There is a city in Africa where football is no longer just a thing for men. In Yaoundé (Cameroon), girls train and dream of becoming professional soccer players, although for most, becoming a star is not the most important thing.
In reality, what it is about is having the opportunity to choose a path in a country where the possibilities of growing up in the world of sports are slim, even more so if you are a girl. “In Cameroon, a girl who wants to play at an early age cannot because she does not have a structure that allows her to do so every weekend,” explains Tresor Penku, LaLiga delegate in Central Africa. He is one of the people involved in a pioneering initiative – LaLiga de la Igualdad – that seeks to give air to female talent in this sport.
This is a project of the NGO Petrichor and LaLiga, through its Foundation and its Women’s Football Directorate. A collaboration built from the hope of giving more than 200 girls the possibility of being part of a true soccer league and enjoying all aspects of the sport.
That all this happens in Cameroon has a special value, due to the references: “The country of Roger Milla, and Samuel Eto’o has had the grace to benefit from such an initiative,” says Marlyse Tombi A Kouny, a social worker involved in the project. which points to the benefits it can bring in the short term “because football has long been considered a man’s thing. We will have the opportunity to form our school and see them grow and evolve in different clubs,” she values.
Benefits that can also be extended to any sphere of girls’ lives. Sport acts as a barrier that keeps them away from some of the evils that threaten them (drugs, theft, prostitution, etc.). “We are convinced that this is the beginning of a great path for women’s football in Cameroon,” confesses Penku.
From February to May, five under-13 and under-15 teams participate in LaLiga de la Igualdad. The competition is a formula to promote women’s football as an instrument of equal opportunities and the development of more than just budding footballers. Not everyone wants to be a soccer player, but everyone wants to be someone. “Players or presidents,” Penku points out and adds: “What it is about is that, if they want to play, they can play and feel free to do so.”
“This project has a very pedagogical basis. “We are not looking for stars, but for development in values,” shares the LaLiga representative who co-directs the project together with Jordan Cone and Paul Dreisbach, directors of Petrichor.
Specifically, Values ??to Win, the training methodology created by the LaLiga FOUNDATION that they have extended to the more than 40 Cameroonian coaches who participate. “We wanted to do a more complete project, providing training to women who want to develop their career in football, giving them a more professional context,” Penku clarifies.
A league whose seed had to be found a year and a half ago, although since 2017 the local NGO has been – in the words of the LaLiga delegate – “taking women’s football very seriously.” When Penku met one of the founders of Petrichor, he saw it clearly: the possibility of creating a joint league fell within LaLiga’s line of values. “The LaLiga FOUNDATION did not hesitate for a second,” recalls Penku.
In fact, from the first moment they were involved in a program that pursues social inclusion and gender equality because “for the LaLiga FOUNDATION it is a great satisfaction to participate in this project, which seeks to promote sport as a necessary instrument for the creation of an environment in which talents thrive and boys and girls have the same opportunities,” adds Olga de la Fuente, director of this foundation. This is how LaLiga de la Igualdad took shape with one objective: to transcend the sport itself.
The city of Yaoundé, where the vast majority of matches are played, has received this league with enthusiasm, although nothing compared to what the protagonists are experiencing. They are girls who, thanks to the project, have the opportunity to travel, meet other teams, improve their technique, play and work as a team, express their individuality and be valued and treated equally through soccer.
They can also compete and that is very important, especially when no one has ever given you the opportunity to do so, since it allows you to show what you are capable of. “It goes beyond football, because this league helps them develop and strengthen their character,” says Penku, who clarifies that some of these girls have complicated situations at home: “That’s why we also accompany them so they don’t stray away. We help them focus on themselves so that they enjoy and take advantage of those hours and their talent.”
The impact in Cameroon has been incredible. “When the media announced that so many girls were going to come together in such a well-structured socio-sports project, people were happy to see that it was an opportunity that did not exist until now,” shares the LaLiga delegate. “Future leaders are around us and we are enthusiastic about our responsibility to train them through our sports programs,” adds Paul Dreisbach, president of the NGO Petrichor.
The Equality League began on February 12. Since then, every weekend dozens of girls have a plan. “That is already a luxury,” says Penku. “Instead of being at home and touching the ball from time to time, they compete!”, a small big event that they know is special and that can have a ‘call’ effect. “This has never been done. People already know what is being done and this could grow and spread to other communities and other towns and make that opportunity multiply,” she values.
At the moment, the teams included in the first edition of LaLiga de la Igualdad are Green City, Regina FA, Social du Mbam, T7 and Petrichor Elite.
The wish is that there are more of them and they can live experiences like that of Mbianda Tondja Jenny Grâce, Green City’s assistant coach. LaLiga de la Igualdad will allow you to learn more about football and grow as a professional. To their players, “the possibility of improving their skills and having the possibility of going faster as a professional.”
They, dedicated, the parents, excited to see them enjoying themselves, especially if we take into account that these girls know LaLiga, but not all of them can watch a game, have access to a screen or even have electricity. The goal, always present: “That girl who wants to play soccer, can play soccer and is not just a dream,” summarizes Penku.
