Her Goal

A Book for Every Girl who have a Dream

Acknowledgements

The Love and the Life, the Alfa and Omega, the way and the truth Jesus Christ who will never let me down. All praise due him.

I also want to say thank you for my parents, family, friends, and everyone who always supports me.

Last but not least I want to thank myself for starting my journey.

CONTENTES

CHAPTER ONE: Football- More Than A Game

CHAPTER TWO: The Woman Who Played Before Us

CHAPTER THREE: What Does It Really Take To Be A Footballer

CHAPTER FOUR: START

CHAPTER FIVE: How Do You Keep Going

CHAPTER SIX: Can It Really Be real

CHAPTER SEVEN: I Will

CHAPTER EIGHT: What They Wish They Had Done

CHAPTER NINE: Her Story

CHAPTER TEN: A Hope, A Wish And Her Goal

Chapter One: Football — More Than a Game

What is football?

If someone asked you that question, what would you say?

Maybe you would say, “It is a sport.”
Maybe you would say, “It is two teams trying to score goals.”
And technically, you would be right. But, is that really what football really is? I don’t think so.

Football is a ball rolling across a field. It is a player running toward a goal while thousands of people hold their breath. It is the sound of a crowd after a goal. It is the disappointment of losing and the happiness of winning.

And if you ask me what football is for me? I would say

Football is my silly dream, a thing that I could spend hours just imagining how I will play tomorrow. A thing that changes my mood instantly, a magical sphere that lets me be a friend with 60 years old an with 5 years old at the same time. It is something that really have got this power that lets me discover another universe, a new chapter of my life even though it’s a part of it not the full story.

But sometimes, football is even smaller than that.
It can be a child kicking a ball around after school. It can be friends playing on a dusty piece of land. It can start with something as simple as a ball and a dream.

So, Where Did Football Come From?

Football did not suddenly appear one day.
People have played different kinds of ball games for hundreds of years. But the modern form of football we know today was gradually organized and given common rules.
In England, different schools and clubs once played football using different rules. This made it difficult for teams to play one another.

So, in 1863, representatives of several London clubs came together and formed The Football Association. They began creating a common set of rules for the game. The first match played under those new rules was between Barnes and Richmond on December 19, 1863, and it ended 0–0.

It may seem strange that something as simple as agreeing on rules could change the world.

But it did.
Those rules helped football become one recognizable sport, and from there, the game spread far beyond England.

Today, football is played almost everywhere.

It is In US, in Ethiopia, in China, in India, in South Africa…. propably everywhere.

But the game did not become powerful simply because of its rules.
It became powerful because of people.

Why Do People Love Football?

Think about it.

Why would millions of people spend hours watching twenty-two people chase a ball?
Why does one goal make people jump, scream, laugh, cry, or hug complete strangers?
Because football gives people something to feel.

It gives us excitement.
It gives us hope.
It gives us something to belong to.
And sometimes, it gives us memories that stay with us for years.

If you love football what is the reason?

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You might forget the score of an ordinary match.
But you probably won’t forget the first time you watched your favorite team win something important.
You might forget what you did on an ordinary afternoon. But, you might remember the day you first scored a goal.
That is the strange power of football.

Football Is More Than Scoring
Football is not just about putting the ball into a net.
It is about decisions.

A player receives the ball. In seconds, she has to decide:

Pass or dribble?
Shoot or wait?
Run forward or stay back?
Take the risk or play safely?
Sometimes the best decision happens so quickly that we barely notice it. And football is not only about individual talent.

A player can be incredibly talented, but she still needs her teammates.
Someone makes the pass.
Someone creates space.
Someone defends.
Someone communicates.
Someone encourages the team when things are going badly.
That is why football teaches something important:
You don’t always have to do everything yourself.
Sometimes your biggest contribution is helping someone else succeed.

For a long time, football was treated as though it belonged mostly to boys and men.
But girls were playing too.
Women have been part of football’s history for much longer than many people realize. FIFA records the first officially recognized women’s football match in England in 1895, while The FA notes evidence of women playing football even centuries earlier.
Yet being allowed to play has not always meant being treated equally.

Girls have sometimes been told:

“Football is for boys.”
“You will hurt yourself.”
“You should do something more suitable for a girl.”
“Why don’t you play another sport?”

But imagine hearing those words while holding a football you love.

