Soccer Without Borders Nicaragua
T.E.A.M. Granada
Quick Links: http://swbnicaragua.blogspot.com
Project Partners: Nicaraguan Football Federation, Nicaraguan Institute for Sport
Project Summary: T.E.A.M. Granada aims to empower girls through soccer opportunities and life-skills education to meet their potential personally, athletically and in their communities.
Programming:
T.E.A.M. (Trabajando en Equipo Aprendemos Mas) Granada aims to provide opportunities for girls to play soccer, meet and interact with peers, and enjoy the benefits associated with team sports. Through themed nights at the office, soccer practices, and an annual camp, girls develop key skills and a sense of belonging in a community that does not always offer them that opportunity.
The rules of T.E.A.M. Granada are simple:
1) Respect yourself, Respect each other
2) Dream Big
3) Challenge yourself, challenge each other
4) Have fun
Though the schedule has changed over time, this is the current weekly schedule:
Tuesday: 2:00pm Coaches meeting, 3:00pm Skills practice
Wednesday: 4:30pm Directors meeting, 5:30pm Girls' night
Thursday: 4:30pm Directors meeting, 5:30pm Language night
Friday: 4:30pm Directors meeting, 5:30pm Arts and Crafts or Movie night
Saturday: 8:00am Coaches meeting, 9:30am Practice, 11:30am Point exchanges for equipment
Background Information: Due to a commonly held cultural perspective that sports are for men, few opportunities and even fewer resources exist for girls to play. Without role models, encouraging coaches, parents, or proper equipment, most girls lose interest in sports at a time in their development when the physical, mental, and social benefits would be most powerful.
The Nicaraguan Football Federation officially recognized the Women’s National League for the first time in 2008, due in large part to the hard work of Dailia Lopez, a former player and strong female figure. Still, even at the highest level of women’s soccer in the country, players lack appropriate footwear and clothing, coaches are untrained or unpaid, teams practice with a single ball, and games are canceled for lack of resources to travel. While these financial obstacles are common on the men’s side as well, there is a distinct gap between what is available to men versus women.
Not surprisingly, at the girls youth level there are hardly any opportunities to speak of. Most girls do not own any shoes apart from sandals and their leather school shoes, and do not own clothing that is comfortable to run in.
Project History: T.E.A.M. Granada was formally founded on March 14, 2009 after operating for 13 months informally as SWB outreach. Since its launch, through organizing and providing support for the first-ever Granada girls’ youth soccer league, teaching gym classes, hosting tournaments, running an annual camp, T.E.A.M. Granada has reached over 2,000 youth.
Project Vision:
The objectives of Soccer Without Borders in Nicaragua are the following:
* Create and sustain opportunities for girls’ soccer
* Train coaches
* Host educational activities for girls
* Provide soccer equipment to the community
* Develop partnerships with other key actors
* Provide employment opportunities for local youth