Festival 16: Young Leader Adam Adam elected to streetfootballworld’s first Youth Council

Coach Adam’s international peers nominated him to represent the network as one of five founding members.

Soccer in the Streets
3 min readJul 25, 2016

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ATLANTA — “Best week ever.”

Adam Adam only needed three words to describe his time in France for Festival ’16. He sang, danced, played and mediated football3, and explored Lyon alongside fellow Young Leaders and representatives from 80 other like-minded soccer organizations in the streetfootballworld global network.

Adam, a Soccer in the Streets coach who progressed through the program as a player, earned his place at Festival ’16 as a consistent role model for Clarkston FC’s teenage players and other upcoming youngsters back home in the Atlanta area.

Adam (center) served as the Young Leader for Soccer in the Streets’ Festival 16 delegation, joining Ler (left), Destinee (right), and Lionel (not pictured) in France.

“[Festival 16] was an unforgettable experience,” Adam said. “I learned how football can impact, change and bring different cultures together and celebrate the each other’s uniqueness.”

At Festival ’16, Adam’s leadership was recognized on a global scale when his international peers nominated him to join streetfootballworld’s inaugural Youth Council. From the 80 Young Leaders like Adam in attendance, streetfootballworld’s network selected just five councilors to lead the way for the next generation.

“I feel honored that I am elected in a position to work with teams and help others,” Adam said. “I also feel very happy that my voice will make a difference — not only in my community but in so many different communities around the world.”

According to streetfootballworld, Adam and the other Youth Council representatives will ‘advise the network board and support the work of the network,” which currently includes 118 organizations using soccer as a method to benefit society. More than 2 million youth take part in some form of programming and development from streetfootballworld’s diverse collection of network members.

Introducing streetfootballworld’s new Youth Council

Iesha Moustafa — SARI (Ireland)

Adam Ahmat Adam — Soccer in the Streets (USA)

Maccia Al-Hamwi — Football United (Australia)

Anthony Gitei Gathiru — TYSA (Kenya)

Cristian Camilo Rojas Velásquez — Tiempo de Juego (Colombia)

“I want to work with the team to accomplish something so that children and young people can express their perspective on the decisions that are important to them and their beliefs can be heard,” Adam said. “I also want to make positive changes in their communities and make a difference to the young people all around the world.”

Adam’s Dreams from Festival 16

My dream for the world: Build schools in every poor country to help everyone who needs help.

My dream for my countries: Stop killing and war and make Sudan a peaceful place. My dream for the USA is to make everyone help in everything.

My dream for me and my family: My dream is to finish school, get better jobs and build a company or organization to help my family.

My dream for my organization: Be a better member and help as much as I can. Also be a role model in every aspect!

My message to the world: No matter who you are or how you look, we are all the same.

Our recap series from streetfootballworld Festival ‘16

  • Part 1: football3 teaches a unique approach to the beautiful game
  • Part 2: Festival ’16 through the lens of our France team
  • Part 3: Ler, Lionel, and Destinee talk about why international experiences are so important for young adults
  • Part 4: Young Leader Adam Adam in his own words

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Soccer in the Streets

We empower underserved youth through soccer, character development, mentoring, and employability programs.