FedEx : Delivers Soccer to the Children of Madrid, Spain

July 29, 2016

While leading soccer clubs Liverpool FC and Sevilla FC were getting ready to battle to be crowned winner at the final of the prestigious annual UEFA Europa League competition in Basel, Switzerland, main sponsor FedEx proudly blew the full time whistle over 900 miles away… on the opening of a new community soccer pitch in the Cañada Real district of Madrid, Spain.

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Cañada Real is one of Europe's most economically disadvantaged areas, situated on land next to the former city garbage dump. The area has mushroomed into a ramshackle collection of often makeshift homes with tracks rather than roads, and is definitely lacking in facilities for local children and young people, for whom patches of dirt are the closest thing to a sports field or playground.

Following a community investment project jointly funded by FedEx and the UEFA Foundation for Children, in May 2016 Cañada Real became the proud home to a fully functioning, environmentally sustainable soccer pitch built from an innovative design that ensures longevity and minimal maintenance costs.

[Attachment] All of the components required for the pitch were delivered to site inside a shipping container, enabling the modular construction to be completed in less than a week by a local contractor. The container itself was converted to become a useful kit storage and changing facility, with a door and windows added and a colorful mural painted all over the outside.

During the construction, team members from FedEx Express in Madrid could not wait to roll up their sleeves and volunteered their time to clear a seating area adjacent to the pitch of weeds and brighten it up with a fresh coat of paint. Even FedEx Europe President, David Binks, found time to tour the site and meet with the local NGO and hear about how they will use it to reach hundreds of children each year through sports-focused community programs.

The pitch was officially handed over to the community at a ceremony hosted by Carlos Marchena, a former Spanish international and European and world champion soccer player. He was welcomed excitedly by over 50 local children, many of whom can now boast they played in a match with him, and may have gotten the ball rolling toward their own professional careers!