SHAPA SOWETO is Nike's new multi-disciplinary center in South Africa

An active generation means a healthier and more equal future for everybody. Nike believes it and for this reason, is constantly developing initiatives that help make the sport more accessible and inclusive. One of the brand's most exciting projects aimed at giving local communities a safe space to play and do sports is SHAPA SOWETO, a new training center in South Africa. 

Before SHAPA, we knew that we could help provide access to sport for young people in the area, but we didn’t have the proper infrastructure. No place to train was the main barrier we faced. SHAPA is what we needed. - Explained Caster Semenya, a middle distance runner who is seeing her dream of making running and education more accessible to underprivileged youth come true - Now that it’s back, young people will be able to surround themselves with the right people and the right structure to explore different sports.

Opened in the summer of 2010 as a world-class soccer training facility, it was based on a fairly simple approach using matches and training as a vehicle to inspire youth and bring them closer to educational and social issues such as HIV/AIDS. The facility's unique mix of public and private partnerships helped not only create a world-class training ground for more than 20,000 young soccer players, but turned SHAPA into a true multi-disciplinary hub that includes spaces dedicated to basketball, athletics, training, dance, judo and skateboarding in addition to soccer. All disciplines that more than 300 children will be able to learn by following the Active Afterschools program, part of the Nike Made to Play project.