* This transformation wasn’t built by chance, it was built through belief; your belief— his is what you’ve built!
* Your gift today expands our campus, grows our capacity, and builds a pathway for the next generation of Malawi’s under-served talent and promise
By Duncan Mlanjira
Ascent Soccer continues to inspire well-wishing donors towards to support the expansion of their Lilongwe campus, growth of its capacity to build a pathway for the next generation of Malawi’s under-served talent and promise.
Advertisement
This is as the country’s most successful football academy commemorates its 10th anniversary— a decade of borrowed pitches and borrowed time to Southeast Africa’s first purpose-built green school and soccer academy.
“This transformation wasn’t built by chance, it was built through belief; your belief— his is what you’ve built!” says Ascent in its email flier.
The purpose-built campus is of carbon-neutral Earth-bag construction: a sustainable bamboo Great Hall — complete with full-time academic school, digital learning centre and a library.
It has three of Malawi’s best organic grass pitches and an outdoor education green space & agricultural gardens: “Now, this holiday season, help us unlock the next 10 years,” says the academy, founded under the name Chigoli Academy before it went on to be registered as a charity in the USA and Canada.
Ascent’s #10for10 Campaign targets to raise US$100,000 to lay the foundation for the next decade of supporting Malawi’s under-served talent after impacting the transformation of football talent that has been exported outside the country.
Sponsors are inspired to join the next transformative decade by making a one time gift of US$100,000 goal or start a monthly gift from just US$10/month — with emphasis that every dollar shall impact the academy’s five pillars: Soccer, Scholarship, Girls, Green, Grassroots.
The sponsorship gift will also expand its Green Leadership Academy, grow girls’ pathways, and empower the next generation of changemakers.
The academy’s impact includes tapping talent from local communities, setting them up in Ascent’s classrooms before earning global scholarship that include spots at universities of Duke and Northeastern as well as elite boarding schools across North America.
The academy caters for the South east Africa, starting at the grassroots, inspiring and nurturing talented girls and boys to be brave, to lead by example and to believe in their ability to transform themselves, their communities and the world.
“We are soccer and scholarship that puts people and the planet first,” says Ascent Soccer, whose Mission and Vision includes empowering talent and promise in Southeast Africa, as the greenest soccer club and academy on the continent.
It is a social impact organisation that transforms the lives of young men and women in some of Southeast Africa’s poorest countries by providing opportunities for comprehensive education, critical life skills and character development — combined with world-class soccer skill development.
It works with over 85 boys and girls carefully selected from across Southeast Africa, whose graduates have gone on to win life-changing scholarships at elite global boarding schools — with other Ascent scholars representing the academy in youth national teams and at major European club tournaments.
“Ascent’s vision is to guide youth to realize and reach their potential, growing into exceptional young men and women who not only re-invest in their own communities, but provide opportunities for the success of future graduates.
“Many grassroots projects spread their resources across thousands of participants over short periods, with the goal to reach as many deserving young people as possible.
“Combined with that mission, we also aim to drive systemic, lasting change by invest deeply in talent, desire and promise — catalysing a small but mighty group of young leaders to leverage the opportunities and platform provided by Ascent Soccer, across Southeast Africa.”
It success also includes a state-of-the-art campus in Lilongwe that has a Digital Learning Centre, outfitted with new laptops, robotics and Lego STEAM education programming; a Library & Resource Centre; Education Centre and the Great Hall — a beautifully designed environmental sustainability structure made from bamboo and is home to the academy’s nutrition centre, dining hall and event space.
The school is dedicated to maths, sciences, English & languages, the arts and so much more while the Appleyard Family is the outdoor education space for green and permaculture education — and there are three football pitch spaces of two full XI-aside grass pitches and a 5-aside pitch.
Player exports
Its graduates include national women football team players, Rose Kabzere playing for Montpellier in France, Faith Chimzimu for BK Hacken in Sweden and for Ascent Soccer itself Maggie Chavula, Maureen Kenneth and Letticia Chinyamula among others.
The Ascent Soccer ladies are currently runners-up in the inaugural women’s football top tier league, the National Bank (NBM) Women’s Premiership and its global scholars in the US and Canada, include six from Malawi — Elias Zebron who graduated at the Taft School and is at Trinity College in the US; Lughano Nyondo, a graduate at Northeastern University Brooks School.
Christina Kakhome is at Lake Forest College and graduate of Milton Academy; Latu Kayira at Brooks School; and at Milton Academy Emmanuel Cheyo and Daud Major.
Advertisement