Campeões do Futuro arrives at João Goulart school in April 2019

On April 10, 2019, the social project Projeto Campeões do Futuro (“Future Champions”) started Taekwondo classes at João Goulart school, in Balneário Camboriú, Brazil. Mestre Paulo Ribeiro recorded the first day with a photo of children practicing blocks on the blue mats set up in a school classroom. Over the following months, the project gained the support of the city’s Social Inclusion Department and moved on to a belt exam and a tournament.

The first day

The April 10 post is straightforward: “Projeto Campeões do Futuro, João Goulart school” (Instagram). The image shows the children’s group in a line, arms raised in a guard position, in everyday clothes, without a dobok (the Taekwondo uniform), which signals the start of the work: first the child tries it, then comes the uniform.

The school, which the Mestre calls “colégio João Goulart”, is EEB João Goulart, a state school in the city. Bringing the mats into the school is the essence of the project: students do not need to travel or pay a monthly fee to get started.

Support from Social Inclusion

On April 29, the Mestre posted a photo with two of the project’s partners: “Projeto Campeões do Futuro with our coordinator Emanuelle and the Social Inclusion secretary, Cristina Barrichello. Now it’s happening...” (Instagram). The caption indicates that Balneário Camboriú’s Social Inclusion Department followed the project in 2019. The formal terms of this partnership (agreement, use of space or institutional support) were not found in any open source.

“In full swing”

A month later, on May 28, the update was positive: “Project in full swing” (Instagram). The posts do not say how many students were served, and this site does not publish children’s names.

Belt exam and tournament

On July 5, 2019, the Mestre announced the next phase: “Social project Campeões do Futuro moves forward and prepares a belt exam and an integration tournament to celebrate BC’s anniversary” (Instagram), BC being Balneário Camboriú. In three months, the children who had started without uniforms were already getting ready for their first belt promotion.

Two weeks later, on July 19, a second branch of the project, in the São Judas neighborhood, also appeared on the Mestre’s social media “bearing fruit”. That story is in the article about the São Judas neighborhood branch.

Why Taekwondo at school works

The project follows a simple logic: the martial art teaches discipline, respect and body control, and the school already brings the children together in one place. Sport in the after-school period is also a public policy with a legal basis in Brazil, as the article on after-school sport explains. Visit the page of the Campeões do Futuro project.

Want to support the project or bring it to your school?

Campeões do Futuro depends on partnerships with schools, the city government and companies. To talk about a new branch, support the project or enroll a child, message Mestre Paulo Ribeiro on Instagram @mestrepauloribeiro.