Support 500 girls in India through football!

2022-23 saw just over 2500 girls back in our football program and on the football field. After a 2-year gap, the joy and enthusiasm in our students was beyond description. 2580 girls across 6 cities and 3 rural sites (40 villages) had an average session attendance rate of 77%. Your support helped us hire 103 coaches to work with 2580 girls (and equal number of boys), training them in girls' and mixed-gender teams. 

The adolescent girls (especially adolescent girls who are changing physically, emotionally and mentally) we work with face formidable obstacles:

• Poverty
• Patriarchal customs and traditions
• Distance of  schools from home
• Physical insecurity, molestation and rape
• Child marriage and related factors that restrict girls access to education

Over the years, however, we have seen girls taking ownership for their own growth and showing grit, hard work and discipline to excel on the ground and in school. It has been a privilege and an amazing experience for us bringing football especially to rural communities, changing mindsets and helping girl athletes develop a passion for the sport and fulfill their potential. 

Some highlights of our football program in 2022-23:

• Football for girls is not seen as taboo here anymore. Parents encourage their daughters to participate and practice regularly. This mindset change of letting girls explore opportunities is game changing and will have a positive long-term impact on the girls, their families and communities.
• Parents who, till now hesitated to let their daughters travel out of their villages, have been supportive of sending them out-station to participate in football tournaments, girl athletes network events, etc. The exposure and learning the athletes get from this experience is life changing for them.. 
• Impact assessments, year on year, have shown that girls are growing in all areas of leadership skill development
• Dharwad girls teams have consistently won in the Annual Just for Kicks National-level matches against city teams
• Champions are beginning to emerge.  One  of the girls Under-14 teams from Dharwad district (Rural) - Government Higher Primary School Govanakoppa - has been outstanding. The team went from winning at the district-level to finishing Runners-Up at the State-level. 1 team member has been selected for the Under-14 at the National Level. 

This is an outstanding achievement coming from a group of girls whose parents were hesitant to even let them play football 3 years back. The confidence that this has built in the girls and the aspirations of other girls, who see them as role models, will go a long way.

• Entire village communities and even other local organisations have come together to recognise and celebrate our young girl champions
• Sports has given the communities a platform to realise their daughters’ potential.

We are seeing the power of the sport shape the lives of our girl students and slowly, but steadily, change mindsets of the communities around them 

Another highlight of 2022-23 was ELevate, our flagship national event. Every team participated and competed in their regional league matches across India. The winners of each regional league met in Mumbai for a 2-day national league where they competed for the national titles in various categories (sub-juniors, juniors and seniors). For most of our students, traveling out of their communities and vilalges, was a first-time experience. Whether they won the national titles or not, the exposure and learnings they went home with will stay with them forever.

 Your generous support has helped us bring a high quality 'football for leadership' program to thousands of girls across India. And the impact is clear. We hope you will continue to support our students and help us reach more girls in the years ahead. 

A big thank you from every young footballer at Enabling Leadership!!