Goals for girls on and off the field — Mupini

But it was not victory on the soccer pitch or her impressive goal-scoring feat that the form two student at Harares Glen View 1 high school chose to talk about in an interview with The Zimbabwean on Sunday last week.

The greater achievement that according to Mupini was more deserving of celebration was how the game of soccer was successfully used during the tournament held two weeks ago to teach young girls about their rights, enhance their self-esteem and to encourage them to also consider sport as one more field in which they could excel if they are determined.

Yes we won, but everyone is a winner, Mupini said. I learned how to protect myself from abuse. I know where to get help, I know the people who will give me a listening ear and I can always talk to people I trust, she added.

Supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the Goals for Girls tournament brought together 160 schoolgirls from seven schools from across Harare in a competition that was as much a sporting tournament as it was a learning exercise.

The high schools that took part in the tournament are Mufakose 1, Dzivarasekwa 2, Morgan, Zengeza 1, Vainona, Oriel Girls and Seke 1.

Representatives from two of the leading child and family rights groups in the country, the Family Support Trust and the Justice for Children Trust, worked with the schoolgirls throughout the tournament teaching them about their rights as growing women and encouraging them to break the many barriers that society often places in the path of the girl-child.

The Zimbabwe Olympic Academy and the National Association of School Headmasters (NASH) were also involved in the girls soccer tournament.

USAID director Karen Freeman, who lamented that girls are often left out in sporting and other programmes, said the American government agency was keen to support more programmes that encourage young women to take a more active role in the development of their communities through sport and other activities.

Addressing the girls she said: When it comes to formal programmes, girls dont get involved as much as boys do, and that is changing. We are really proud of the development.

So it is very important for me to particularly encourage you all to stay involved in sports, stay involved in the friendships you are developing, stay involved in school.

Freeman did not say whether USAID, which also provides support to more than 55 000 orphans and other vulnerable children in the country, planned to extend the Goals for Girls project from Harare to other parts of the country.

But with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and unwanted schoolgirl pregnancies, there are certainly as the clich goes a thousand and one reasons to take to as many girls as is possible the soccer project that, according to the Glen View 1 star player, Mupini, is an effective means of promoting discipline among schoolgirls.