How Soccer Without Borders is helping young female footballers in troubled Nicaragua

“I believe that soccer is a mirror of society, but also has the power to shape it,” says Mary McVeigh Connor. She is the co-founder of Soccer Without Borders, a charity set up in 2006 with the aim of using the sport as a vehicle for positive change.

In Nicaragua, girls did not play football. And if they attempted to, it was frowned upon. Those perceptions are beginning to change, thanks in part to the work done by Soccer Without Borders. It has helped break down other pernicious social norms, too.

“Life as a girl in Nicaragua is extremely isolating,” says Connor, who played football professionally before her involvement with Soccer Without Borders.

“Nearly 30% of girls are pregnant before the age of 18, and about half never advance from primary to secondary school. The culture of machismo dictates a certain set of norms for girls, many of which are internalised before they reach adolescence. Sport, and particularly soccer, has a unique ability to break down these barriers, build girls’ leadership and confidence and create uncommon outcomes.”

The programme, based in the city of Granada, works with girls and women from the ages of six to 20. There are 170 girls involved and a further 1,500 are reached through various camps, tournaments and special events. The staff consists of 10 Nicaraguan coaches and group leaders, four of whom are alumnae of the programme.

The girls involved find their prospects improved, their options increased. “In places where girls are given an equal opportunity to play and are encouraged and supported to play by their families, siblings, and communities, they are also able to better access opportunities in education and in the workforce,” says Connor.

“I think soccer in particular has a unique power to shift gender norms because of its popularity and the passion that surrounds it. In places like Nicaragua where machismo is so prevalent, for a girl to play soccer in particular sends a message that, as one of our male coaches put it, ‘girls can do everything just like we [boys] can’.”