Fives Futbol was started by Adam the current founder & CEO aged 18 whilst finishing high school. The World Cup was coming to South Africa in 2010 and wanting to harness the power of sport to create sustainable employment it seemed an opportune time. The plan was to build world class facilities and safe spaces to play across the country and unearth future talent in a sustainable business model.
Though naive and a full-time student at University of Nottingham (UK) meant it wasn’t going to be simple or easy! Three years, 21 trips and a degree in the bag Adam emigrated full time to South Africa to be with his hard working and dynamic team.
10 years later, Fives is the market leader with 20 venues, 60+ fields, 100+ staff and almost 50,000 people playing each month.
Acting as a platform for local NGOs as well as adjacent entrepreneurs such as coaches & restauranteurs, Fives has created direct and indirect opportunities and therefore economic value. Supported by corporates such as Adidas, Budweiser, Mcdonalds and others what were once dead rooftop or parking spaces are now full of life.
“In Africa football is not a religion but everything a religion should be”.
Fives is now pushing into the world’s fastest growing sport Padel tennis under the “Epic Padel” brand as well as launching bespoke sports management software under the “Jamm” umbrella.
Purpose
Sustainable Employment for great people where basic education isn’t a requirement.
Create opportunities to play the beautiful game safely and conveniently all over the country.
Operate as a platform for NGOs to do their fantastic work in world class and staffed sporting facilities.
Provide the identical standard of facility in both higher and lower economic environments and price accordingly.
Alignment with Guiding Principles
At the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, we invite companies of all sizes, industries, and geographies to champion our Guiding Principles for Inclusive Action and demonstrate how they contribute to meaningful change. To ensure alignment with our principles, our members are assessed by at least one reporting body, sustainability-related certificate, benchmark, rating agency or similar organization.
