Who it is for
- Migrant and local children and young people who share a city and find common ground in the team.
- Their families, invited to take part in the programme's gatherings and events.
- To be confirmedAge range of participants.
KickStart Geneva
Sport as a meeting place.
An initiative that uses football as a tool for integration: children and young people from different backgrounds build bonds through play, cooperation and support.
On the same pitch, those who have just arrived and those who were already here play on the same team. That encounter is the starting point for everything else.
The starting point
Sharing a city is easy. Sharing a team, not so much.
Migrant and local children often live close to each other, but rarely meet in the same space on equal terms.
They go to different schools, attend different clubs and move in circles that hardly ever cross. Without a space designed for them to meet, living side by side never goes beyond physical proximity, and integration is postponed.
KickStart Geneva creates that space: a team where origin is no longer the line that divides.
How it works
We build the place where integration happens.
KickStart Geneva is an ID4Children programme that promotes social inclusion, emotional wellbeing and community integration among migrant and local children and adolescents through football.
Recognising the value of sport in strengthening physical and mental health, confidence and a sense of belonging, the programme combines sporting, educational and cultural activities that encourage connection, cooperation and respect for diversity.
Through shared experiences, we aim to build meaningful bonds, strengthen support networks and create opportunities for lasting participation and integration, so that every child and adolescent finds their place and feels part of the community.
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01Connection
A space where every story has a place.
We bring together children and adolescents from different backgrounds and journeys in a safe, inclusive environment that welcomes diversity.
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02Integration
Different backgrounds. One team.
Through football and shared educational and cultural experiences, we promote cooperation, mutual respect and bonds that go beyond differences.
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03Impact and belonging
The pitch is only the beginning.
We want every encounter to become an opportunity for lasting integration, strengthening trust, support networks and the active participation of children and adolescents in their communities.
We bring together what already exists —clubs, schools, families— and connect it through a method designed to work. KickStart Geneva is not football with a purpose added on: it is an integration model that uses football as its tool.
What the children do
Much more than training.
Every week, the programme combines , and in activities designed to work together.
- Football sessions
- Team activities
- Language through play
- Health promotion
- Psychosocial wellbeing
- Cultural exchange
- Family events
- Leadership opportunities
The programme in practice
Who, where and when.
KickStart Geneva starts in Geneva as a pilot, with a model designed to grow into other contexts.
Where and when
- Geneva, Switzerland, as a pilot project: a starting point chosen for its proximity and available network, designed as a replicable model.
- To be confirmedPilot start date and session frequency.
- To be confirmedImplementation partner club(s) and school(s).
Get involved
KickStart Geneva is built by people.
There is a place for you on this team. Choose how you would like to get involved.
Pitch, classrooms and network
Clubs and schools
Offer your pitch, your classrooms or your network as an implementation partner.
Become a partner
Coming together connects us. Belonging transforms us.