Casablanca Hosts Youth Football Seminar by inDrive and Burger King

Casablanca recently hosted a unique football press conference, diverging from typical approaches to shed light on an aspect often overlooked by media: grassroots football as played in neighborhoods and open spaces, far from official frameworks and professional pathways.

The seminar, organized by the inDrive project with support from Burger King Morocco, gave a platform to four young players, making them the central focus of the discussion instead of the usual technical speeches and statistics common in sports events.

The most significant moment of the seminar came with a simple question posed to the four players: “Why do you play football?” The children's answers did not touch upon professionalism or titles, but rather focused on playing after school, sharing time with friends, and finding spaces to train. This spontaneously highlighted the difference between grassroots football and organized football.

The four players are part of the inDrive project, which aims to support 100 young players across various regions of Morocco by providing essential sports equipment. The initiative is based on a well-known reality within the football system: an abundance of talent coupled with limited resources and support in the early stages.

The participants were not chosen as exceptional talents or early professional prospects, but because they represent a widespread model of children who play street and neighborhood football, often without technical guidance or regular follow-up, driven solely by passion.

The seminar also featured clips from a short film made with the players, which highlighted moments far from the stereotypical image of football, such as concentration before a shot, hesitation, and simple mistakes. This approach reflected the reality of initial training rather than seeking spectacular shots.

Faten Bennani Mezian, inDrive's Country Director in Morocco, affirmed that the project does not aim to predict players' paths or guide them towards professionalism, but rather to provide simple support at a sensitive age, where encouragement is a crucial factor for continuity.

For her part, Rita Jawa, Marketing Director at Burger King Morocco, emphasized that the initiative is part of supporting grassroots football and redirecting attention to the early stages of playing the game, where the football foundation is built away from the spotlight.

The seminar concluded with the distribution of campaign shirts, sports equipment, and symbolic financial support, without any celebratory fanfare, indicating that the initiative focuses on action more than rhetoric.

In a football context where talents are often discovered before they are formally developed, the inDrive initiative serves as a reminder that football begins in the streets, and true investment involves listening to and supporting the new generation in their early stages.