October 2002  

A Kenyan Sports Association Breaks Down Gender Barriers

An innovative youth sports association in one of Nairobi’s most impoverished neighborhoods is transforming gender norms, according to a Population Council study. By challenging traditional concepts of gender-appropriate behavior while teaching girls to play soccer, the association is changing how girls think about themselves and how their communities perceive them.

The Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), based in the slum of that name, is pioneering a program that teaches girls more than just soccer. It provides them with educational opportunities, access to information on HIV/AIDS, and a sense of their own abilities. In the words of one participant, “Before playing soccer, I was fearful; now I am not because I am used to mixing with people, and I know what is good and what is bad.”

Sports are on the agenda of youth ministries in many countries. Although official government policies and sports organizations recognize the equal rights of boys and girls, social and cultural norms and practices often prevent girls from participating in organized sports. The Council’s study notes that girls’ inclusion in sports programs may be one way they can acquire the social skills and confidence they need to participate fully in their societies.

MYSA teaches the girls that they are strong and capable. Wearing the team jersey and competing on makeshift soccer fields throughout community provide them with a public identity and status. By offering a chance for international travel to play in tournaments abroad, the enrolls” girls in the citizenship of the world. The name of one of the teams, Sisters with Talent,” illustrates the girls’ image of themselves as strong, talented women linked by sense of family ties.

“Through MYSA’s efforts we have begun to see how sports can serve an entry point for social development and for the transformation of gender norms,” wrote Council authors Martha Brady and Arjmand Banu Khan. “Over the years MYSA has received international recognition and acclaim for its vision and reach.”

MYSA began as a club for boys kicking balls made of plastic bags and twine around the garbage dumps in Mathare. The notion of broadening MYSA to include girls took hold a decade ago, after the boys and their coaches took part in a competition for the Norway Youth Cup, one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the world. Seeing talented and powerful female athletes from around the world convinced the Kenyan players that girls from Mathare could compete in an international arena.

Recruitment was slow initially. Girls were enthusiastic, but staff had to convince parents that sports were for girls as much as boys and that the girls would still have time for household chores such as cooking and caring for younger siblings. Parents also worried about girls’ safety traveling to and from practices and when participating in matches outside the neighborhood.

Today nearly 3,000 girls, ages 11 to 16, participate in MYSA and benefit from its sports and educational activities. MYSA provides school fees for some girls who have been members of the club for two years. The association insists on community service, so girls and boys carry out regular chores, such as clearing garbage from their neighborhoods. These efforts have won the association a United Nations Environment Programme award for environmental innovation. The girls have also won silver and bronze prizes at the Norway Youth Cup and even have been given a garbage collection truck to help in the neighborhood clean-up activities they carry out with the boys.

As the girls’ capacities and sense of entitlement have developed, the program has evolved to keep pace. Initially chores were assigned according to gender norms—girls washed MYSA jerseys, which numbered several thousand, and boys maintained the sports equipment—but now both boys and girls launder the uniforms, and girls drive the garbage truck. Boys and girls care for younger children during game time (thus eliminating babysitting as a major reason why parents prevented girls from joining MYSA).

In the United States, sports participation has been shown to strengthen girls’ resolve to delay sexual initiation and their ability to negotiate the use of contraception when they do become sexually active. No studies have been conducted in developing countries on the correlation between girls’ sexual activity and involvement in sports, but girls’ participation in the Mathare program is having a positive effect on their sense of self-efficacy, an essential quality in girls’ ability to resist coercion into unwanted sexual activity. “I have learned how to have my own principles and not be blown and tossed around by the wind,” said one girl.

Many girls said that understanding about HIV and how they can protect themselves was the most important thing they learned at MYSA. One girl, worried about the lack of AIDS awareness among her friends outside of MYSA, created an AIDS discussion group for them.

Participating in the Mathare program is expanding the girls’ horizons in many ways. After two years as a member, a participant is eligible for scholarships, training in specialized skills, employment at MYSA, and practical experience in advising her peers or running projects. “Haba na haba hujaza kibaba,” or “Step by step we reach the goal,” is a MYSA motto that relates to both on-field activity and long-term success in life.

The authors of the study emphasize that planning for mixed-sex adolescent programs requires an understanding of the daily lives of girls and the community’s perception of their roles. Gender equity should be articulated as a program goal, and community or educational services should be offered to gain parental approval for girls’ participation in sports. Brady and Khan also believe there should be time for girls-only activities to ensure that boys do not inhibit girls from learning to express themselves and make decisions. “As they see girls in new roles, boys can learn about the strengths, capabilities, and contributions of girls and women, which may help to reshape their perceptions of females,” wrote Brady and Khan.

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