 Wild and Free Foundation is committed to both empowering communities and safeguarding Africa's rhinos. The Rhino Cup Champions League was globally recognized for its efforts when it received the Grassroots Organization of the Year Award at the BBC Green Sport Awards for 2023. Wild and Free Foundation is thrilled to share the incredible news: On October 2, 2023, the Rhino Cup Champions League was awarded the Grassroots Organization of the Year Award at the BBC Green Sport Awards 2023! Our team is buzzing with excitement, and we want to convey just how ecstatic, surprised, and profoundly grateful we are for this honor. This recognition not only acknowledges the incredible effort going into the community’s Rhino Cup Champions League initiative but also amplifies Wild and Free Foundations’s message of conservation and community empowerment. "The Rhino Cup Champions League is a very different approach at raising sustainability awareness, but it's a very successful one. It has already grown as a competition to neighbouring countries and will only raise more climate awareness the more it grows." BBC Sport  The Rhino Cup Champions League symbolizes hope, joy, and transformation, which are evident in the expressions of three female football players from the club Judeus FC Crocodiles in the RCCL Mozambique Girl’s League, proudly sponsored by Maxwell. The Rhino Cup Champions League initiative has been recognized and was nominated for the Grassroots Organization of the Year Award as part of the BBC Green Sport Awards 2023. The Green Sport Awards are part of the BBC's commitment to a greener future and are designed to use the power and passion of sport for a positive effect. The awards celebrate individuals and organizations from across the globe who are actively contributing to a more sustainable future through their sporting profile and practices. This year there are five categories: Athlete of the Year, Young Athlete of the Year, Evergreen Athlete 2023, Elite Organization of the Year Award, Grassroots Organization of the Year Award. The awards offer the chance to tell some positive and inspiring stories as well as raise awareness of issues with some audiences that may not be fully engaged on the subject. BBC Sport also recognizes its obligation to be a strong force for good inside the sport and broadcast industry and so to that end the BBC Sport have partnered with Sport Positive Summit. Combining the two events also has obvious benefits in terms of their own emissions and planning. What alternatives exists to |
Can we find another way to
save the rhino?
Anti-poaching rangers patrolling a game reserve fence in Southern Africa.
Extremely poor communities in Mozambique are located right next to the last remaining rhinos. These people are persuaded to poach rhinos for money. Providing other activities and opportunities will decrease their dependence on poaching.
We want communities to stand together and create sustainable solutions for income and livelihood, allowing nature and humans to strive together.
What can be done to pull these communities together?
Thank you to all the
Wild and Free donors!
Matt Bracken shakes hands after Wild and Free delivers soccer equipment to the team manager of the Mavunguane soccer team in Mozambique. The 2017 Rhino Cup marked the start of a new journey for change.
Being able to hand over soccer kits to the community in Mozambique was like Christmas in April 2017, for us and them!
We want the soccer league we're developing to be official so it uplifts morale and gets them excited. Shoes, nets, balls, referee gear, whistles, field flags, we've got it all!
Thank you to our Wild and Free Foundation donors for making this possible.
Being able to hand over soccer kits to the community in Mozambique was like Christmas in April 2017, for us and them!
We want the soccer league we're developing to be official so it uplifts morale and gets them excited. Shoes, nets, balls, referee gear, whistles, field flags, we've got it all!
Thank you to our Wild and Free Foundation donors for making this possible.
How can we initiate change
in conservation?
Wild and Free Foundation members arriving at a discussion held at Richard’s Tavern in Corumana, Mozambique, about expanding the soccer project. Image from the Wild and Free Community meeting, April 2017.
An expedition led by the Wild and Free Foundation met with chiefs, elders, soccer players/rhino poachers, and community members in Mozambique to discuss a potential possibility that may benefit the community and save the rhinos.
The following video is an account of the events.
How can we make
conservation inclusive?
When local kids see their favorite team on the field, they start dreaming of one day playing for that team. Image that represents the start of the Rhino Cup journey, August 2016.
"The community is part of conservation. You cannot manage a reserve from the inside out, you must manage it from the outside in."
Ferdie Terblanche
Sabie Game Park Ranger
Many underprivileged communities see conservation as a "threat" to them.
Are you game to go out of your comfort zone and initiate contact with them to begin collaborating on a solution to the issue?
The Vision of
Wild and Free Foundation!
An image of a young soccer fan sitting on an old beer crate and supporting the Club de Corumana and Freitas FC teams, sitting next to the dusty gravel pitch of Corumana soccer field, August 27, 2016. Wild and Free Foundation's goal is to create a community driven conservation initiative.
Our vision is for conservation to be a community driven initiative, without guns.
We want community life to be enhanced by wildlife, so they can tell others in their community, no more rhino poaching. And that our lives are better because those rhinos are alive, not dead.
Wild and Free Foundation’s philosophy of saving the community from the outside in, starts with soccer.
Is killing people the answer
for rhino conservation?
An image of an unmarked family grave site from a community in Mozambique.
What are the devastating consequences to conservation when an anti-poaching ranger or rhino poachers is killed?
In this interview, Matt Bracken chats with Ferdie Terblanche, a Game Park Ranger, about the sadness and devastation that death brings to a family when unnecessary conflict is happening within conservation for communities and game ranger families.
"First of all, to say that the world is all paralyzed due to the Corona Virus, and I am particularly sorry for that.
