Athletes use prestige to leverage social actions for children

A winning career. Medals from national and international competitions. Notoriety. Fame. Achieving this level is the main objective of athletes who choose high-performance sport as a profession.

During or after this journey, however, many realize that their role can go far beyond the podiums: it also drives social transformations.

Brazil currently has dozens of athletes and former athletes who, through social projects, bet on sport as a tool to change the lives of children, adolescents and young people. The movement is timid compared to countries like the US, but it already has an important social impact. And form champions.

One of the most notorious examples is Instituto Reação, created in 2003 by former judoka Flávio Canto, who won bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

“I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, a city that has favelas spread across the hills, where you can clearly see the differences in opportunities. hence the inspiration to do something”, says the former judoka.

Canto wanted to develop social work. First, he designed a literacy course, which never got off the ground. Later, when he started teaching judo, he realized that this could be his tool.

Judo training is the flagship of the institute, which has 12 centers spread across Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Norte and serves around 3,000 children and young people.

Reação is today one of the main competitive teams in the country —Rafaela Silva, trained in the project, won gold at the Rio 2016 Games.

The project welcomes children from the age of 4 and accompanies them to their first job with scholarships and professional training. Mothers participate in a group that discusses issues of health, family, work and female empowerment.

“Results in sport end up giving the athlete strength, voice and the ability to mobilize partners. But I think everyone, regardless of whether they are successful athletes or not, has to think about which piece they take for themselves. [em relação ao combate às desigualdades]”, says Canto.

This was the same impulse that moved sailors Lars Grael, Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira. Annoyed with the fact that sailing is an elite sport, restricted to clubs, they had a bold idea in 1996: to offer the modality to students from the public school system in Niterói (RJ).

That year, the candle shone at the Atlanta Games, and the athletes came back with more support to start the endeavor. Projeto Grael emerged in 1998, with two containers and a canvas stretched out on the sand. It was a sailing school.

In 2000, the Rumo Náutico Institute was created to improve the social and educational character of the project, which today offers professional nautical workshops, a library, environmental education classes, digital inclusion and woodworking and has already served 19,000 young people. From there, world sailing champions also emerged.

“I attended the project for 8 years. There I was always encouraged to study, think about the future and believe that sport is capable of bringing about social change”, says Isabela Sant’ana, 26, a graduate in physical education and a teacher at the project.

The current president of the Rumo Náutico Institute, Jonata Gonçalves, and the deputy manager, Laís Carvalho, were also students. “Seeing former students responsible for managing the institute and so many other stories is a source of pride”, says Torben.

The financing of social projects run by athletes and ex-athletes is mainly based on three pillars: own investment, direct sponsors and public funding via the sport tax incentive law and agreements.

Maintaining the contribution is a big challenge. Paula, world champion in 1994 and silver with the basketball team in Atlanta-1996, for example, closed the doors of the Magic Pass Institute in 2020 due to difficulties in raising funds. It took 16 years of work.

Triathlete Juraci Moreira, who represented Brazil in three Olympics, uses the incentive law to maintain the 18 centers of his Triathlon School in four states and the DF —by law, companies can donate up to 1% of their Income Tax due to sports projects.

“My biggest challenge is to achieve continuity. Every year I have to register 18 projects to raise funds. We have large companies with us and I am rooting for their success”, says Moreira. The project, created in 2014 in Curitiba (PR), offers triathlon classes to around 900 socially vulnerable children.

Former defender Edmílson, five-time world soccer champion, started his project on the dirt field where he started playing in Taquaritinga (SP). It currently relies on donations from international institutions and funds raised through the incentive law. The Edmílson José Gomes de Moraes Foundation assists 240 children with sports, culture and recreation.

“I saw the need to give something back to the community, to help the place where I lived and to give my friends’ children an opportunity, who didn’t have the same chances as me”, he says.