In Ethiopia, I have grow up hearing those words, but I never took the words serious.

But the best part for me is that when people see me and my friends play, at first they laugh, then they watch and finally the smile in there face disappear. they be like who is that girl, who even are those people, and out of nowhere they start cheering, that is why I like it. people you have never meet before be there happy for someone they meet in the street. that is the power of football.
Would you put the ball down?
Maybe some girls did.
But others didn’t.
They kept playing.
And because they kept playing, today’s girls have more opportunities than many of those who came before them.

That is one of the reasons women’s football matters so much.
It is not only about football. It is about the right to say:
“I love this, and I belong here too.”

Football Can Become a Dream

Maybe this is the most beautiful thing about football.
A little girl can watch a player on television and think:
“One day, that could be me.” She might not have the best boots. She might not have a perfect field. She might not even have a team yet. But she has something that comes before all of those things:
a reason to begin.
Every great footballer was once a beginner. Every professional player once made mistakes. Every person who has scored in a huge stadium once had to learn how to control a ball. Nobody starts as a star. They start by playing.

So, What Is Football Really?
Football is a sport.
But it is also friendship.
It is competition.
It is teamwork.
It is creativity.
It is discipline.
It is failure.
It is courage.
It is hope.
And for some people, it becomes a dream.
For girls especially, football can mean something even bigger.
It can mean challenging the idea that certain dreams belong only for others. It can mean walking onto a field where someone once told you that you didn’t belong. It can mean looking at a ball and seeing a future. So when someone asks me what football is, I don’t want to answer with only:
“A sport played by two teams.”

That is what football is on paper.
But football is much more than what is written in the rules.
Football is what happens when a person finds something she loves and refuses to stop believing in it.
And sometimes, all of that begins with one simple thing:
a girl and a ball.

CHAPTER TWO: THE WOMAN WHO PLAYED BEFORE US

The History and Development of Women’s Football in Africa

The history of women’s football in Africa is not simply a story about women being allowed to play a sport. It is a story about women challenging ideas about gender, colonial authority, race, religion, family expectations, unequal access to resources, and institutions that were built primarily around men’s football.

For many years, football in Africa was treated as a male activity. Women were often expected to support football from the sidelines as spectators, relatives, organizers, or supporters but not necessarily as players. Yet women did play. In different African countries, girls and women formed informal teams, played in schools and communities, organized matches, and gradually created their own football cultures.

The historical record is uneven. Some early women’s matches were never formally recorded, while others were described as entertainment rather than serious sport. Consequently, it would be inaccurate to say that women’s football in Africa began on one particular date. Instead, it developed gradually through several stages: informal participation, local organization, the creation of women’s associations and leagues, international recognition, continental competition, professionalization, and finally increasing global visibility.

One of the most important early examples comes from Nigeria, where newspaper evidence shows women playing football as early as the 1930s and 1940s. Academic research on Nigerian women’s football identifies four broad periods: early participation in the 1940s–1950s, a period of suppression during the 1950s–1960s, renewed growth from the 1970s into the early 1990s, and institutionalization from the mid-1990s onward.

South Africa provides another important story. Organized women’s football developed during the 1960s and 1970s, but apartheid meant that women’s football itself became divided along racial lines. The South African Women’s Football Association (SAWFA), established in 1974, became an important early national women’s football organization, although it was initially controlled by white women and did not provide equal representation for Black African women. Black women subsequently established their own organization, the South African Women’s Soccer Association (SAWSA), in 1991.

The history of African women’s football therefore contains both achievement and injustice. Understanding both is essential if the history is to be told honestly.

1. The History of Women’s Football in Africa

1.1 Women were playing before official recognition
The first important point is that official recognition and actual participation are not the same thing.

Women did not wait for football federations to give them permission before they began kicking a ball, mans did not as well. In many places, girls played informally in schools, neighborhoods and communities. However, because football organizations and newspapers were overwhelmingly controlled by men, much of this early participation was poorly documented.

Nigeria provides some of the earliest documented examples.
Historical research has identified reports of women playing football in Nigeria during the 1930s and 1940s. At first, some matches were treated as novelty or entertainment rather than legitimate competitive sport. During the 1940s, however, women’s football became increasingly organized. Charity matches helped demonstrate that women could attract spectators and public attention, after which women began forming their own teams and arranging competitive matches.

