Three professional players and two of the smaller divisions came to the district of Independence to support the project, Playing Safe, organized by Futbol Mas Peru. 

From the year 2020, Futbol Mas is present in the neighborhood of El Ermitañothanks to the program Playing Safe. There sessions are held on the pitch of the community, promoting life skills through the game and the sport.  

The program Playing it Safe, in alliance with the Multi-Sectoral strategy Safe Neighborhood of the Ministry of the Interior, benefited by Old Dart Foundation (ODF), has the goal of that children and adolescents in contexts of social vulnerability improve their indexes of well-being and strengthen their processes of resilience and community cohesion, through the game and the sport..   

The project has been operating between 2022 and 2023 and has impacted 2396 children and adolescents from 10 neighborhoods located in Lima, Callao, Arequipa and Cusco, who, through social and sports sessions and various instances of participation, develop social and emotional skills such as resilience, frustration tolerance, leadership and assertive and respectful communication. 

In the context of the weekly sessions, five players (three professionals and two from the smaller divisions) of the Club Sporting Cristal visited the football court of the neighborhood to participate along with the children in football activities.. After receiving a warm welcome, the players entered the field where they presented themselves and put on vests from Futbol Mas, in order to start the session.  

During their introductory remarks, the players mentioned the importance of studies, mainly not to neglect them or to leave them aside and spoke of their experience as a young athlete. They also encouraged the children to be not only best in physical activity but also in the aspects of academic and personal, and that in the end it's all part of growing up.  

The purpose of the class was the recognition and expression of emotions, continued with different group activities, and finished with mini-football matches in which the players joined the celebration of the goals and held up the Green Cards. 

Both the players and the children were excited and enjoyed the visit. At the end of the session, the Green Cards were used, valuing participation and motivation of all. There was also time for taking pictures, and for the children to get signatures on t-shirts or sheets of papers they brought. 

Pictures from the day: