.Soccer is an extremely popular sport and pastime in Zambia, serving as an important way to bring the community together. Dazzle has supported a local soccer team that was formed in 2017, the Mimbulu Soccer Academy. The name “Mimbulu” means “wild dogs”, and through supporting this team, the community has begun to love this extremely endangered species. The team was started and is run by members of the Zambian Carnivore Program and is known locally as “The Pack”. After each game, the athletes engage the audience in conversations about the negative impacts of snare wire poaching and littering and teach the local community how vulnerable carnivores are to poaching and other threats.
The team was promoted twice in just two seasons and is now playing the provincial elite league. This massive performance is not only a win in soccer but a win for conservation, as the team uses every game played to sensitize the community to conservation problems.
At the close of last season, Mimbulu had more than 100,000 fans across Eastern Province who either watch the games live or listen as the games together with other conservation messages are aired live on a local radio station. It is the first soccer team to achieve this in the valley and everyone loves to see Mimbulu win. Every goal Mimbulu scores is called a conservation goal!