The Mimbulu Soccer Academy

Mimbulu is a local name for African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) or painted wolf in Zambia. African wild dogs are critically endangered large carnivore listed by IUCN in Africa. Only less than 6000 are remaining the rest of the continent and only few countries have viable population, Zambia being one of the countries. Raising awareness on the conservation of this and many more species is critical at the moment with the burgeoning world human population and having people feel connected to these animals is even more important for sustainability of the conservation actions. Mimbulu Soccer Academy is a grassroot soccer academy in Zambia which was created by a field ecologist/educator for the Zambian Carnivore Programme Henry Mwape to help raise awareness on human-wildlife coexistence and large carnivore conservation in south Luangwa, Zambia.

Henry started the academy in 2017 with under 14 years kids from the village after noticing that there are little or no extracurricular activities in the area. With the sponsorship from the Miller family from the USA through Dazzle Africa and Africa Hope Fund on kit and other training equipment, the kids enjoyed playing soccer for fun with other teams in the area whenever they were out of school. With no activities to do for kids, it was very easy for these kids to start or even think of engaging in a variety of bad activities such as alcohol abuse, find themselves in bad companies and even start learning how to poach wildlife. Playing soccer has helped a lot of these kids keep away from bad vices.

In 2020/2021 season, the kids grew a bit older, some 17 years old and wanted to start participating in the more competitive league organized by the Football Association of Zambia in the region. Henry managed to affiliate the academy and have it registered officially and were among the top ten teams out of 18 teams in the league at the end of the season.

This season 2022/2023, the boys have done so well and are on top of everyone in the league awaiting promotion to the next division at the end of the league. The team has attracted so much support from the local people and the support from Africa Hope Fund for broadcasting live the games on the local radio station is a game changer for the academy. Almost everyone loves the team and the radio platform is used to send conservation messages during breaks.

The performance of the team has even attracted more funders and the kit such as Nature, Environment and Wildlife Conservation Trust NEWF, Wildlife Crime Prevention, and other local businesses in addition to the massive support we get from Africa Hope Fund and Dazzle Africa.. With the prospects of getting promoted to a higher division, transport costs will triple and our next fund raising will mostly focus on get the team move those long distances.

Future plans is to develop an exit strategy for players who would like to pursue studies in different fields including taking soccer as a professional career. This will entail exposing them to different careers through internship and help them look for sports scholarships programs in local or international universities or colleges.

When you donate to the Africa Hope Fund, 90% of your donation is directly invested into the causes that we support.