A Pitch Creating Clean Drinking Water

adidas and Common Goal partner up to support a South African environmental and educational project 

In the mining region of Marikana, South Africa, many towns are facing high levels of pollution and lack of access to clean drinking water – challenges that adidas and Common Goal’s move for the planet global activation is seeking to address.

Through Common Goal Community Organisation SAFE-HUB, funds will see the construction of an environmentally sustainable five-a-side pitch with an integrated pitch water capture and purification system.

The water capture system could mean up to 17 million litres of clean drinking water per year and the project will also see a sustainable management system and an education and awareness raising element – meaning that sports infastructure creation will combine with sports-based environmental life skills.

“The first time I visited the close-knit community of Marikana, was shortly after the 2012 Marikana massacre,” said Nomawethu Sokoyi, National Development Precinct Manager.

“Safe-Hub’s holistic development programme is a great initiative that will contribute to reviving hope and evolution in the lives of the people of Marikana.”

The project builds on three core actions.

Turning recycled materials into sports infrastructure:

`The Safe-Hub: Football for Clean Communities´ will enable the construction of an environmentally sustainable five-a-side football pitch, which will have an integrated rainwater collection system and a purification system that can produce up to 17 million litres of drinking water per year. Through this, up to 200 families and a nearby school will have access to potable water.

The constructed pitch will be a "spoke" site to the larger Marikana precinct SAFE-HUB is currently developing together with other partners.

The installation of the main pitch and the water purification system was concluded in May 2024.

Sustainable management process:

Along with the facility, the project wants to enable people from the local community to take charge of their future. Therefore, a recycling system is set up for the Safe-Hub operations, to involve programme participants in: waste collection, learning about different types of waste and its impact on the environment, sorting waste, and waste value chains.

Education on environmental sustainability and sports: 

The organisation will develop an education programme called EduFootball that will run at the sports infrastructure. This programme aims to educate young people about environmental practices, including climate and waste-related activities.