Raised in Pirituba, on the outskirts of São Paulo, Serginho is another athlete who relied on sport to change his story. The former libero, two-time Olympic champion with the volleyball team, opened Instituto Serginho 10 in Guarulhos (SP) in 2019 and offers tutoring and volleyball lessons to more than 300 children from the age of 7.

“Our objective is not to train high-level athletes. What we want is for them to be good citizens, to generate good things and to repay what volleyball has given me”, he says. Finding resources to maintain the project has been a challenge. Serginho is still trying to cover the damage caused by two invasions of the institute’s headquarters, when even electrical wires were stolen.

Neymar did not wait for the end of his career to invest in the region where he grew up, in Praia Grande (SP). Started in 2010, Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr. impacts more than 10 thousand children, adolescents and young people in social vulnerability.

It was built in an area of ​​8,400 m² provided by the city hall and offers classes in language, robotics, computers, music and professional courses, among other actions.
Visitors also have access to medical care, gym, soccer field, swimming pool and courts.

“We know that it is a needy community and providing this is a reason for pride and gratitude”, says Neymar, via the press office.

He points out that one of the concerns is to make the environment pleasant to stimulate children’s learning. “When I went to school, everything was very serious. Here we can put seriousness with other recreational activities, entertain the students”, he explains.

Education through sport projects

Triathlon School
mastermind: Juraci Moreira
ProjectIt offers triathlon training for more than 900 children and adolescents in centers in Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Distrito Federal and Ceará.
site: escolinhadetriathlon.com

Edmilson Foundation
mastermind: Edmilson, football
Project: It was created in 2005, in Taquaritinga (SP), and serves children and adolescents after school hours with sports, recreational activities and professional training courses.
site: fundacaoedmilson.org.br

Goal of Letter
idealizers: Rai and Leonardo, football
Project: It has served over 20,000 children, adolescents and young people since 1998. It offers in Vila Albertina (SP) and Caju (RJ) projects for community development, gender equality, art, sports, comprehensive education and job training, among others.
site: goldeletra.org.br

Sport Institute
and Education
mastermind : Ana Moser, volleyball
ProjectHeadquartered in Vila Tramontano (SP), it provides assistance to children and adolescents in sports and socio-educational activities and training of teachers and interns. It coordinates a series of centers in partnership with schools, community associations, Sesi and Sesc in regions and communities with low socioeconomic status and high vulnerability.
Site:sporteducucacao.org.br

Guga Kuerten Institute
mastermind: Gustavo Kuerten, tennis
Project: Located in Florianópolis (SC), it has already impacted more than 104 thousand people. It develops programs that offer educational, social and sporting opportunities for children and adolescents in situations of social vulnerability; provides financial and technical support to NGOs in Santa Catarina with actions for people with disabilities.
site: igk.org.br

Instituto Neymar Jr.
mastermind: Neymar, football
Project: It currently impacts more than 10,000 children, adolescents and their families who live in a situation of social vulnerability. It promotes actions in education, culture, sports and health. It is located in Jardim Glória, in Praia Grande (SP).
site: instituteneymarjr.org.br

Reaction Institute
mastermind: Flávio Canto, judo
Project: Serves around 2,500 children, adolescents and young people in situations of social vulnerability in 12 centers in Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Norte. It promotes actions of education, citizenship and judo training, from initiation to high performance.
site: institutereacao.org.br

Instituto Serginho 10
mastermind: Serginho, volleyball
Project: Opened in 2019, in Guarulhos (SP), it offers tutoring, volleyball lessons for children from 7 years old, youth and adults, and support for social projects.
site: instituteserginho10.com.br

Grael Project
mastermind: Lars Grael, Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira, sailing
Project: Based in Niterói (RJ), it serves around 700 children and young people from the public school system. It offers sailing, swimming and canoeing classes, in addition to professional nautical workshops, a library, environmental education, digital inclusion and woodworking classes.
site:projectgrael.org.br

mempower
mastermind: Aline Silva, wrestling
Project: Aims to empower girls aged 6 to 15 through sport. Offers wrestling, English and empowerment classes in Cubatão (SP).
site: mempodera.com