Malawi Grassroots Soccer Development Foundation (MGSDF) has received a donation of 360 sets of soccer jerseys from its Canada-based partner Soccer West BC to promote grassroots football in Malawi. MGSDF founder and Chief Executive Officer Mr Willy Yabwanya Phiri received an initial 200 jerseys last week then 160 on Saturday, February 22, 2025, in Canada. After receiving the donation, Yabwanya Phiri hailed Soccer West for being a trusted and reliable partner for over a decade. “On behalf of the Foundation, I am thrilled and humbled to receive the donation of these beautiful jerseys which will go a long way in making our next soccer festival scheduled for December 2025 in Mzuzu a success. These jerseys would help us dress up all participating teams. As a Foundation, we are working towards getting on board more partners to support our cause of using grassroots football as a vehicle for empowering under-15 girls and boys,” he said. Soccer West Director of Soccer, Mike Wagner, said he is happy to continue contributing to MGSDF’s initiatives of developing Malawi grassroots soccer. “We are impressed by the vision of the Foundation and the strides it has made in Malawi hence this donation which I hope would inspire more girls and boys in Malawi to play football and realise their dreams of a bright future. I pledge continued support towards the Foundation’s activities,” he said. Soccer West is a leading sports merchandise and equipment supplier based in Canada. EDITORS NOTE: MGSDF is a not-for-profit organization duly registered in Malawi and Canada. The foundation is the brainchild of Canada-based Malawian football administrator Mr Willy Yabwanya Phiri. OUR OBJECTIVES • Giving children, including the marginalized, a platform to showcase football talent • Using football to combat child labour, drug, and substance abuse, early marriages, HIV/Aids and STI, school dropout, violence, and exploitation. • Developing technical and entrepreneurial skills and capacity-building. • Stakeholder partnerships and collaborations. OUR MISSION • To equip and develop soccer talent among vulnerable and non-vulnerable boys and girls with necessary life skills so that they realize their in-born soccer talent, and exploit their potential to the fullest. We aim to help both young boys and girls become self-reliant with different social skills and hence fight poverty and unemployment which is rampant among the youth in Malawi. OUR VISION • The foundation shall strive to develop a significant crop of boys and girls by imparting to them high-level football and life skills to rescue them from poverty, early marriages, drug and substance abuse, and unemployment through education and sports.