Playing (Soccer) For Change in Nicaragua

Friends,

This week, we had the honor of celebrating 10 years of impact at Soccer Without Borders Nicaragua. There are few words to describe a decade, but we hope that the project reports, Facebook posts, stories, blogs, and videos over the years have helped paint the picture of the collective journey to build a unique educational and impactful space for girls in Granada and beyond. Thank you for being a part of this impact. 

As we look ahead to new communities in Nicaragua where girls do not yet have these opportunities, we believe that the ripple of impact has only begun. Right now, we are just a handful of donations away from securing our place in the Girl Fund, which would unlock funding that would help us build on the legacy of programming in Granada by expanding our reach to more girls in Nicaragua. If you haven't already supported the campaign (we aren't able to segment this report list), which ends on Thursday, March 15th, please consider voting for Soccer Without Borders with a donation of $10 for 10 years. If you have already voted, THANK YOU! Any help in spreading the word would be much appreciated.

To commemorate this milestone, on International Women's Day over 150 girls from our program headed to Managua to watch our volunteer coaches from Penn State Women's Soccer take on the Nicaraguan Women's National Team. The game was live streamed on Facebook and was live on national public television, making it one of the most watched women's sports events in Nicaragua ever. Accessible female athlete role models are a key factor in retaining girls in sport, which leads to many other mental and physical health, social, and educational benefits for girls.

Following the game, on Saturday March 10th, we celebrated 10 years with a series of friendly matches between our Granada teams, and a citywide celebration in Calle Santa Lucia, including a Zumbathon that had the whole community up on its feet.

Muchisimas gracias for all of your support, for reading this report, and for your part in building the program that today has a 97% academic advancement rate from one grade to the next, 4 university scholarship recipients, 33 secondary school scholarship recipients, and has seen 10 different girls make the national team. Onward we go!

With Gratitude,

The Soccer Without Borders Team