Goals for Girls Football tournament ends
Glen View 1 High Girls win, hail Life Skills training
Harare, October 19, 2009: Omega Mupini, a form 2 student at Glen View 1 High, scored a brace to ensure her school triumphed over Mufakose High to win the inaugural U.S. Embassy-sponsored ‘Goals for Girls’ football tournament in Harare last Saturday.
For Omega (14), who capped a fine performance at the tournament with nine beautiful goals, the event was more than just football for the girls.
The part- time Glen View Queens' star attributes her team’s success to team work and experience.
Omega, along with 160 students from Mufakose 1 High, Dzivarasekwa 2 High, Morgan High, Zengeza 1 High, Vainona, Oriel Girls High and Seke 1 High received life skills training from representatives of the Family Support Trust and Justice for Children Trust during the course of the tournament. The life skills sessions connected the players with representatives of youth assistance organizations so the players could learn about young women’s health and personal rights.
For their dominance on the field of play, her team received a full kit, some bibs, and soccer balls after winning against Mufakose High.
Presenting the awards at the conclusion of the tournament, Karen Freeman, director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said her organisation would like to see more events that promote the participation of young women, encouraging the youth to take sports seriously.
“When it comes to formal programs, girls don’t get involved as much as boys do, and that’s changing, and we are really proud in the development community that I represent to be able to participate today,” she told the girls.
The event drew participation from the Zimbabwe Olympic Academy, the National Association of School Headmasters (NASH) and U.S. Embassy officials as well as teachers and parents from the participating schools.
“So it is very important for me to particularly encourage you all to stay involved in sports, stay involved in the friendships you are developing, stay involved in school,” said the USAID Director, whose organization is providing support to more than 55,000 Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Harare and Matabeleland South province.
A recent study by the Faculty of Physical Education and Research at the University of Alberta in Canada found that the girls involved in sport learned to manage conflict like grown-ups. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (05/2008) says that research shows that girls who play sport at least four hours a week are 60 percent less likely to suffer from breast cancer than other girls. Researchers have found that girls who play team sports like soccer develop a higher level of self confidence and self esteem, they learn to work with each other and they learn to be leaders.
Through sports, a number of Zimbabwean students have earned scholarships to study at U.S. colleges and universities, noted Andrew Posner, Acting Public Affairs Officer.
“This program started with the idea that sports diplomacy is very important, and young girls want to participate and compete at the highest level.
“In the lead up to the 2010 World Cup, the program hopes to capture the spirit of Zimbabwean youth and contribute to the development of football in the country,” says Posner.
Eight schools-representing the best at each of Harare’s eight zones participated in a round-robin tournament. Each of the eight participating teams received a ball, some bibs and cones.
Omega says she will stay in school and promises to score more goals in 2010, pleading the case for another edition of the Goals for Girls football tournament next year because “it helps develop my discipline. That is good,” she says.
Ends...