The Highly Anticipated Maiden Edition of the “Open Pitch Football Slam For Girls in Communities” was successfully staged in the federal capital territory on Saturday with over ten teams within the FCT participating in the one day event which took place at Stadium Hovel Prime Sports Complex, Mopol Junction, Nyanaya Abuja.
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The tournament which was tagged #UNITE! Activism to end violence against girls, was put together by the founder and executive Director of Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI) Adaora Onyechere, in collaboration with the Chairman and CEO of Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF) Barr Paul Edeh, in commemoration of the 16 days activism against gender-based violence.
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According to the organizers, they believe it was very intentional to look at the inclusion of women and girls in sports especially young girls at the community level.
Speaking to newsmen at the Nyanaya sports complex, Adaora Onyechere said the rationale behind organizing the tournament is because football is seen as a universal language that speaks to the whole world, including Africans where issues on domestic and sexual gender based violence is prevalent.
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She further stressed that there’s going to be more sporting activities around female football but most importantly at the community level because they’re the ones who doesn’t really have the opportunity and the platform they needed for their growth.
“I’m partnering with Ratels to look at issues of inclusion of women in sports especially young girls at the community level”
“If you listen to alot of these girls, they have the passion and the talent but they don’t have the platform and that’s what Ratels has brought to bare”
“For us we have seen a bit of the challenges because they’re no enabling environment and these are the lapses we have to take back to the people in the sporting institution to begin to look at community development for young girls who have passion and talent for sports but do not have the opportunity”
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Meanwhile, the chairman and CEO, Ratels Sports Development Foundation, Barr Paul Edeh said initiatives like this is a venture that his foundation will always want to be apart of, because using sports as a panacea for the development of the girl child remains paramount to them.
Barr Paul also hinted that three players have already been discovered from the competition that will be integrated into Naija Ratels, a team playing in the top echelon of Nigerian women’s football, ahead of the incoming Nigeria women football league season, even as he assured the two finalists of Saturdays event will gain automatic qualification to take part in the season 2 of Sheroes cup competition slated to take place in Abuja.