Background

Pioneering a new model for the financing and development of community-based sports facilities in Africa, the Keta SoccerHub will be owned and operated jointly by Keta Sandlanders FC (a community owned co-operative football club) and the Keta Municpality, supported by a team of international advisors led by Sandlanders Football and Architecture for Humanity.

Togbi James Ocloo V (centre), Dufia (Chief) of Keta and family.

The Keta Municipality has agreed to make a 6.5 acre site available for the project and over the last 3 years, the project team has been conducting community consultations and developing designs tailored to the needs of the town. Our designs are sensitive to the environment and involve the use of local materials and innovative techniques such as the building of earth bag walls, which reduce cost and minimise waste. SoccerHub space can be used for education, industry, recreation and of course sport and because the SoccerHub will be owned and managed by the co-operative football club, income the facilities are able to generate will all be reinvested into the Keta community.

Sports and community facilities do not need to cost millions of dollars and our vision is to create a project that will be affordable to build (total Phase I cost c.£120,000) and operated sustainably to bring ongoing benefit to the community. The project is collaborative involving local people working with local authorities and opening the project up to involve international supporters through Indiegogo is a key aspect of this open collaborative approach.

If successful, the model can be replicated on other sites identified by Sandlanders clubs across Africa in diverse communities stretching from Sierra Leone to Zanzibar.  

The SoccerHub vision

The project site is in an outstanding natural area adjacent to Keta's Fort Prinzenstein which (together with Ghana's other coastal forts) is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The project will be owned jointly by Keta Sandlanders FC and the Keta Municipality.

The SoccerHub site sits on reclaimed land between the sea and Keta lagoon with great potential for tourism and a range of other activities.

The multi-purpose SoccerHub design includes a main community building, full-size soccer pitch, beach soccer and training pitches and a model farm.

SoccerHub will be a social hub for the Keta community and has been designed for use during day and night.

SoccerHub will also be a hub for local industry. The work on local farmers will be showcased on the sites model farm and buildings will be constructed using local materials and workmen.

Our funding model 

The Keta SoccerHub will be funded by a mixture of local and international crowd-funding and corporate parters. 

Once initial funding is in place, the SoccerHub is modelled to run sustainably and generate its own funds through ongoing corporate partnerships and other activities (e.g. internet cafe, sporting activities and farming) carried out on the site. 

Phase I (community building and main pitch) cost = £120,000

Funding to be sourced as follows:

1%  = Keta community co-operative contributions through Keta Sandlanders FC

29% = crowd-funded contributions from international supporters in return for SoccerHub rewards through Indiegogo

70% = corporate partner contributions

The £35,000 we aim to raise through Indiegogo is the exact amount budgeted for the main structure of the community building and will be used immediately to break ground on the project and construct the main building. This first phase of funding is crucial and we need your support!

Following the model of another community owned club - FC United of Manchester, who recently rasied over £5m (including £50,000 through an online crowd-funding) from community and other sources to develop their new stadium in Moston, Manchester - we plan to use this initial tranche of funding to unlock funding from other sources including corporate partners and other local development funds.

The full Phase I budget is set-out below. If we over-fund, contributions will be put towards finsihing the community building and work on the main pitch.

Phase II will involve development of the remaining structures on the site - dormitories and classroom, mini training pitch and beach soccer pitch, market area and model farm. 

Phase I Budget

Preliminaries/General Conditions = $3,900

Excavation and Earthwork = $1,003                              

Structure = $59,575 (= c. £35,000 - our Indiegogo funding target)

Roofing = $25,931

Walls = $18,918

Joinery and ironmongery = $2,309

Latrines and rainwater collection = $10,400

Electrical connections = $4,680

Painting and decorating = $267

Risk allowance (15%) = $19,047

Main pitch = $50,000

Total = $196,031 (c.£120,000)

Work so far

An extensive amount of work has already been put in to get the project to this stage. 

The 6.5 acre site which sits on reclaimed land has been reserved and marked-out. We have carried out extensive community consultations which have informed the final designs for the project. With the full support of the Keta Municipality, our main task now is to raise funds to commence construction as soon as possible.

SoccerHub site, facing the lagoon. Initial fencing and land levelling will form part of Phase 1.

Keta SoccerHub project team including Keta Sandlanders Chairman Frank Cole and Project Manager Divine Kodzo Dzokoto with Karolina Szarmach of Architecture for Humanity London.

The site is along the main access road through Keta which runs along the main coastline of West Africa, Buses from Lagos to Abidjan run across here each day.

The site is a few minutes work from the Keta Emancipation Beach Resort and the historic Fort Prinzenstein.

Keta Sandlanders FC and the people of Keta 

Keta is an incredible town with a proud history. Once a prominent port, coastal erosion throughout the twentieth century severely damaged the town and jeopardised its existence but a coastal defence scheme put in place at the turn of the century has given it a new lease of life. The SoccerHub site sits on land reclaimed as part of the recent regeneration and will be a symbol of the resurgence of the town.

Keta Sandlanders (in yellow) play in Ghana's Division 2.

Sandlanders will share the SoccerHub facilities with Keta Sunset - double Ghana Beach soccer champions. Sandlanders and Sunset share many of the same players and have the same coaching team.

Some images showing the history of the Keta Sandlanders since they were founded in 2002.

SOCCERHUB AMBASSADOR - YUSSIF CHIBSAH

Former Ghana Black Stars midfielder Yussif Chibsah, currently playing for Alanyaspor in the Turkish First Division, is the first SoccerHub Ambassador. Yussif gained accountancy qualifications earlier in his playing career and has established his own Foundation which focuses on education, healthcare and clean water initiatives. As a thoughtful player with a fascinating career which has taken him to Turkey via Sweden, Ghana and Israel and seen him accumulate 13 caps for Ghana, we are delighted to have Yussif on board. 

Follow Yussif on Twitter. 

SoccerHub Ambassador - Yussif Chibsah

 

REWARDS 

We have provided rewards which offer supporters a truly special record of their contribution.

For just £20 your name will be engraved on a brick at the site (pictures of which will be posted on our website and Facebook page) as a very permanent momento and a letter from a Togbi James Ocloo V will be yours for £30.

Our t-shirts (some of which are signed by members of Ghana's 2014 World Cup squad) are unique collectors items and the experiences aailable from £500 are once-in-a-lifetime. We hope you like them.

Ghana Captain Michael Essien and our SoccerHub Black Star t-shirt in white.

Ghana and Parma midfielder Afriyie Acquah with our SoccerHub Black Star t-shirt in yellow.

SoccerHub Ambassador Yussif Chibsah with Black Stars midfielder Mohammed Rabiu and the SoccerHub Black Star t-shirt in red.

 

Keta Black Star t-shirts and the signed Sandlanders kit.