Project Play eyes 'soccer farm' in Uganda

In 1982, in the arid terrain of Zinder, Niger, Mike Mitchell walked toward a training session with Equipe Espoir,  a name that translates from French as Team Hope. 

What he found was a poignant metaphor for the struggles of African grassroots football. 

The team had only one ball. It had been punctured, stitched, and salvaged so many times that it had lost its sphere entirely and to be specific looked more like a pillow than a football.

A former soccer standout at Chico State University in California, Mitchell had arrived in West Africa as a United States Peace Corps volunteer with fifteen brand-new balls in his luggage. 

As he made the walk to that second practice session, he was pursued by a trail of fifty children, their smiles wide and voices electric with anticipation. 

“I knew at that moment how powerful the ball was for these beautiful children," Mitchell says.

That realisation in Niger became more than a memory, it became an academic mission. 

Upon returning to California, Mitchell wrote his Master’s thesis on how soccer could improve the lives of African children. That paper, titled "Project Play Africa," eventually evolved into Project Play Soccer, a non-profit that has spent decades harnessing the international language of the game to bring hope to the continent’s most underserved corners. 

Today, that mission has anchored its soul in Ugandan soil.

The bridge between California and Kampala was built on the grit of a local volunteer, Justine Nakabuge. 

Mitchell credits her determination as the reason Project Play prioritised Uganda. 

“Justine Nakabuge is the reason we are here," Mitchell says. 

“Her determination to help the kids in her community is why Project Play continues to fight against poverty and violence with the powerful tool of the ball,” Mitchell shared with Vision Sports.

To date, Mitchell has donated 160 balls into the Ugandan ecosystem, specifically targeting seven community hubs that act as the heartbeat of the local game such as Success Soccer Academy, Kawempe Community Kids, Gayaza Football Academy, Destiny Edu Sport Academy, Jingo Soccer Academy, CSA Academy, and a seventh burgeoning partner. 

However, for Mitchell, equipment is a consumable, infrastructure is a legacy.

Building a soccer field and a farm 

The narrative is now shifting from what is held in the hand to what is under the feet. 

Mitchell is currently developing a pilot project in Chico, California, that he calls a Soccer Farm. 

It is a phased developmental model that he intends to use as a blueprint for Uganda.

"Facilities will come first, then the field, then a clubhouse," Mitchell explains. 

"We are using this local project in California as a blueprint to create it next in Uganda,” he added.

However, Mitchell’s vision for a Soccer Farm is not merely about turf and goalposts. 

It is a radical, multi-sectoral approach to sports development. The goal is to use The Beautiful Game as a motivator to solve a more visceral crisis, hunger.

The Soccer farm concept is designed to teach children how to grow their own food alongside their tactical drills. 

In Mitchell’s view, the football field should be a classroom for survival and a laboratory for thriving. 

“The goal is to feed hungry children using the beautiful game as the motivator," Mitchell says. 

“By teaching children how to grow their own food, they will have a way to survive and then thrive,” 

In the context of Ugandan sports where many talented youngsters drop out due to the sheer weight of poverty and malnutrition, this model offers a glimpse into a sustainable future. 

It moves the athlete away from a culture of dependence and toward a culture of production.

The hunt is now on for the right piece of Ugandan land to host the first international iteration of the farm. 

As Mitchell scouts for a permanent home for his vision, he remains steadfast that honesty and local partnership are the crucial ingredients for success.