It is being a difficult moment because we are preparing for the year 2020 rhino cup, and knowing that we will not be able to start with the games was very painful, sad 🙁but very sad even though since 2017 we’re not used to going so long without playing Rhino cup games that this is already part of us for what it does in our lives, we hope to be able to return soon and that our sponsor cannot give up on us because this Championship is already part of our Lives.
It is being a difficult moment because we are preparing for the year 2020 rhino cup, and knowing that we will not be able to start with the games was very painful, sad 🙁but very sad even though since 2017 we’re not used to going so long without playing Rhino cup games that this is already part of us for what it does in our lives, we hope to be able to return soon and that our sponsor cannot give up on us because this Championship is already part of our Lives.
"It is sad to know that we no longer have the best world championship, the Rhino Cup Champions League. We are people who love football, I particularly love football, my whole community loves football, so everyone is demoralized, the community was used to spend every Sunday from 1 pm on the field to watch games!"
So proud of the leadership shown by the RCCL Committee in Mozambique.
The Committee, along with Madam Chief Helena Chivite of the Sabie Government Post, used funds provided by Wild and Free Foundation to purchase and deliver food and supplies to 35 families in need during quarantine. Each family received: rice; flour; beans; sugar; salt; cooking oil; chicken broth; matches; soap; and surgical masks. Well done RCCL Committee!!
The Committee, along with Madam Chief Helena Chivite of the Sabie Government Post, used funds provided by Wild and Free Foundation to purchase and deliver food and supplies to 35 families in need during quarantine. Each family received: rice; flour; beans; sugar; salt; cooking oil; chicken broth; matches; soap; and surgical masks. Well done RCCL Committee!!
Communities are fearing the return
of a gloomy life without soccer.
Orlando "Watch" Cossa, coach of Club de Corumana, places his palm on his head in shock and anxiety during the 2019 Rhino Cup Champions League exhibition game versus Tchuela FC during the closing ceremony. The game took place at the Corumana soccer field in Mozambique.
"We have a great way to fight against the rhino hunting.”
Orlando "Watch" Cossa
Coach, Club De Corumana
RCCL Committee President
"We have a great way to fight against the rhino hunting.”
Orlando "Watch" Cossa
Coach, Club De Corumana
RCCL Committee President
The RCCL represents our hope, health,
joy, and transformation!
In this image, Bito Billa is standing next to his wife. He is holding his baby daughter (two years old) in his arms, and his wife has an expression of pride and joy. Corumana FC in their yellow kit for the 2019 Rhino Cup Champions League season won against Chelsea FC on the Corumana soccer field, Mozambique. The Corumana FC team is sponsored by Wild and Free Foundation.
"For me, the Rhino Cup Champions League brought a change, an evolution, and improvement in our community and in local football.”
Bito Billa, Club de Corumana.
2020 Rhino Cup Champions League in Mozambique is postponed.
The players and coaches are very disappointed as they have been training hard for the season, and the whole community was looking forward to the kick-off.
The players and coaches are very disappointed as they have been training hard for the season, and the whole community was looking forward to the kick-off.
Matt Bracken, Co-Founder of Wild and Free Foundation. Posing with the Rhino Cup Champions League flag in Mozambique.
Thank you, Wild and Free Foundation!
As a member of the Rhino Cup Champions League committee, Ivo Timba's positive outlook and charisma are perfectly captured here. Since joining the RCCL in 2017, Ivo has been actively involved in the soccer league's community service initiatives in Mozambique.
"This message serves much more than a smile. Thank You!"
Ivo Silva Timba
Rhino Cup Champions League Committee Member
Mozambique
Ivo wrote a letter to thank Wild and Free Foundation after the 2019 Rhino Cup Champions League season has ended. This letter is the original words of Ivo. Ivo's home language is Portuguese.
"This message serves much more than a smile. Thank You!"
Ivo Silva Timba
Rhino Cup Champions League Committee Member
Mozambique
Ivo wrote a letter to thank Wild and Free Foundation after the 2019 Rhino Cup Champions League season has ended. This letter is the original words of Ivo. Ivo's home language is Portuguese.
Captain’s message to the
2019 RCCL Athletes!
Hanifa Vasco Manjate, Captain of the Peregrinas de Sabie F.C. female soccer team. Hanifa speaks at the 2019 Rhino Cup Champions League closing ceremony in Corumana, Mozambique. Hanifa's message is a statement on rhino poaching and gratitude to the sponsors.
The Women's Rhino Cup Champions League not only helps to reduce rhino poaching, but also helps women do better academically and professionally.
Wild and Free Foundation, the league's sponsor in Mozambique, is thankful to the Women's Rhino Cup Champions League Committee. With the help of the committee, four more teams will be formed in Mavunguana, Baptine, and Mucacaza.
The League’s primary goal is to inform would-be killers of the African rhino of the disastrous consequences of their actions.
Wild & Free Foundation supports
female athletes!
The female soccer team, Peregrinas de Sabie F.C., posed for a fan photo just before the very first kick-off of the Women's Rhino Cup Champions League 2019, Sabié, Mozambique. Peregrinas de Sabie is sponsored by Travel Beyond (a travel agency in Wayzata, Minnesota).
Every week, residents of Sabié, Corumana, Ligongolo, Incomanine, and Chavane gather to witness the women's soccer games at their own community grounds.
Funding for the Women's Rhino Cup Champions League competition is being provided by the Wild and Free Foundation. The competition began on the 13th of July in 2019, with six teams and ten weeks of soccer games.