Girl Power!

In Enabling Leadership's Just For Kicks program, girls are enabled to become tomorrow's leaders through the medium of football (soccer). They learn to believe in themselves and are empowered to work together in a team to accomplish their goals. They learn to respect themselves and that they can be fierce and strong and defend themselves against oppression and aggression. They learn to overcome discouragement and stigma; they get a chance to pursue their dreams.

In my travels and living abroad I have noticed that in developing countries, especially in rural India, we have still such along way to go toward building gender equality. While teaching English to migrant workers' children in an informal village school, I was often discouraged by hearing that so-and-so's parents wouldn't let her continue beyond a certain point because she was needed at home and that she would be "married off" pretty soon anyway. This hurts not only the girls who become women but the community as a whole. 

I've had the opportunity to stay active, fit, and strong through sports and I understand the sense of empowerment that brings. I want to support that opportunity for girls in underdeveloped places to experience that as well, especially in areas in which the female voice is not strongly heard, if heard at all.

You can join me in my goal of sponsoring a team of 10 girls by sponsoring one (or more) of those individual girls yourself.  For each girl, $120  will provide jerseys, socks, shoes, shin pads, quality coaching and participation in a league. Let's give a few girls a leg up!

FYI: A set of sponsors covers Enabling Leadership's operational costs, so 100% of our money goes to the funding of these girls' soccer costs.