Grassroot Soccer Research Report 2016

“Grassroot Soccer is an adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize at-risk youth in developing countries to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and be agents for change in their communities.” [Grassroot Soccer website]

This report summarises some of research that has been conducted by Grassroot Soccer in collaboration with a variety of research institutions and funders. In total, Grassroot Soccer has participated in 27 research studies since 2005 in over 20 countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the Dominican Republic. As explained in the report, since Grassroot Soccer’s founding in 2002, “research has been integral to our organizational growth and development. Our dedication to research has shaped curriculum development, monitoring & evaluation processes, and organizational strategy, while enabling Grassroot Soccer (GRS) to become a leader in the fields of HIV prevention and Sport for Development.  “We define research as ‘the systematic investigation into program delivery and impact. Our aims in conducting research are to: gain a deeper understanding of the complex issues we seek to address, inform our organizational development, establish credibility for our efforts, and contribute more broadly to existing evidence on sport-based HIV prevention.”

Research methods have included three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) - including one of the largest school-based RCT evaluating a sport-based HIV prevention programme, called the GOAL Trial; qualitative studies; and mixed methods evaluations. The research in the report has been organised in accordance with the GRS Impact Model, which is explained with the help of a diagramme in the report. It starts by presenting research assessing psychosocial changes among participants, such as HIV knowledge, self-efficacy, gender equity, and youth leadership; followed by research assessing behavioural changes among participants, such as HIV testing, adherence to treatment, and voluntary medical male circumcision. The final sections of the report present research on GRS’s unique approach to programme delivery through partnerships and the use of mobile technology. For each study the report offers a brief summary which includes an overview of the research, the methods, and the key findings.

The following is a list of the research reports which have appeared in journals, or been conducted internally by GRS or partner organisations:

HIV Knowledge, Attitudes, and Communication

• '11 for Health,’ a Football-Based Health Education Program for Children: A Two-Cohort Study in Mauritius and Zimbabwe [2011]
• Promotion Program for Children in South Africa: A Parallel Cohort Study [2010]
• Long-term Behavioral Impact of a Soccer-Themed, School-Based HIV Prevention Program in Zimbabwe and Botswana [2010]
• Evaluating a Sports-Based Adolescent-Targeted HIV Prevention Program in Haitian Migrant Communities in the Dominican Republic [2008]
• Grassroot Soccer and Diffusion of HIV Knowledge: Do Participants Talk to Others about HIV and AIDS? [2006]

Peer Education and Resiliency

• Resiliency Pilot Program Evaluation (Zambia & South Africa) [2007]
• An Adolescent-targeted HIV Prevention Project Using African Professional Soccer Players as Role Models and Educators in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe [2006]

Gender and HIV

• Using Soccer to Build Confidence and Increase HCT Uptake Among At-Risk Girls: A Mixed-Methods Study of an HIV Prevention Program in South Africa [2015]
• Knowledge, Attitudes, and Experiences of Violence Among Adolescent Girls: A Baseline Assessment in the Soweto Township of South Africa [2015]
• Soccer-Based Intervention to Reduce Drug Use and Address Perceptions of Gender and Sexuality among Adolescent Males in Alexandra, South Africa [2015]
• Measuring the Role of Soccer in a Sport-Based HIV Prevention Intervention among South African Adolescent Girls: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Perceived Soccer Benefits (PSB) Scale [2015]
• Linking At-Risk South African Girls to Sexual Violence and Reproductive Health Services: A Mixed-Methods Assessment of a Soccer-Based HIV-Prevention Program and Pilot SMS Campaign [2014]
• Reported Sexual Behavior, Alcohol Use, and Intimate-Partner Violence among Grade 9 Students in Peri-Urban Cape Town and Port Elizabeth Communities [2013]
• Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Soccer-Based HIV Prevention Intervention among Adolescents in South Africa Townships [2012]
• Generation SKILLZ: Development and Delivery of a Sports-Based HIV Prevention Intervention for South African High School Learners [2012]
• GOAL Trial: Pilot Results of a Sport-Based HIV-Prevention Intervention to Inform a Cluster-Randomized Trial in South African Schools [2012]

HIV testing, Treatment, and Retention

• Promoting Parental Engagement to Increase HCT Consent Rates for Adolescent Girls: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study in the Alexandra Township [2015]
• Process Evaluation of a Sport-Based Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) Demand Creation Intervention in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe [2015]

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision

• A sport-based intervention to increase uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision among adolescent male students: results from the MCUTS2 cluster-randomised trial in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe [2014]
• A Sport-Based Intervention to Increase Uptake of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision among Adult Male Footballers in Zimbabwe: Mixed-Methods Results from a Cluster-Randomized Trial [2014]
• A Sport-Based Intervention to Increase Linkage to Care [2012]

Leadership and Employability

• Sport, HIV Prevention and Youth Empowerment: A Longitudinal Study of the GRS Coach Development Program in South Africa [2015]
• Experience of Participation in an Economic Empowerment Project among Young Female Football Club Players in South Africa: an Exploratory Qualitative Study [2015]
• HIV Prevention with Young Men Using Soccer and Vocational Training: A Feasibility Study [2013]

Partnerships

• The Road to National Adoption: a Case Study of Grassroot Soccer’s Sport for Life Partnership Program in Ethiopia [2015]
• Grassroot Soccer Peace Corps Overview: Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) Analysis [2015]
• Pilot Study on Child Abuse Referrals [2015]
• Evaluation Report of the Free Kick Program [2015]
• Commitment to Practice: A Playbook for Practitioners in HIV, Youth, and Sport [2007]

Malaria

• Evaluation of Knowledge and Attitudes of School Pupils on Malaria and HIV and AIDS Prevention Through the Grassroot Soccer Initiative in Lagos, Nigeria [2015]

Mobile Technology solutions

• Pretesting an mHealth Intervention for At-Risk Adolescent Girls in Soweto, South Africa: Studying the Additive Effects of SMSs on Improving Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights Outcomes [2013]
• Acceptability of Data Collection on Mobile Phones Using ODK Software for Self-Administered Sexual Behavior Questionnaires [2013]