Sport at the Service of Humanity Launches Young Leaders Mentoring Program

Buenos Aires, 5 October 2018: Sport at the Service of Humanity has launched its Young Leaders Mentoring Program, which aims to prepare athletes and young leaders in sport to "Win in Life" and inspire their communities through the power of their example.

The program, launched with the support of International Sports Promotion Society (ISPS Handa), will see four young leaders from South Sudan, Canada, Philippines and Israel embark on a transformational one-year journey under the mentorship of four distinguished sport and business champions.

The four young leaders taking part in the first year’s program are:

Anjelina Nadai – A 23-year-old track runner from the Kakuma Refugee Camp in South Sudan. She was a member of the Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Chantal Sathi – A Canadian of Sri Lankan Heritage; she is a kick boxer, a personal trainer and a community youth leader and has a degree in Kinesiology and a Masters in Theology in Urban and International Development

John Paul Masubay – A 24-year-old football player, coach, mentor and youth leader from Tacloban, Philippines.

Shahid Bishara – A 15-year-old female squash player who lives with her family in an Arab town in Israel. She got involved in squash at age 10 as part of a special project that aimed to help bridge gaps between Jewish and Arab cultures in Israel.

These mentees will have the privilege of being mentored by the following four mentors:

HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein – IOC Member, President of Jordan Olympic Committee, Founder/Chairman of Generations for Peace

Victor Montagliani – FIFA Vice President, President of CONCACAF

Renata Simril – President and CEO of LA84 Foundation

Jon Tibbs OBE – Founder/Chairman of JTA

The mentees and mentors met for the first time earlier today during an interaction session, in which the mentors shared their experience, stories and vision of how they see the mentorship relationship unfolding. Tomorrow, the mentees will meet with IOC President Thomas Bach who has regularly shown his support for the Sport at the Service of Humanity, most notably at its first Global Conference on Faith & Sport in 2016 where he was one of the featured speakers.

Msgr. Melchor Sanchez de Toca, Undersecretary, Pontifical Council for Culture, and Sport at the Service of Humanity Foundation Board Director said:

"We are delighted to have four very driven and talented young leaders and four highly experienced and distinguished mentors take part in the first Young Leaders Mentoring Program.

"Sport at the Service of Humanity is a global movement which uses the inspirational, unifying power of Sport and Faith to change the world. Through the Young Leaders Mentoring Program, we strongly believe that we can help young leaders in sport become international role models with the power and the passion to change sport and the world for the better."

The first cohort of mentees will become the inaugural Sport at the Service of Humanity Global Youth Ambassadors.

Every year, new athletes and young leaders in sport will be selected as mentees and carry the Sport at the Service of Humanity message to new parts of the world.

Dr. Haruhisa Handa, Founder/Chairman of ISPS Handa added:

"We are very proud to be part of the Youth Mentoring Program that aims to cultivate and nurture young athletes and sports leaders who embody the values and principles shared by ISPS and SSH.

" I am hugely impressed by the caliber and enthusiasm of the young mentees and very grateful that people of the stature and reputation of the mentors are willing to share their knowledge, experience and time with the mentees. We look forward to working with SSH to change the lives of young people."

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