Chris Westwood (then at Walsall) at the 2005/2006 presentation
Welcome to the SICM Sevens website
SICM Sevens is a seven-a-side league and is run by Sedgley International Christian Ministries. SICM is a registered charity (1057488) that works predominantly in Africa. Obviously, being a Christian organisation, there is lots of church-related work involved and so consequently we have workers on the mission field, send out Christian literature and generally do what we can to promote the good news of Jesus Christ.
But being a Christian is more than just standing in a pulpit and preaching. It's about working alongside people and doing everything that we can to touch every area of their lives, which is why we take a holistic approach to ministry. The photographs on the left of the page include a school under construction in Tanzania and a well in Uganda. Both of these are recent SICM projects that we undertook in rural Africa where the people are very poor and are desperate for whatever help they can get.
And this is where SICM Sevens fits in. We run it as a charity league, and once the pitch hire, referee fees and trophies have been paid for, the surplus goes directly into SICM. In the 2006/2007 season we raised over £1,500 which is a fair amount of money in this country, but in Africa it can go an incredible way. During our end-of-season trophy presentation we do a short talk and show some recent photographs of what is going on and this is always well received. Players not only get to have a game of football but they also directly affect lives in Africa as well.
SICM Sevens isn't a 'Christian' league in the sense that you have to go to church to be able to play, although it is run with a strong Christian ethos. In fact, although the majority of the teams are church-based, a good 60-70% of players have no church connection at all. We think that is excellent because it gives the opportunity for the church to show what it is really about. There are many people who have such a negative view of Christianity that the thought of Christians playing football is an alien concept! Well, we're just glad to be able to challenge that idea and show that we can have both a faith in Christ and enjoy the beautiful game at the same time.