The Chronicle
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
Nine Bulawayo women’s football clubs were gifted with training bibs and soccer balls after attending a four-day leadership summit run by an international non-governmental organisation, Goals for Girls.
Street Sets, Mountain Climbers, Mzilikazi High School, Four Cs, Lobengula City Queens, Western Rangers, City Rovers, Ubuntu Rovers and Lile Academy, each received three match balls and bibs from Goals for Girls.
The four-day summit facilitated by former Highlanders’ midfielder Nhanhla ‘Mookie’ Dube ended on Friday at St Columba’s High School in Makokoba, Bulawayo.
Street Sets founder Lee Mangena said the equipment was a bonus to the girls, who benefited from the inaugural seminar.
Some of the participants at the recently held Goals for Girls leadership seminar“The four-day summit was a shot in the arm to Street Sets, as the girls enjoyed the event and learnt a lot. We were gifted with equipment, footballs and bibs. We would like to thank the organisers for giving us the opportunity to attend this summit, which will go a long way in cementing our future as a football club,” Mangena said.
Goals for Girls was formed in the United States of America in 2007 and uses football as a tool to teach young women to help change their communities.
Mayfield Daka, the summit coordinator, said besides balls and bibs, participants will embark on a series of projects to be reviewed after six months.
Some of the projects that the girls will embark on include community clean-up programmes and drug abuse awareness.
Moreblessing Cleo, an official from Lobengula City Queens, said: “We’re grateful for the football equipment and above all, empowerment of girls through the life skills they received during the four days. The girls were taught about discipline and now understand that as role models in their communities, they should be exemplary. They were also given projects to do which should be ready for review after six months.”
Khonzani Ncube from Mzilikazi High School said the girls were taught the importance of self-hygiene, encouraged to abstain from sex and having multiple sex partners as they will be exposing themselves to HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections as well as teenage pregnancy.
“Girls learnt that they should spend their time doing productive things like studying. If not studying at home they should help their parents with house chores. They also learnt that playing football is a way they can sustain themselves. The girls also learnt to do projects in their community as a way of giving back to the community and encouraging their peers to do the same,” said Ncube.
Dube said before setting up a permanent base and running more programmes in Zimbabwe, they will evaluate the inaugural seminar. – @ZililoR
Article Source: The Chronicle