MYSA: Football a man’s game? Think again.

Millicent Atieno & Mary Snider

If you have been to Laikipia, you will know that most communities draw lines clearly defining gender roles. During the Laikipia and Beyond Unity Cup (LUC), a tournament whose local teams are exclusively male, the Zeitz Foundation was able to interview two girls who have dared to venture into the male dominated sport and excelled against all odds.

Meet Mary Snider and Millicent Atieno, both 16 years old and members of the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) who for the first time got the rare chance to travel outside of the slums of Nairobi, and together with the rest of the team went for a game drive at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy to witness some of Kenya’s spectacular wildlife for the first time in their lives. Among the wild animals they saw, they were most amazed by the gazelles, ostriches, giraffes, rhinos and warthogs which they had never seen before. They were also captivated by facts about wildlife, for instance that the oldest female elephant is the matriarch of the family group.

Laikipia with its hot days and chilly nights was a change from the weather they are accustomed to, however they appreciated the difference in climate and thoroughly enjoyed the camping in the middle of the bush; a totally new experience to them. Mary would like her team members to be given more opportunities to travel throughout Kenya and learn about different cultures and communities. Mary noted that Laikipia was very dry and would like to see more trees planted in Laikipia to green the harsh conditions.

Disappointed that there were no women represented at the Unity Cup, Millicent would like girls in Laikipia to break from the myth that football is a sport for boys and participate in the future. They were pleased however to see that both young and old people were present on the teams and played very well together.

In this interview with the Zeitz Foundation, Millicent confessed to have met resistance from her parents to play football in the beginning and that they wouldn’t buy her the necessary equipment let alone allow her to go for practice. However, through her experiences traveling and playing, her father has had a change of heart and is now proud of everything she’s achieved. Although Mary’s mom worries about her being around male managers, coaches, and players for fear of her daughter getting pregnant and while her community finds it undignified to play and hang around boys, Mary has never had a problem as she is treated with respect and she doesn’t feel any threats thanks to the structures in MYSA that respect and protect all its members irrespective of their gender.

Millicent’s main focus is education. She would like to study nursing and hopes to play football for her University in the future. Mary’s focus is also on education, although because of financial constraints, she is unlikely to go to university. That said, she knows how important the MYSA experience has been and doesn’t want to waste it, hoping she will be picked to play for an international team. Should she be able to continue her education, she would like to become a math and English teacher.

Millicent comes from a family of five where the boys don’t play football, yet she encourages her younger sister to play so she can benefit from MYSA like she did. When they achieve their dreams they would like to give back to the community and help disadvantaged people and especially encourage young girls to pursue sport and football.

MYSA has a program to clean up garbage in the areas where the teams are drawn from. They noticed in the past there was more garbage, and people would dump anywhere, but now there is a garbage collection program which has resulted in less dumping. They also receive environmental education from different organizations. They would like the area they live in, Baba Ndogo, to have a better sewage system and for the companies to maintain them. They would also like to see better control of livestock coming into the city to reduce the spread of disease. They appreciate that in Nairobi there are more tree planting programs around schools and parks.

Other members who don’t play football but are still a part of MYSA participate in other activities such as dancing, gymnastics, photography, music and poetry.

Millicent’s role model is Bobbi Munro, the chairman and founder of MYSA, Mary’s is Steve Biko, their coach.

This interview was conducted during the LUC, a tournament organized by the Zeitz Foundation and others, with an aim:

• To promote unity and understanding amongst diverse groups within Laikipia and beyond, contributing to peace building efforts, conservation and local development;

• To raise awareness of environmental and conservation issues amongst Kenyan youth and the contribution to conservation endeavours in Laikipia;

• To promote Laikipia as a tourism destination.

For more information: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=109130542463301&ref=ts

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