In the past few years, there has been a rapid increase in interest in football among girls and women in rural India. As a result, various projects are emerging that aim to increase their sporting development opportunities, as well as promote potential future employment options in the football industry, given the increase in the number of leagues in recent years. .
One of these projects is a residential academy for girls, which participates in activities organized by the Vicente Ferrer Foundation through the Rural Development Trust (RDT) and La Liga through its women’s football department and its foundation. The Academy has recently completed its first course, in which a total of 20 girls under the age of 15 from rural communities in Anantapur have received one year financial and training scholarships to live and train in Anantapur. Play Village (ASV) facilities.
The residential academy offers them the opportunity to improve their skills and contribute to their personal development, as well as provide girls with the possibility to pursue their dream of playing football at a higher level and continue their careers. Sports Thanks to this project, the girls involved have the option of training in high quality sports facilities with good nutrition and proper educational follow-up, in areas that are inaccessible to most of the population.
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As a result of this initiative, all of them are enrolled in formal schools and have been given social skills, computer skills, health care as well as sports equipment and training sessions. The Academy also provides an educational development plan for the brightest participants in the field India To help them build a career in football, honing their skills under the tutelage of qualified coaches who oversee and coordinate the project.
After the first course, one of the main effects of residential academy is that more and more girls want to get into football, as they see opportunities in the sport increasing. There has also been a perceived change in the mindset of parents as they begin to encourage girls in rural community clubs to play football as they see that it can help with their academic and then professional development. For Sai Krishna, Director, Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA), “The toughest challenge is getting girls involved in sports activities. In Anantapur, none of them played the game. Currently, 45% of the participants in all our projects are girls. A paradigm and mindset shift is taking place which is necessary to move the culture towards tolerance and equality.
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The program achieved great results at the end of its first course. Girls are more confident of pursuing a career in football, while women’s visibility in the public sphere is appreciated. From educational point of view, 90% of the girls have passed their final examination, 75% have obtained attendance in regular classes and 90% have attended computer classes. In addition, five reading clubs have been established in the context of the project.
Olga de la Fuente, director of the La Liga Foundation, says, “It is impressive to see how, in just one year, the academic performance and academic skills of girls in the region have improved. We are confident that football and the medium of formal education have improved. A lot will be done to improve the quality of life of these girls in future.
“At La Liga and the La Liga Foundation, we will continue to support initiatives that promote gender equality and that are committed to developing skills for the football industry,” said Pedro Malabia, Director of Women’s Football Department at La Liga.
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