Thanks to the Goleadoras Program of Project Peace Latin America, the women’s soccer team of the Municipality of Condoto, Chocó, has been chosen to represent Colombia in the Street Child World Cup Doha 2022 (SCWC), which the Qatar Foundation sponsors and will be held as a prelude to the 2022 World Cup Qatar.
The tournament will feature the participation of 24 national teams, half of them girls who will represent their countries on and off the field. There they will raise their voices to raise awareness about issues such as the stigmatization suffered by boys and girls on the streets, those living in vulnerable communities, as well as displaced and refugee children.
The SCWC Doha 2022 aims to bring together young people from around the world in a soccer tournament, which has been created to promote social change by listening to the voices and recommendations of boys and girls around the globe who use soccer as a tool to promote coexistence. Goleadoras will bring their girls’ team from Chocó to this tournament to contribute to closing the gender disparity.
As a prelude to the Women’s Copa América and Colombia’s participation in the SCWC Doha 2022, on Saturday, July 2, 2022, the first Copa Goleadoras/Nike was held in the city of Bogotá, under the slogan “Together we change the game.” The event was co-organized by the TAAP Foundation and the “Transformandonos” program of the Falcao Foundation.
The meeting was attended by 100 girls belonging to eight teams from various departments of Colombia (Bogotá, Antioquia, Norte de Santander). Specifically, we were joined by: Florida Futsal, Kyrios, Fútbol con Corazón, Colombianitos, Fundación Caritas Felices, Cazucá FC, and our Condoto team. The 100 girls shared a day of training and recreation that helped them promote gender equity, empowerment, and their physical and emotional well-being.
After a long day of qualifying rounds on the fields of the Gimnasio Moderno, Caritas Felices (Abrego, Norte de Santander) were victorious and won the 2022 Nike Goleadoras Cup. These girls demonstrated that soccer is not only a sport for men and that anyone can achieve their goals with training, diligence, and desire.
We also counted on the participation of various media outlets: Caracol TV, La W Radio, Noticias Uno Colombia, Diario AS, HSB Noticias, and Extra. In addition, we counted on various influencers and comedians like Diego Camargo, a respected Colombian artist who was part of the motivational talks we developed with the players.
Eglantina Zingg, founder and President of the Goleadoras Foundation, highlighted that: “In Goleadoras Foundation, we use soccer as a tool to change the lives of thousands of girls and women around the world, which is why it is so important for the organization to be part of the SCWC Doha Tournament 2022 with a team from Chocó, a region where we encourage girls to improve their physical and emotional well-being by learning the principles of assertiveness without violence, teamwork, and developing their self-esteem, creativity, discipline, and leadership.”
The Copa Goleadoras/Nike 2022 had the support of the Gimnasio Moderno, Ugua, Cacahuates, Gatorade, Sierra Nevada, and KatheDice Cosmetics.