by Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Coordinator

Note: As part of our larger Girls Project, we support several girls’ soccer teams at our schools. Research shows participation in sports helps with school attendance and success. We also see it as a way to build community among our girls and to create self confidence. Also important — the whole village comes out to watch the girls compete and gets to see these fierce and strong young women in action! In this blog post, Hindaty shares her view of the first school vs. school match of the season.

On a hot and dusty day in Mali, two new Mali Rising girls’ soccer teams met for the first time. Thursday, November 28 was the first match of a football competition between the girls of the village of Tamala and those of the village of Zambougou.

It is hard to describe how large the gathering was for this match! We were greeted by the school committee (kind of like the PTA in the U.S.), the teachers ,and the representative of the Tamala village chief with ten kola nuts to welcome us.

The village of Tamala was honored to welcome the "Dougouyai" team (in yellow in photos) of Zambougou because there is a history between the two villages. According to the representative of the village chief of Tamala, the founder of Zambougou is a man named Zan, who left Tamala to found Zambougou. It was a very nice discovery for us. The match started at 4 pm on the hot afternoon. A teacher from another Mali Rising school in Beneko was the referee, which demonstrates the good relationships between the schools of Mali Rising.

Supporters from both villages were present alongside the players. The crowds of supporters sang, shouted, and danced all happy. In the first half Tamala’s team, known as the Sisterhoods (in blue in the photos), scored the first goal. Dajè Samaké of Tamala’s ninth grade was the scorer. The supporters and the village jumped for joy.

In the second half, Zambougou's team, named Dougouyai, equalized with an exciting goal scored by Doussouba Samaké of the 8th grade. Spectators shouted the names of their players to score a second goal, but the match ended with the score of one goal by each village.

It was a very nice match. Both villages’ girls are all looking forward to the return leg in Zambougou, where they will have another chance to come out on top!