Project Summary: In one of the largest shantytowns of Argentina, Soccer Without Borders supports a soccer team that focuses on teaching girls self-confidence and teamwork.   Our coaching staff holds bi-weekly soccer practices with the 20 girls who range in age from 10 to 16 years old.   In 2009, one of the girls from our team qualified to be part of a World Cup for youth living in poverty, and she was the only girl selected to be on Argentina’s youth team.

Background Information: The team is from Villa 31 in the center of Buenos Aires where approximately 20,000 families live in harsh conditions. The neighborhood is often referred to as “villa de emergencia” or “villa miseria”. The area is unpaved, filled with muddy patches, and residents piece together substandard houses with scrap materials. The neighborhood stands directly behind the central train and bus stations that link the capital to the rest of the country. Many of the city’s poorly paid laborers reside here, unable to afford the high rental costs of the Buenos Aires marketplace.

When asked about the obstacles that girls face in their neighborhood, the players rattle off a rapid list encompassing drugs, alcohol, teen-age pregnancy, violence, and prostitution. Players talk about siblings battling drug addiction, absent fathers, and a fear of what the future holds for them.

Project History: The team was founded in 2007 by Allison Lasser who was a graduate student living in Buenos Aires.  She worked to pull together weekly practices with the girls and partnered with a group of women in the US to make sure that team would have the support to continue when she left.  Now, the team is coached by Monica Santino and also has the backing of Democracia Representativa, a local non-profit which helps to build community support and awareness of the program.

Project Successes:

Not only has Soccer Without Borders built an incredible girls soccer team, we have also created a safe space where our players can talk openly about their lives and the challenges they face.

We have asked the girls how it feels to be part of a soccer team – Yesica, a member of the team, speaks about her new found self-confidence and how her neighborhood peers look up to her because she is member of a formal soccer team that receives coaching. Other girls have mentioned how their relationships with their mothers have improved and for the first time, feel their mothers are proud of them. During weekly team discussions, players speak of how playing soccer keeps them away from other distractions, helps them learn the importance of resolving disputes without violence, and requires of them to learn to be more responsible.