Clapton CFC men’s team player Prince Kwakye will miss this weekend’s friendly for a very good reason.

Kwakye will be taking part in a gruelling 12-hour football marathon tournament in Brighton – the equivalent of eight full-length games back to back.

During that time, the average player can expect to run over 40km – about the same as the London Marathon.

Last year, fellow CCFC midfielder Paul Oshin took part and reached the final of the competition in London, so no pressure, Prince…

It’s in aid of TackleAfrica, who partner with local organisations to provide football coaching courses to local coaches.

TA then supports the coaches to deliver the specially designed drills that help young people visualise and understand key sexual health and reproductive rights including around HIV, AIDS & FGM.

Young people are supported to practice the skills and gain the confidence needed to make safe decisions to support themselves, their families and their communities.

TA’s work has been shown to have a big impact in the communities they work in.

Over 15,000 young people have engaged with voluntary HIV testing through their programmes, and this year alone they’ve reached over 20,000 people, across 12 African countries.

But more still needs to be done. According to UN, AIDS remains the leading cause of death among young people (aged 10-24) in Africa.

Prince and his fellow fundraisers would appreciate any donation and it will make the blisters, cramps, fallen off toenails, broken knees and ankles, pulled hamstring, tears and sunstroke worth it.

You can sponsor Prince here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/footballmarathon20

You can read more about Tackle Africa’s work here: http://tackleafrica.org/.