One particularly important reported match took place in 1944 between Warri Ladies and Onitsha Ladies. This is significant because it shows women competing against women rather than simply participating in novelty matches designed around entertainment.

This period is important because it challenges the idea that African women’s football was simply imported from elsewhere in the late twentieth century. African women were already participating and organizing football before FIFA and national federations created the modern structures of women’s football.

1.2 Colonialism and the suppression of women’s football

The development of women’s football was heavily influenced by colonialism.
In Nigeria, women’s football grew during the 1940s, including through charity matches connected to wartime fundraising. But as women began creating their own teams and competitive matches, the British colonial administration became increasingly uncomfortable with the development.

July 1950, the colonial administration prohibited women’s football in Nigeria. Academic research describes the period as one in which women’s football was pushed “under the shadows.” The ban was influenced by colonial attitudes toward women’s physical activity and by the existing British precedent of restricting women’s football.

The significance of this is deeper than simply saying that “women were banned from football.”
The ban demonstrated that sport could become a form of political control. Women organizing themselves, forming teams and publicly occupying a space considered masculine challenged the gender order that colonial authorities had established around organized sport.

Some women nevertheless continued playing despite the restriction. The ban eventually disappeared around Nigerian independence in 1960.
This is one of the most powerful lessons in the history of African women’s football: the absence of official competitions does not necessarily mean women stopped playing. Sometimes it means that women were playing outside official structures.

Two women’s football teams in Algiers, Algeria, in 1921. The photograph provides an early visual record of organized women’s football in Africa during the colonial period

2. How Women’s Football Developed in Africa
The development of women’s football in Africa can be divided broadly into several periods.

Period 1: Early participation — roughly the 1930s–1950s

Women began appearing in organized and semi-organized matches in countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.
The activity was often informal, poorly funded and sometimes described as entertainment rather than serious sport.

Period 2: Restriction and marginalization — roughly the 1950s–1960s
Women’s football faced opposition from colonial governments, football authorities and social expectations about femininity.
In Nigeria, the colonial ban became a major interruption to the sport’s development. In South Africa, racial segregation created another layer of inequality.

Period 3: Re-emergence and organization — roughly the 1970s–1980s
Women’s football began growing more visibly.
Women created clubs and leagues. Dedicated women’s associations appeared. International matches became more common. Countries such as Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa became important centers of development.

Period 4: International institutionalization — late 1980s–1990s
The international football system began taking women’s football much more seriously.
The 1988 FIFA Women’s World Championship in China was an important experimental tournament. Africa participated through Côte d’Ivoire, helping demonstrate that African women’s football existed at an international level.

1988 FIFA woman’s world cup

Then came the first official FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991.
Nigeria became Africa’s representative at that historic tournament. FIFA records the Nigerian team competing in the inaugural Women’s World Cup in China in 1991.

Period 5: Continental growth — 1990s–2000s
The establishment of major African women’s competitions gave players regular opportunities to compete.
CAF established the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as the continent’s major women’s competition. The competition was established in 1998 in its modern form, while earlier African women’s championships in 1991 and 1995 formed part of the competition’s historical development.
Nigeria quickly became the dominant force.

Period 6: Professionalization and diversification — 2000s–present
Women’s football expanded beyond a small number of traditional powers.
Nigeria remained a major force, but South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and other countries increasingly developed competitive teams.

The CAF Women’s Champions League, launched in the 2020s, created another important pathway by allowing African women’s clubs — not only national teams — to compete against each other.
CAF reports that the competition has increased competitiveness, talent identification and professionalization, while coaching and administration programs have also expanded.

3. Early African Women Footballers and Organizations

3.1 The pioneers whose names were never recorded
One of the saddest parts of football history is that many of the earliest women players are unknown today.

A young girl who played in a neighborhood team in 1940s Nigeria may have been one of the first generation of African women footballers, yet if no newspaper recorded her name, her contribution can disappear from history.
Therefore, the history of women’s football should not only celebrate famous stars.

It should also recognize:
girls who played barefoot;
women who created neighborhood teams;
mothers who allowed their daughters to play;
teachers who organized school teams;
women who collected money for uniforms;
community leaders who provided football fields;
coaches who trained girls before women’s football was respected;
administrators who created competitions;

the person who wrote this book, just kidding
and players who continued despite being told that football was not for women.
These people created the foundation on which today’s professional players stand.

