About Us
About Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to focus on community engagement programs with the aim of:
Cultivating opportunities for physical, emotional and academic growth to the young people in The Bahamas.
Offering access to the game of soccer and giving everyone the opportunity to play.
- Providing mentorship and promoting active healthy lifestyles.
- Working with clubs to develop players at the grass root levels, as well as competitive levels, to achieve their aspirations.
- Since our inception in 2011 we have facilitated over 1 million dollars worth of scholarships for Bahamian soccer players in both local and foreign middle schools, high schools and universities
A Message from our Founder and Motivation To Every Athlete
In 2011, I returned home from playing professional soccer in the United States, and decided to spend my off-season as a coach, training kids at some of the private schools local to my home in Nassau, Bahamas.
During my new role as a coach, and whilst watching a public-school tournament (organized by the Bahamas Football Association), I was amazed to see the level of natural skill and ability displayed, regardless of the lack of extensive coaching or practice. I knew then that what I really wanted to do was to help nurture and develop opportunities for all the children in the Bahamas, and so YESI or Youth Empowerment Through Soccer International was born.
The vision started to evolve with daily clinics being held in our poorer neighborhoods, or "grass root" areas, throughout the island of New Providence. We were quickly drawn to an old proverb: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime". It became clear very quickly that sporadically visiting different villages whenever we had the time or resources available to take them food and soccer supplies, was not enough. I realized that to be able to truly support the youth of that village I would have to learn more about each individual child, their background, their family situation, and their living conditions.
In September of 2012, YESI started its full-time soccer program at a facility adjacent to Gambier Primary School. Gambier is one of the oldest villages in New Providence, located 9 miles west of Nassau. Our relationship with the Gambier community remains strong today. In addition to Gambier, we have cultivated a relationship with the Adelaide community as well, and now partner with other clubs and even the Family Islands to bring more soccer programming to Bahamian youth. YESI has made a commitment to these children, who in turn have made a commitment to themselves to train hard, behave responsibly and most importantly, believe they can turn their dreams of a brighter future into a reality.
Happy Hall, Founder of YESI
Our Achievements
Coming soon