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The Carerra por la Niña (Race for the Girl) is a community project that began in 2014 inspired by youth from one of FSF’s team, FC Sweet Lake. Team members Guadalupe, Johana, Daniela, Eliana, and Alejandra proposed the idea to host a race in order to promote the development and leadership skills among the girls and encourage participation in the community.
“The community project race for the girl was an idea that we decided on as a group. The project is supported by all the girls of in our program as well as their coaches with the common objective to stop prejudices against girls in Nicaragua.”
— Alejandra (member of FSF’s Leadership Group)
For Fútbol Sin Fronteras, this celebration of the International Day of the Girl (October 11th) is one of the most anticipated events of the year, where all of our participants run not only for a prize but to show that girls can participate in any physical activity. This celebration promotes the idea that girls can run for their dreams, goals, and life projects as well.
The event promotes positive values among the girls, encourages fun, and provides a safe space for the girls to express their thoughts, celebrate their identity, and reflect on their rights as females. Each year, the race has grown to include the participation and acceptance of the families, schools, and community in Granada, promoting the equal treatment of girls and boys in both sports and society.
Over the years, our youth participants have taken ownership of this event by organizing the race logistics with the support of coaches. This is a great opportunity to develop new social skills such as leadership, Plan B thinking, social confidence, teamwork, and discipline as well as serve as role models for the younger girls of the program.
Prior to the race, the girls reach out to small businesses to sponsor the event. They also visit local schools to invite all girls to join. During the race, the youth leading the event prepare snacks and set the different distances of the race for each category based on the age of the participants. In addition to small businesses, the event counts on the support of the National Police, Red Cross, neighbors of Santa Lucia Street, FSF families and friends, and of course our coaches.
Currently, we have the following five categories:
“The race of the girl is a really fun event that helps girls to realize that they are capable to do different things like run a race, which some of them think that they cannot do. The best feeling as a coach is to see their faces of excitement before the race starts. I had the best experience this year because nineteen girls in my team ran the race. Now they are motivated to keep training harder for the next year.”
— Erick Víctor (FSF Coach)
In the future, we expect to have more people supporting this project. It is our hope that this project expands and continues to reach more girls in the rural areas around Granada.