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By Allie Horwitz Members from each FSF team reading the Peace Games opening remarks “On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect.” –UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Yesterday Fútbol Sin Fronteras Granada hosted the fourth annual Copa de la Paz (Peace Cup) on a cloudless Saturday. The event marked a commemoration of the United Nations' International Day of Peace, a day observed around the world devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace. The day also celebrated the development of women’s soccer in Nicaragua and served as a positive barometer of its continued growth. With a record-breaking attendance of 17 teams, the Copa de la Paz marked one of the most popular girls soccer tournaments in Nicaraguan history on a special day to celebrate peace and development. After an early start and a boisterous bus ride with all FSF participants, the Cup began with a short parade into San Matias, where the tournament was held. In the opening ceremony, a member of Fútbol Sin Fronteras from each group spoke briefly about the day’s history and how the Peace Cup had come to be a significant day for girls' soccer in Nicaragua. With music blaring, the Cup kicked off around 9:30am, each team playing several “group stage” games. The tournament was split into three brackets-Moskitos (ages 6-9), Infantil A (ages 9-13) and Infantil B (ages 13-16). The three divisions made for great parity, with most games within a goal and several ties. In the end, the semi-finals of the two older groups were decided on penalty kicks. In the finals, the Mariposas Juniors won with a score of 1-0 off a goal from Milagros in the Moskito category. In the next age group, the Mariposas Seniors beat Diocesano 2-0 with goals from Rosa and Mariangeles “Male”. In the oldest group, Cofradia, a team from Masaya, beat el Escudo from Granada 1-0. Each winning team celebrated wildly when they received their medals and their Cup at the day’s end. A memorable day for girls' soccer in Nicaragua, for Fútbol Sin Fronteras and for the entire community who joined in this celebration of peace, September 21 was a success by all accounts. We look forward to continued growth of women’s soccer and lasting peace in Nicaragua and globally.

Our SWB programs in the US and abroad celebrated the Day of the Girl, which was on October 11, 2013. They marked the occasion by honoring girls and women in their communities and throughout the world in different and exciting ways! Here are some highlights of those meaningful celebrations that were held in Boston, MA and in Kampala Uganda: Boston By: Hana Chamoun East Boston had a fantastic time celebrating the Day of the Girl! We had both girls and boys gather at the WIC to learn about this global movement. I was so incredibly proud of the individuals who showed up The Day of the Girl was created by the UN and it is a day meant to recognize girls’ rights, understand the unique challenges girls face around the world, and celebrate girls for all that is special about them! The theme for our day was Celebration! The 3 learning points we focused on were: Why are we here today? Who are we celebrating? Why are we celebrating Girls? As part of our celebration, we watched videos about girls who are brave, strong, and bold. Katy Perry started us off with her UNICEF video, to the tune of her hit song ROAR. This video showed girls from all over the world, many of whom were in classrooms celebrating this important day. Katy Perry is actively involved in the movement. Even though we couldn’t get her to come to East Boston for our celebration, it was fun to have her for a little time. Next, we watched a video from Girls Inc, an organization that promotes girls rights to be themselves. Each girl on the video describes who they are, and why they are strong, smart, and bold. Our girls felt like they were very similar to the girls, and it was cool to see these girls express such self-confidence. Last, but certainly not least, we learned about Malala, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who is an activist for female education. She bravely stood up against the Taliban and asserted her belief that girls deserve the same right to go to school. The man who interviewed her was so impressed by her that he even asked to adopt her! We saw how proud and supportive he was and then talked about how boys and men are absolutely crucial in the support of girls and women, and should be equally appreciated! Next we made collages about girls and women that have inspired and touched our lives. These collages were meant to show why the selected woman was chosen, why she was special, and what she had accomplished. Many people chose their moms, but other people chose women they thought were inspirational, such as Ellen DeGeneres and Harriet Tubman. The collages were all well done and we then shared in groups the similarities and differences we saw. For a lot of us, it helped us to understand and appreciate the woman that we chose better than we had before. Everyone got to take home their collages and share them with their families. Finally, the special surprise treat was Coach Larkin’s Day of the Girl themed cookies that were totally delicious. Overall, it was a really important and special day, and I am glad we got to celebrate it together! Kampala: By: Amy Howard Happy International Day of the Girl from Soccer Without Borders Uganda! For the past 3 weeks, we have divided our Life Skills classes into a boy's class and a girl's class. We thought it would be very crucial to create a space for our girls to discuss with them the importance of being a strong woman, a confident woman, and the importance of education. During each Life Skills lesson with the girls, we discussed different topics that are important for women today. Our girls were split into groups, with the oldest leading talks about a healthy lifestyle, the importance of education, and what it means to express yourself. We also has the girls write, draw, and sketch about their individual passions, and things they want to accomplish during their lives. To top it all off, we worked together to find words that describe themselves, as well as words that describe female role models in their lives. We used these words and the excitement of our girls to create our own "Day of the Girl" video, which we showed to the entire organization! In our boys' Life Skills classes, Coach Turner discussed some of our great leaders in society, both men and women. He allowed the boys to discuss the traits of admirable men and women, as well as express themselves and their own passions through art. All of these things led up to what our girls had been waiting for… DAY OF THE GIRL! On this beautiful Thursday, our girls came in their "smartest" outfits, and were ready for a day all about them. The girls started by reading "The Girl Declaration." The declaration was split up, and each of our girls read a section of the declaration in English. This was a very powerful moment, as the girls had taken their individual parts home the previous two nights and practiced with their friends and family. It was a great success, and we have never been so proud of our girls for standing up confidently and speaking loudly in front of all of the coaches, teachers, and boys! After, we were very honored to have Dr. Alice Kagoda, a professor at nearby Makerere University join us. She delivered our students an incredible message on the importance of hard work and education. Directly after Dr. Kagoda spoke, we played our "Day of the Girl" video, which was put to the song Brave, by Sara Bareilles. Our girls and boys loved the video, and had a blast watching it on a big screen using a projector! Finally, we ended our group activities by playing a "charades" type of game in which the girls acted out different scenarios, and the boys had to guess what was happening! All of our participants had a great time, and girls did a great job stepping up and working together to make it easy for the boys to guess. Although the Day of the Girl for 2013 has passed, we hope to continue to remind our participants of these important lessons, and to continue to help them grow and learn as people using both education and sport!

