On Saturday, July 14, Zak Kaufman '08 directed a Lose the Shoes charity soccer tournament in Manhattan's Riverside Park. The event, which saw 14 three-person teams compete, helped garner an estimated $2,000 for Grassroots Soccer's campaign to provide HIV/AIDS education to sub-Saharan children.
"It ended up being a little smaller than expected, but people loved it," he said. "We got a good turnout and we made some good money too."
"It was a gorgeous day, a great day for soccer," he added.
After playing in qualifying groups, Team Sweden, comprised of Marc Lajoie '08, Kim Rocio '08 and Kelsey Helland '07, beat Trinidad and Tobago 11-5 in the single elimination finals to win a set of New York Red Bulls MLS soccer tickets. The runners-up won Grassroots Soccer t-shirts.
The tournament was played in conjunction with popular band Dispatch's reunion for a major three-day benefit concert from Friday to Sunday at Madison Square Garden to raise money to fight disease, famine and injustice in Zimbabwe.
Additionally, the Dispatch Foundation sponsored a number of different activities across the city, which included the charity soccer event, relay races and volunteer efforts at local soup kitchens.
Chad Urmston from Dispatch played three games in the Lose the Shoes tournament, including a match against past Grassroots Soccer interns.
One intern from the Dispatch Foundation worked with Kaufman to plan the soccer tournament, but Kaufman and his staff were largely responsible for putting everything together on a short notice.
"We've been working hard the last three weeks planning the event and trying to pull it off," he said.
Herr's Chips contributed bags of chips for participants, and Pugg Goals provided small pop-up goals. Other local business also chipped in by giving water and bagels to the tournament.
As the name suggests, players in the Lose the Shoes tournaments typically play games without socks or shoes. But the black rubber pellets in the FieldTurf at Riverside Park heated up quickly, and organizers allowed players to wear socks.
"It was still Lose the Shoes if you will, but not mandatory," Kaufman said.
Kaufman became involved with Grassroots Soccer part-time during his sophomore summer in 2006 and later conjured up the idea of a barefoot soccer tournament on the Green. The first Lose the Shoes event in October 2006 had 150 participants and raised $3,000, while the tournament in the Spring term raised $7,000.
Kaufman is now working to organize a nationwide movement called College Kick Aids this fall, when colleges across the U.S. will hold Lose the Shoes tournaments and related events.
"The hope is that this is a grassroots movement for Grassroots Soccer," he said.
He expects to have 25 schools hold the three-on-three charity tournament at their campuses. Twelve colleges, including Brandeis, Boston College, Williams, Amherst, Wisconsin and McGill, have already committed to participate in CKA, which will be held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.
Grassroots Soccer was founded by Tommy Clark '92, also a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School. Clark, a former Big Green soccer player, got the idea of creating a body that incorporates HIV/AIDS preventive education with the game of soccer after his own experience playing in Zimbabwe and witnessing the destructive power of HIV firsthand.
Grassroots Soccer helps teach professional soccer players from Africa a unique curriculum combining information about skills and support to live HIV- and AIDS-free with dynamic team-building, soccer-specific activities. These mentors then go to schools and communities to help educate young people about the disease.
Because many participants at the Riverside Lose the Shoes tournament were unfamiliar with the Grassroots' mission, Kaufman stopped the action in the middle of the tournament to explain the basic points of the program and curriculum.
Kaufman " a Latin America and the Caribbean health and society major and Truman Scholar " will be setting out for the Dominican Republic in a week on a Tucker Fellowship to do thesis research on the Grassroots Soccer program in a Haitian migrant community.
