thank you. I wish you all could be there when these items will be delivered. For people that have so little, a gesture like this enables them to enjoy the game you love so much more. If any of you would like to contact any of the players, coaches, or families you're helping let us know and we'll do our best to either connect you or to communicate your message and send their response.

Thanks everybody!
Matt

5 Days Until Our Plane Says Adios!

Perhaps it was the weather, maybe it was the fact that I finally have an mp3 player at work, but the anticipatory stress I've been feeling lately took a day off. Whew! Today's progress consisted of cleaning my room in order to find the items I may take with me. This is the earliest I've ever started packing for a trip and I see why people like to do it - pack early that is. I think it's because IT MAKES SENSE! It's a big relief to have what you'll need tucked away nicely in a corner days before you leave. It gives you time to consider the necessity of what you have as well as of the things you haven't set aside.

So far, it looks like we'll be taking 3 cameras with us, two camcorders, an external hard drive, 2 mp3 players, batteries, books, clothes, balls, equipment, and a whole lot of ambition, hope, and... well, there's gonna be something we haven't thought of yet.

5 Days. 4 Tomorrow. 3 the next day. Then 2. The night before. The morning of and Adios.

This is gonna be a good one. Thanks for following along!

Matt