3.2 South Africa and the South African Women’s Football Association

South Africa provides one of the clearest examples of an early dedicated women’s football organization.
The South African Women’s Football Association (SAWFA) was formed in 1974. Academic research describes it as an important early national governing organization for women’s football and identifies it as the first dedicated women’s football association in Africa.
However, its history must be told carefully.
SAWFA operated during apartheid and was initially controlled by white women. It primarily represented white and Coloured women rather than Black African women. This means that even an organization created to advance women’s football could reproduce racial inequalities existing in wider South African society.

Black women were organizing football separately.
In 1991, the South African Women’s Soccer Association (SAWSA) was created for Black women. The existence of separate organizations demonstrates that gender discrimination and racial discrimination could operate simultaneously.
Eventually, the two structures were brought together, but disputes over representation, resources and decision-making continued.
This is an important lesson for the history of women’s sport:
“Women” are not one homogeneous group. Race, class, geography and access to resources can create very different experiences among women footballers.

3.3 Nigeria’s early women’s football movement
Nigeria became one of the most important countries in African women’s football.
By the late twentieth century, women’s football had developed enough for numerous clubs to exist. Historical accounts indicate that 28 women’s clubs were playing in Nigeria by 1989 despite limited institutional support.

The country eventually produced the Super Falcons, who became the most successful women’s national team in Africa.
The pioneering generation included players such as Florence Omagbemi, who represented Nigeria from 1991 to 2004 and later became a coach.
Omagbemi has explained that the pioneers were not primarily motivated by money. Their goal was to build a national team that would survive beyond their own playing careers and demonstrate what girls could contribute to football.

That is particularly important because it shows that the development of women’s football was not simply caused by governments or football associations.
Players themselves were builders of the institution.

4. The First Women’s Football Federation or Association in Africa
This question needs precision because “first federation” can mean several different things.

The first Africa-wide football federation

The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) was established in 1957.
Its founding members were Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa. CAF became the continental governing body for African football.

However, CAF was not originally a women’s football federation. It governed African football as a whole, at a time when women’s football was still largely marginalized.
The first dedicated national women’s football association
A strong documented candidate is the South African Women’s Football Association (SAWFA), established in 1974.

It is described in academic research as the first dedicated women’s football association in Africa.
But this should not be interpreted as meaning women had never organized football elsewhere before 1974.
Nigeria, for example, had women’s teams and competitive activity decades earlier.
The distinction is:
women playing football came first; formal dedicated women’s football organizations came later.
This difference is extremely important when writing history.

5. The Bans and Restrictions Women Faced

Women footballers in Africa faced restrictions at several different levels.
Some were official.
Others were social.
Others were economic.
And some were so normalized that people did not even consider them restrictions.

5.1 Official bans
The Nigerian colonial ban is one of the clearest examples.
In 1950, British colonial authorities banned women’s football in Nigeria. The prohibition interrupted an emerging women’s football culture that had developed during the 1940s.
This shows that women could be prevented from participating in football not because they lacked talent, but because authorities considered the sport inappropriate for women.

5.2 Family opposition

For many girls, the first obstacle was not a football federation.
It was home.
Parents sometimes believed that football was:
too masculine;
too physically demanding;
inappropriate for girls;
a distraction from school;
damaging to a girl’s reputation;
incompatible with expectations about femininity;
or unlikely to provide a respectable career.

My family did not oppose me because of my Gender, they oppose me because they just did not believe me. they were worried that I might fell and die because they can not take me In to proper hospital, money was the issue for them.

CAF’s interviews with pioneers repeatedly describe a past in which parents discouraged girls from playing. Florence Omagbemi, for example, recalled growing up playing football despite parental restrictions.
FIFA has similarly documented the transformation of attitudes in Ghana. Coach Yusif Basigi described how women playing football was once frowned upon but later became increasingly admired.

DID YOUR FAMILY OPPOSE YOU? WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE OPPOSION?

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5.3 Lack of facilities
Even when girls were technically allowed to play, they often did not receive the same facilities as boys.
This can mean:
fewer football fields;
poor-quality pitches;
limited training equipment;
inadequate changing facilities;
limited medical support;
fewer coaches;
fewer competitions;
and fewer opportunities to travel.
These disadvantages matter because talent alone cannot create a professional football career.
A talented girl needs somewhere to train, someone qualified to coach her, competitions in which to develop, medical care when injured, and pathways through which scouts can discover her.

