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South Sudan gained its independence in 2011 and its history is so short that it is a low-scoring answer on the popular Pointless quiz show. Much less trivially, for most of its existence the country has been in civil war, with peace and a new government of national unity in force only as of February of this year.
For a country recovering from the devastating effects of a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and 1.5 million internally displaced people, where nearly half of girls are married by age 18, child marriages are increasing and sexual violence was used tactically during the war, it would be easy to assume that soccer, much less women’s soccer, would be non-existent.
However, on Friday, just over a year after its women’s national team competed for the first time, the South Sudan Football Association launched a four-year strategy for women’s and women’s football, Stars Unite, which has as Aim to increase the number of participants by at least 70%.
South Sudan, where women were at the center of the campaign for peace and a 35% quota has been set for women’s participation in government, is not an outlier: the idea that women should not Playing soccer is as prevalent there as in many other countries. parts of the world. Women’s team captain Amy Lasu, who started playing in Kenya before returning to play in her home country, says: “It’s a challenge because football has long been considered a men’s sport. It was considered taboo for girls to play. “
Her mother played basketball and her father soccer, and they bought her jerseys and boots and took her to academies, but for Maryln James, a grassroots soccer player, the story is a little different.
“If you tell your parents that you are going to play soccer, they ask you why you are going to play with men,” he says. “I only had one person supporting me, my mother. When I started, my father beat me when he came back from training. But my mother said this is not just for men, she can play. “
Far from giving in to the pressures and expectations on girls, the federation challenges them. “We want to show the world that South Sudan is growing in women’s soccer, and we also want to change the mindset of some people who still don’t believe that women can play soccer,” says Helen Terso Aninyesi, Stars’ project manager. Unite and women’s development officer.
The plans are daring. The FA has committed to training more coaches, administrators, referees and scouts; women’s football will be promoted in schools; there will be community outreach programs; launch a new national league with player licenses; and promises a greater participation of the national team in competitions.
“This new women’s soccer strategy is a great step in showing the SSFA’s commitment to promoting women’s soccer in South Sudan and providing an opportunity for everyone to get involved in soccer,” says FA President Francis Amin .
Players feel that it will change the game. “I think it will change society’s vision of football,” says Lasu. “Most of the girls withdraw from soccer due to social opinions. This strategy will show people that girls can play and will show them that they can participate and go out to play.
“It will especially help our sisters who have given up football due to the challenges they have faced. Instead, they will feel hope within them when they see the sisters playing and want to play and train again. “
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The country’s men’s team launched in 2012 and has risen to 163 (from 210) in the FIFA rankings. The women’s team has played three times since it started just over a year ago and is not classified. Their first match ended in a 9-0 loss to Tanzania, but the second two days later brought a historic victory, with Lasu scoring the first and last goals in a 5-0 victory over Zanzibar.
“I hope and pray that one day the national team reaches a high level,” says Lasu. “We are just getting started, but I think that in time, if we take the right path, we will go far, maybe even the World Cup one day.”
Adds James: “I have hope in my heart that women’s football in South Sudan will be amazing.”
