Berkley Center

With the World Cup only a few weeks away, I thought it fitting to continue the soccer/Brazil discussion I began in my first blog post. As a two-year member of the Georgetown Women’s varsity team, I grew up in a very intense soccer culture. I have always looked at Brazil as the hotbed of soccer, and I assumed that everyone, man or woman, was just as crazy about the sport as I was. However, when I arrived in Rio de Janeiro, I quickly realized that the reality was very different than I imagined. When I told my host family and some of my Brazilian peers that I play soccer seriously, they thought I was joking. My host brother responded with, “A girl playing soccer? Does that happen in the United States? I've never met a girl who plays soccer before."

Here in Rio, and all over Brazil, everyone loves his or her respective professional team. I always know when a team from Rio is playing by the yelling and cheering in the street that I can hear from my room. However, very few people actually play soccer among the middle and upper classes. The reality is that soccer players are typically from the favelas, or very poor neighborhoods where getting an education is not an option. In Rio, soccer players are associated with those who rob and assault. Shortly after I arrived, my host mother told me to “watch out for those soccer players, they are very dangerous.” I was very confused at first, but then realized the significance of what she said. In Brazil, unlike in the United States, one must choose between school and soccer, and cannot have both.

Women and girls have practically zero opportunities to play. In the upper and middle class communities, girls typically take up dance or an instrument, but not usually a sport, and especially not soccer. In poorer communities, the only organized soccer available is male only. So imagine my frustration, after a lifetime of playing competitive soccer, being laughed at when I told people I play soccer. After months of searching, I found a team that practiced for one hour a week, in a poor neighborhood about an hour north of where I live. As much as I wanted to continue with this team, it was not a feasible option. Only one bus near my house goes to this neighborhood, and it happens to be one with a high rate of assaults.

A few months ago, I met an American woman living in Rio who had also played soccer in college while she lived in the United States. She had an idea to start a soccer program for girls of all ages in a local favela, called Soccer Girls. I jumped at the opportunity to join. Every Saturday morning, I get a chance to play soccer with girls who, without this program, would have no opportunities to play sports. I think about how much soccer, fitness, and competition has meant to me throughout my life. Playing sports is not just about learning a physical skill; it is about learning confidence, teamwork, and responsibility.

Brazil needs to offer more sports programs for women and girls, not just soccer. In this soccer crazy culture, it is simply unfair that very few actually have an opportunity to play. Sports will empower women, and teach them that their purpose is not just cheering on the sidelines.