By Viviane Faver
In order to break patterns of gender inequality rooted in communities, three women from different countries created soccer projects for girls, such as training and championships, in addition to educational workshops that deal with issues such as violence, gender equity, and sexuality.
Brazilian entrepreneur Tatiana Ferreira, who lives on the island of Mallorca (archipelago off the east coast of Spain), in Spain, for over 20 years, is one of the creators of the Association Deporte para La Igualdad. She created the program “Fútbol para la Igualdad ” in order to enhance gender equality, social inclusion, and empowerment of young women four years ago. The program currently serves about a thousand children.
“The success was so great that we started to collaborate with other entities in Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil, in a partnership with the Rio de Janeiro club Fluminense, and CBF social, with three days of activities with 50 children from Brazilians slums
favelas)”, says Tatiana, adding that all activities are free. Even in this challenging year, the association accepted the commitment to the United Nations Agenda 2030 – An action plan to eradicate poverty and promote economic, social, and environmental development globally by the year 2030.
To survive the pandemic, they adapt to the virtual world’s activities and, therefore, also reached children and families from other countries. “We make a solidary cinema with the projection of football-themed films transmitting values such as equality, tolerance, and companionship. There is also free training through webinars, such as women’s empowerment, sporting events, team empowerment, gender language,” she states.
To keep going, the association receives help from the Government of the Balearic Islands, support from Miguel Bestard, president of the Balearic Football Federation, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol, and the prefectures of the cities where the events are held and from local entrepreneurs.
The project was nominated for the World FootballSummit’s “WFS Industry Awards” in July 2019. Ferreira also plans the creation of a YouTube channel with free courses on gender language, sports management, and women’s empowerment.
According to Tatiana Ferreira, there will be more projects for children and participation in awareness activities, such as the launch of the children’s book, called “Fútbol para la Igualdad – The adventures of Aina and her gang'”, based on real facts.
“I dedicate this book to my daughter, Aina, 11 years old, whom one day came home crying saying that two boys called her black in a derogatory tone and mocked the fact that she likes to play football”, says the businesswoman.
ARGENTINA
Now we are going to Argentina with a history beyond overcoming. Until she was a coach and soccer director, Evelina Cabrera, 34, lived on the streets, rummaged through trash cans for food, until she became a teacher and later a player at Club Atlético Platense.
She founded the Argentine Women’s Football Association (AFFAR) – the first team of blind girls in Buenos Aires and spoke at the United Nations (UN) in New York about her work to empower women and give them tools for a better life. She was also recognized as one of the 11 most influential women in Latin America and one of the most inspiring in the world on the BBC list.
“In 2013, I had a tumor that made me stop playing football – it was benign and removed with surgery, but the doctor said that I could not do the physical activity again. My world collapsed, I got into a tremendous crisis, and it was then that my love for the sport spoke louder. I decided to train poor girls on an open-air beach at Tigre station (Buenos Aires) and the Nueva Chicago Athletic Club (based in Buenos Aires, in the neighborhood of Mataderos)”.
It was an immediate success, and, in the same year, she traveled to Mexico as coach of the Argentine national team at the World Cup for the Homeless.
Three years later, she was invited by the UN in New York to present her story at the Youth Forum of the Economic and Social Council, which brings together young leaders from and the world. She points out that, in 2016, her most generous gratitude was to get her association to join the UN’s “Join Latin America” campaign to end gender violence.
“My job is to give women tools to develop independently and autonomously through football,” sums up Evelina, who, despite her achievements, continues to work daily to reach more girls in needy communities. “Sport has no gender,” she stresses.
With a pandemic, of course, the year was challenging, but she never thought to stop. “Nothing was easy for women (especially those who chose football), but if life taught me something, that was the fight. Moreover, the time has made me understand that it is not just for me but also for thousands of invisible women who struggle and get up every day to have a better life. Our gender and origin must not determine our future. It is a difficult path, but with the collective struggle for a united world, we can achieve equality”, she concludes.
MÉXICO
Mexican Regina Vivancoruns the project “Fundación Deportiva para una vida Sana” (sports foundation for a healthy life), similar to that of Cabrera, 20 years ago, in Mexico City. Due to the problems that affect that country, such as drugs, violence, abandonment, and teenage pregnancy, she and her family decided to create a base through football to provide tools for children and their families to improve their community and community quality life.
“Our vision is to be able to reach communities in Mexico’s 32 states through our programs, which take football, art, dance, environment, human development workshops to low-income communities and thus form a network”.
With the pandemic, some projects stopped, but with creativity, Regina created “Juega Conmigo,” where it is possible to adopt a child from the program and pay an annuity, offering an opportunity for her to belong to the academy.
“The most serious difficulties come from raising funds to help children and get new donors. We do not think about stopping, and we have plans for the future, one of which is to improve communication on social networks to reach more people and reach more communities within the Mexican Republic”, says Regina. She adds that she still intends to include help for groups of women older women in most different severe communities.
