North West University (NWU) is South Africa’s foremost academic centre for elite sport and sports science. Its Potchefstroom campus houses world class training facilities – Great Britain’s Olympic Gold Medallist Kelly Holmes trained there. Working with Live, NWU developed plans for a world class football institute at the university’s Mafikeng campus. The institute will now expand its programmes so that it can contribute towards the long term legacies of the 2010 World Cup.

The Challenge:
NWU was created by merging the Afrikaans-speaking University of Potchefstroom and the North West University in Mafikeng. Potchefstroom had a long tradition of sporting excellence, particularly in rugby, athletics and hockey. Mafikeng had no similar tradition and was in need of additional resources to boost the status and operations of the campus.

Richard Newby (centre) visits the world class training facilities at NWU

Live’s Role:
Live helped devise the concept of opening a soccer institute at Mafikeng to capitalise on the sporting expertise of Potchefstroom and to generate additional resources. Working with university staff, it produced a partnership strategy which resulted in the institute opening its doors to the first group of 37 students in February 2007 as a result of a grant of £300,000 from the English Premier League.

A second group of students, funded by the Royal Bafokeng Nation started at the Institute in February 2008. A partnership has also been established between the university to develop community coaching at Mafikeng, with funding from the British Council’s England Africa partnership

As the 2010 World Cup approaches, the University has been appointed by the South Africa Football Association to establish a schools league in the Mafikeng region. Discussions are also under way with the World Cup Organising Committee to establish a nationwide network of learning centres at the participating stadiums. Both these programmes could form part of the long term legacy of the tournament.