By Justin Forzano and Nenne Ekoi | CEO and Communications Director
"This football tournament is something the town of Kumba - even beyond, to the whole Southwest Region of Cameroon - has never seen before. It is inspiring to see the community support this initiative of CFDP. It has truly elevated women's sports to a new level."
- Divisional Delegate of Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, Meme Division
The crowd gathered around the field at GPS Kumba Town as the referee blew the whistle to kick off the final match in the first-ever Holiday tournament for girls in Kumba. By this point, news of the activities on the playing grounds had spread around town and many ventured to the field to see what all the excitement was about. The girls played 11 vs. 11 for a full 90 minutes, just like the Indomitable Lionesses will do this summer at the Womens World Cup in Canada. Two teams, Kumba Lakers and Brescia FC, emerged to play in the final, from the total of four girls' squads who participated in the two-week long event.
Of course, this tournament was about more than winning. In the weeks leading up to the campaign, the girls trained with their coaches on the "CFDP method" for playing football (soccer). This means incorporating all of the things they work on in practice right into the game: preparation with appropriate warm-ups, life skills topics such as self-respect, confidence, and empowerment, tested by the referee before the start of the match, good sportsmanship, or "sports-womanship" as we like to call it, and fairplay during the match.
When Game Day finally came around, the girls found themeselves in a position to elevate their own status, and that of all women in the community, leading by example and creating awareness about social issues through football. Spectators learned how the girls felt about certain issues through the motivational statements they read before each match.
After 90 minutes, the championship was decided and the Kumba Lady Lakers came out with the win and joyously celebrated victory! In this case, the celebrations were about more than winning a single came. This tournament represents a new level of sporting achievement for young women and girls in Cameroon. What started with your support of this project last year has paved the way for a more engaging approach to girls' empowerment through sport in Kumba in 2015. We remain grateful to our supporters who believe in the power of sport to change the world.
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