Football used as an incentive to think about education, inclusion, autonomy, respect to diversity and collective construction. This is the main objective of Open Game – Football for Hope, a project developed by Fundação Gol de Letra and supported by FIFA. It is formed by two teams, one in Rio de Janeiro, with members of the program entitled “Two Touches”, and another one in São Paulo, with participants of the Open Game Program. This action counts on the participation of 60 teenagers, between 12 and 17 years of age.

Football for Hope´ premise is focused on practicing different formats of football, updating and spreading the educational sports´ methodology embedded in this project, in order to inspire more people and more organizations to use sports practice as a tool to promote integration, education and development in the Country.

In 2015 the highlight of Football for Hope happened in November, when young people from  Vila Albertina (SP) and Caju (RJ) met at Sesc Nogueira, in the highlands of Rio de Janeiro State, and had two days of intense integration. The opportunity to experience some integration days and putting in practice what they learned during the year represented a higher incentive to the children. The meeting´s objective is to debate several themes related to football, besides promoting games between the teams.

 “I enjoyed the Festival very much, I had the opportunity to play football a lot! I made new friends and visited another State, something I had not imagined I would do, I went to Rio de Janeiro.”

Marcelo Ferreira, 12 years old, 6th grade, 4 years in Fundação Gol de Letra

 “There were few girls in this trip. I was a bit nervous in the beginning, but after the bus travel to Rio de Janeiro I fortunately got to know everybody. I will always remember the opportunity that Fundação Gol de Letra gave us. In summary, we played a lot of football and made new friends.”

ThaynaraTamires, 14 years old, 8th grade, 6 years in Fundação Gol de Letra

In order to align the methodology and the educational practices, Fundação Gol de Letra promotes a biannual Sports and Integral Education Forum, getting together the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo´s professionals.The meeting´s purpose is keeping the two Units close to each other.

In December 2015, the second edition of the Forum took place in Rio de Janeiro, counting on the participation of 52 collaborators. The edition´s themes, taken from the Institution´s strategical planning, focused on sensible issues that demand attention, different perspectives, and the global assessment of the present work contexts of Fundação Gol de Letra.

The Forum´s main objectives are the experience exchange between the Units, the development of a methodology to work with educational sports, the alignment concerning the constant systemization of social/educational work practices via sports, the collective construction, the professional growth of the involved technical team.

Fundação Gol de Letra is constantly reviewing the practices, discussing the paths to be taken, listening to the professionals, producing knowledge and spreading it to other territories, always looking for excellence in terms of social and educational work.