5.4 Lack of financial support
Women’s football has historically received less financial investment than men’s football.
This can affect everything from salaries to transport and accommodation.
A particularly important example is Nigeria’s national team.
The Super Falcons have repeatedly had disputes with football authorities over unpaid bonuses, allowances and other financial obligations. These disputes have sometimes resulted in players refusing to train or staging protests. Contemporary reporting has documented repeated conflicts between the team and the Nigeria Football Federation.
These incidents are important because they reveal a contradiction:
A country can celebrate women footballers as national heroes while still failing to provide them with stable working conditions.

6. Hidden Problems Women Face Trying to Achieve There Dream

The most important thing to understand here is that not every woman footballer experiences all of these problems. Africa is a huge continent containing more than 50 countries, thousands of communities and enormous differences in culture, religion, economics and football infrastructure.
Therefore, these should be described as documented or reported structural problems, not as experiences shared by every African woman footballer.

6.1 Being told that football makes a girl “less feminine”
One of the deepest barriers is psychological and social.
Girls can be taught that football is masculine. They may hear that they should: sit and watch instead of play; behave more “like girls”; avoid physical competition; focus on marriage rather than sport; prioritize domestic responsibilities; or choose a more traditionally accepted career.
This can affect a player’s confidence long before she ever reaches a professional club.
The history of Ghana demonstrates this transformation particularly clearly. FIFA has documented how attitudes shifted from viewing women playing football negatively toward increasingly respecting and admiring female players.

6.2 The education-versus-football dilemma
Young female footballers often have to balance school and sport.
This can be especially difficult where football competitions require travel or where families depend on girls to help with household responsibilities.
The problem becomes a cycle:
A girl has football talent.
She needs more training.
Training takes time.
Her family needs her help at home or expects her to prioritize school.
She misses training.
Her development slows.
A scout does not see her.
Her potential career disappears before it begins.
This is one reason grassroots development matters so much.

I, my self might be the top 3 students in my class, and I might have also been the best player at my schoool. I do not think that someone should stop what they love to be someone that the world loves.

6.3 Poverty and economic pressure
For some players, football is not immediately financially sustainable.
A player may need to spend money on:
transportation;
boots;
uniforms;
food;
medical treatment;
accommodation;
tournament travel;
or training.

At the same time, many women’s football careers do not provide enough income to support a player independently.

A 2025 FIFPRO survey of 407 national-team players from 41 countries found that two-thirds earned less than US$20,000 annually from football related income, 25% had jobs outside football, one-third had club contracts lasting less than a year, and 22% had no club contract at all. The survey covered several confederations, including CAF, so it should not be interpreted as an Africa only statistic but it demonstrates the continuing global financial insecurity in women’s football.

For African players, where domestic football structures can be less financially developed than those in wealthier football markets, this insecurity can become especially significant.

6.4 Inadequate medical and professional support
Football is physically demanding.
A professional footballer needs access to qualified medical staff, injury prevention, rehabilitation and recovery.
Where women’s teams have fewer resources, players can face weaker medical support.
This is particularly important because an injury can affect not only a player’s current season but also her future career.
The problem is therefore not simply “women need more money.”
It is that investment determines whether talent can become a sustainable career.

6.5 Harassment, abuse and safeguarding risks
Another serious issue in sport is the abuse of power.
Coaches, administrators or other adults can hold enormous influence over young players because they control selection, playing time, access to teams, travel and opportunities.
That creates a safeguarding responsibility.

A football environment must protect players from harassment, exploitation and abuse and must provide trustworthy systems for reporting misconduct.

I even remember when i got the opportunity to join a small football club when I was 13, i was really happy to be a part of an actual team but when I want there the only thing I noticed was inappropriate relationships with teammates, workers and even the couch. if I had continued there maybe I might have not been who I am today both in positive and negative ways.

what I am trying to say is that harassment is a real issue here.

This subject should be handled carefully about young girls and football. It is important to acknowledge that safeguarding is a real concern without turning the history into sensational stories or implying that abuse is inevitable.

prominent Gabonese female player described the inescapable systemic wall she faced trying to break into professional football:

“For years, it was a passage of obligation. If you wanted to be selected for the national team, if you wanted to travel, you had to yield to the sexual demands of the coaches. If you said no, your career was instantly dead, and they would label you as a ‘problem player’ to make sure no other club touched you.”

