Celebrating the Day of Girl Child

 On 11th October each year the world celebrates the day of the girl child whereby sharing their success, determination, aspirations and also highlighting challenges that needs to be tackled in providing equal spaces and opportunities for the girls to be actively engaged in the society either in technology, leadership, economics among other areas. In the same spirit of supporting our sisters to do even better, I want to focus my lens on women's soccer in Kenya which has been facing many challenges. The contrast is that currently our entire soccer is going through some turbulence especially from lack of finances, which as affected even the top level men's league the Kenya Premier League (KPL) and National Super League (NSL).

This situation soon or later you will hear more about how NSL, KPL and generally the men's wing of the game not doing well followed by hash tags and campaigns to assist the game stays afloat through sponsorship after Sport Pesa exited the game. On the other side there's little attention on the plight of the ladies who have been struggling for a long time to make it happen in the male dominated sport in our country. The Women Premiere League (WPL) and relate leagues have been facing tremendous challenges and unwarranted struggles, especially at club levels and any related tournament.

One issue of a concern to me is that despite having some of the women in prominent positions either in the federation, government or corporate level you will hardly hear their voices in combating the challenges especially in Women in sports.

On the other hand, I'm happy with our Women's national soccer team the Harambee Starlets, they have been consistent when they are called to duty while striving to achieve the best results despite their many challenges and unpredictable soccer careers. Come the return match on 8th October 2019, I would urge everyone to come out in large numbers to support our sisters to win against Ghana's Black Queen in a return match to be played in Nairobi.

The winner will secure a chance to play the next match either against Zambia or Botswana in the ongoing 2020 Olympic Games qualifier matches.

#MyTake What does the win mean? To me, it's more than just qualifying for the 2020 Olympic. I see more of great opportunities for the ladies as follows;

1. Extra budget to support the ladies in the next matches. 
2. More of their story highlighted in the mainstream and new media.
3. Increased government attention and possible corporate sponsorship. 
4. Possible opportunity to play in other international leagues. 
5. A possible life breakthrough in pursuing their soccer careers in a more professional ways.
6. Increased platform to share their stories, challenges, aspirations etc. 

 #TheQuestion The questions I want to ask everyone involved in Kenyan soccer, especially with a more focus on Women; 

1. How many women's tournaments and soccer academies do we have in the country versus for the men? 
2. Is Women soccer a career option in Kenya? 
3. How many professional soccer stars (ladies) do we have playing in top leagues abroad? 

Anyway, with the right leadership, funding, material and other supporting infrastructure women soccer in the country can be an equal employer for our sisters who have the passion, courage, dedication to talent to do well in the game just like in athletics and volleyball.

Related read; International Day of the Girl Child 

International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl. October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child. The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage.[1] The celebration of the day also "reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research. Wikipedia https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/girl-child https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality/international-day-girl-2019