Soccer in the Wilderness
Playing for the Children

With World Cup fever spreading all over Africa, Children in the Wilderness and Wilderness Safaris decided to capitalise on the continent’s love of the game to raise funds for Children in the Wilderness Botswana. A soccer tournament was held at the beginning of the year between the six Wilderness Safaris concessions in Botswana, with teams made up of staff members from the camps in those concessions. Throw wild animals on the soccer fields into the mix and this was truly a tournament unlike any other!

The first group matches, which took place in March, resulted in the Moremi Lions going through to the final.  And the second group matches, which took place in April, resulted in the Kwedi Sables joining them.

The final was set for 1^st May at Vumbura Plains. The rivalry between the two teams reached fever pitch, and the excitement was building... Who would be the first Soccer in the Wilderness champion?

On the morning of the 1^st of May a plane full of supporters arrived at Vumbura, including a few VIP guests. The atmosphere was electric as everyone headed to the field. We were met by a herd of elephant who were keen to catch the final - and hung around for most of the morning.

Then the two teams took to the field: Lions in green and Sables in white. The supporters went wild. It was clear from the moment the whistle blew that the players were determined to bag the glory and the game was played with high intensity.

The Sables scored a goal just before halftime, and their supporters stormed the field. It took a while to clear the field, so the match could continue. The Lions never gave up and fought hard, but the Sables scored again in the second half – and became our first Soccer in the Wilderness champions.

A beautiful trophy, sponsored by Phoebe Weinberg, President of Gateways Travel (whose idea the tournament was), was presented to the Sables.

Not only was money raised for an important cause, but everyone had an enormous amount of fun. The winners generously decided to donate their prize money to Children in the Wilderness - which brought the total raised to P85 000 ($12 000).

Thank you to everyone who made this tournament possible and helped us raise these funds.

Download the Soccer in the Wilderness PDF For more information on this event