Alakäläwa GOLEES

Context

Many young girls in the Cabécar Tjai indigenous community in Costa Rica want to play football, but the community lacks coaches, training and organisation. Football is an expression of freedom for the girls who live in a context where there is a lack of information regarding the rights of young girls and high levels of teenage pregnancy and unhealthy relationships.

Project content

In alliance with community’s women leaders, this project promotes opportunities for indigenous girls to play football. The GOLEES methodology allows social and gender issues to be addressed, while respecting the community’s worldview. The community football field becomes a space that promotes equality, freedom and female empowerment, turning female players into agents of personal, family and community change defending their right to play football and their right to live a life free from violence.

Objectives

• Create an educational sports space that promotes female empowerment and reinforces the autonomy, self-esteem and identity of the players;
• Create a structure of female football teams from various indigenous communities and provide the tools for their gradual self-management;
• Make girls aware of their human rights in order to reduce the levels of teenage pregnancy and unhealthy relationships.

Project activities

• Educational sports camps: football fundamentals training, joint creation of monthly training plans, exercises linked to social and gender themes;
• Intercommunity tournaments: mixed (boys and girls) tournaments based on the football3 methodology Intercultural; tournaments: tournaments  with other GOLEES players from urban areas to facilitate cultural exchange.

Expected results