Hofstra University will award an honorary degree to Brazilian and New York Cosmos soccer legend Pelé for his humanitarian work and contributions to the sport during an international conference examining the historical, political, and economic impact of the game, Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz announced this week. Pelé, named “The Player of the 20th Century” by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, and one of the “100 Most Influential People of the Century” by TIME magazine, also will be honored with a plaque in Hofstra University’s soccer stadium. Pelé is the honorary president of the New York Cosmos, the team he led to a championship almost 40 years ago. The Cosmos are the reigning 2013 NASL champions and play at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium. The conference, “Soccer as the Beautiful Game: Football’s Artistry, Identity & Politics”, will bring together more than 100 scholars, journalists, players and coaches from 25 countries on April 10-13, 2014 for one of the largest academic symposia ever convened about the sport in the United States. It is being presented in collaboration with more than a dozen academic and sports institutions, including the Cosmos, the Consulates General of South Africa and Brazil in New York and the United States Soccer Federation, which last year celebrated its 100th anniversary. Hofstra History professors Dr. Brenda Elsey and Dr. Stanislao Pugliese are co-directors. Topics will include women and soccer; soccer and philanthrophy; the semiotics, history and governance of the game; how the sport is represented in art and literature; and its influence on religion and cultural identity. Read more and join SWB at the Soccer and Philanthropy panel on Saturday, April 12, 11:30am-1:00pm.

By: Cat Webster, Team Leader Back to school is always an exciting time, and as schools opened up their doors last week, FSF Granada had even more to celebrate. Fourteen girls from the Mariposa Seniors, Estrellas, and FC Sweet Lake were selected in the first class of secondary school scholarship recipients. The selected girls are provided with a package of school supplies and uniforms, monthly tuition, and an advisor with whom they will meet twice weekly. The tuition payment also makes it possible for girls to switch schools, even to private schools or morning classes, freeing them up to participate further in SWB activities. What's more, the benefits of this program extend past the fourteen participants selected. All girls will be able to trade attendance points for school supplies and uniforms in addition to soccer equipment. They will also have access to specific homework hours in our office, which provides access to computers, internet, and additional school and art supplies. While scholarships are currently offered only to girls in secondary school, the younger teams are aware and excited about the program as well, and are eager to earn their "beca" in the future. The education program has been in the imagination and planning phase for several years, but was only recently brought to life by an incredibly generous donation. Program leadership collaborated to identify the issues that girls struggle against when trying to stay in school, and researched other local and international scholarship programs to see how the program can effectively combat these issues. They used their local contacts to find the best way to go about uniform selection and tuition payment, and worked together to distribute applications, hold parent meetings, and select the best participants. The scholarship criteria focused both on the participant’s economic need and on her qualities as an “active and complete participant” in FSF- dedicated, humble, honest, and hardworking (among many others). Mariposa Sr. coach Cesar Morales begins a new role as Education Program Coordinator. Coaches Hassell Chavez and Helen Ramirez will serve as the advisors to scholarship recipients. Each will meet with seven becadas (scholarship recipients) weekly, and will provide homework assistance and counseling on potential school issues. Their unique position as former participants turned coaches will help them to be strong role models for the girls, and we look forward to watching them grow in this role. Finally, Coach Estefan Bolanos will lead the uniform and school supply exchanges, and all coaches will play a role in raising awareness about the program as well as selecting future recipients. This program represents Soccer Without Borders’ increased focus on our participants’ growth as students as well as citizens and soccer players and we are so grateful for the opportunity to deepen our educational impact, while playing a larger role in supporting academic success! "With education, I want to be a good citizen and be able to help other young people." -Jacqueline (Estrellas),14 years old, Grade 9no. "As an adult, I want to be a pediatrician and with education I want to acquire knowledge, habits, and skills that will allow me to develop into a more comprehensive person." - Michelle (Sweet Lake), 12 years old, Grade 8vo.