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Ghana

Fri, 2007-11-02 21:39 — Anne Thompson

Sophie Harrison returned from her incredible trip to Ghana with her Maverick teamates. Here, in a letter to the DSA, she reports on their time spent in Africa.

Dear Anne and Steve

I would like to sincerely thank you for all your generous support in helping with our mission to bring soccer to the girls in Ghana. Our trip there was very rewarding, and I feel we were able to make a difference in the lives of the girls we met there. I'm sure all of the equipment will be put to great use.

Going to Ghana was a very rich cultural experience for me, my family, and my team. Just doing simple things like going to walk in the market, driving along a street in the country, or talking to some of the people we met there taught us so much about the way they live. On either side of the street almost everywhere there are open sewers, piles of garbage (including plastics) sit on street corners burning, and people live in houses with iron roofs held down by bricks. But despite that, as you walk along in the market place, you see children laughing as they play their games. As you drive along you see a group of kids playing soccer barefoot on hard-packed dirt fields. They have so little in the material sense of the word, but they still have joy in their lives and certainly love the game of soccer.

Getting to meet and train with the Ghanaian under 14 girls team was an opportunity I will never forget. These brave girls are pioneers of girls' soccer in Ghana. They were one of two girls' teams in the whole city of Takoradi. Soccer is something that normally girls just don't do in Ghana. The under 14 team we met was proving them wrong, contradicting common belief. And that takes a lot of guts. I'm honoured to have been able to help those girls by providing equipment and uniforms as well as helping to increase the visibility of girls' soccer in Ghana.

Thanks again for all of your support. Your help has changed lives -- on both continents.

Sophie Harrison

 

 

BACKGROUND:

A DSA athlete headed to Ghana over the Christmas break 2007. Here is Sophie's story of why Ghana?

My name is Sophie Harrison and I play for the Dunbar girls U14 team. Last year my family moved to California for the year, where I played for a competitive soccer team called the Alamada-Contra Costa Mavericks. Our head coach Robert Sackey is Ghanaian, and has worked with the Ghanaian men’s and women’s national Word Cup teams. Throughout the year I became very close to my team mates and near the middle of the year we hatched a plan. Robert has started some boys’ teams in Takoradi Ghana, but there are no opportunities for girls to play organized soccer.
The Mavericks are going to go to Ghana in December to try to change that. We want to give the girls in Ghana a chance to play the game that has given us all so much joy.
In Ghana, a soccer ball costs a week’s wage for an average Ghanaian adult. This means that the boys’ teams in Ghana only have a few balls to share between them. Also, most children only have one pair of shoes, which they are not allowed to wear to play soccer. So, as part of our trip we are trying to bring equipment, including balls, cleats, shin pads and socks, for the girls. We also will be training every day for two weeks with local girls (and scrimmaging against the boys too!). Our goal is to start a soccer league so that when we leave, girls in Ghana will have the same opportunities to play soccer as we have.
I am writing to ask if the Dunbar club would be able to contribute uniforms or other equipment. I can assure you it will be much appreciated and put to very good use. I would be happy to make a brief (5 minute) presentation to the Board if that would be helpful. I would also be happy to do any sorting or washing needed.
Thanks for your time and consideration!