Another player detailed how the system protected perpetrators while punishing victims who spoke out:

“The fact that they protect an abuser is a disgrace. It shows us that if you are a girl and they rape, abuse or hurt you at a club, you won’t be believed.”

And how do you expect a young girl who knows nothing about this world to play and perform the same as the boys do when she have to overcome all this challenges?

Modern football organizations increasingly recognize safeguarding as part of women’s football development. CAF, for example, has incorporated safeguarding and wellness activities into its women’s competitions and development programs.

The important lesson is:
“A football program is not truly successful if it produces talented players but fails to protect them.”

6.6 Discrimination based on race
South Africa demonstrates that women’s football has sometimes been affected by both gender and racial discrimination.
During apartheid, women’s football developed through racially divided structures. SAWFA initially represented mainly white and Coloured women, while Black women developed separate football organizations and competitions.

This means that simply asking “Were women allowed to play?” is not enough.
The better question is:

Which women were allowed to play, where, under what conditions, and with access to which resources?

Anonymous Elite WAFCON Veteran
regarding the reality of playing in Africa, a top international player detailed what happens when entering hostile stadiums:
What she literally said: “They look at our dark skin and call us monkeys from the stands. They throw objects at our bus and use racial insults to try and break our focus before the game even starts. You have to lock your mind completely just to survive the match.”

What would you really do at this kind of Situation?

6.7 Geographic inequality
Opportunities are not equally distributed between cities and rural communities.
A player living in a major city may have access to:
clubs;
coaches;
competitions;
scouts;
football academies;
transportation;
and better facilities.
A talented girl in a rural community may have almost none of these.
This creates an enormous hidden loss of talent.
A country may believe it has a shortage of talented female players when the actual problem is that thousands of talented girls never enter a formal pathway.

7. How Women Footballers Slowly Became Recognized

Recognition did not arrive all at once.
It came through repeated demonstrations that women could play at a high level.

7.1 International competition changed perceptions
The first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held in China in 1991.
Nigeria participated in this historic first tournament, becoming the first African team to compete at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
That moment mattered because an African women’s team was no longer simply playing locally.
It was representing an entire continent on football’s biggest international stage.

7.2 African players began becoming global figures
African players gradually became recognized outside the continent.
Mercy Akide became one of the most important examples. FIFA describes her as one of the women who helped establish Nigeria as an early African leader in women’s football. She became the first recipient of the CAF African Women’s Footballer of the Year award in 2002.
Later generations included players such as:
Asisat Oshoala;
Perpetua Nkwocha;
Florence Omagbemi;
Desiree Ellis;

Eyerusalem Negash;

Thembi Kgatlana;
Barbra Banda;
and many others.
These players did more than win matches.
They changed what young African girls could imagine themselves becoming.
A girl watching a woman from her continent compete internationally could begin to see football not merely as something boys do, but as something she could potentially build a future around.

8. Nigeria and the Rise of the Super Falcons
Nigeria deserves a special place in the history of African women’s football.
The Super Falcons became the continent’s dominant women’s national team.
CAF records Nigeria as having won nine of the first twelve official editions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations from 1998 onward, with additional championships from the earlier 1991 and 1995 competitions included in the broader historical record.
Nigeria’s dominance did something important beyond collecting trophies.
It demonstrated that investment in women’s football could produce international success.

The success of the Super Falcons helped establish a football pathway:
girl → youth football → club football → national team → international career.
The team also produced role models for subsequent generations.
Florence Omagbemi later became coach and helped Nigeria win the continental championship again, making her a rare figure to win the African women’s title both as a player and as a coach.

9. Ghana, South Africa and the Expansion of African Women’s Football
Although Nigeria dominated the continental championship, other countries played crucial roles in expanding the game.
Ghana
Ghana’s Black Queens became one of the pioneering national teams in African women’s football.
CAF describes Ghana as one of the pioneers of the women’s game on the continent. The team reached the African championship final in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
Ghana also became particularly important in youth women’s football.
Its repeated participation in FIFA youth tournaments created opportunities for younger players to gain international experience.
FIFA has described the changing public perception of women’s football in Ghana, noting that girls playing football were once frowned upon but are increasingly admired.

South Africa
South Africa’s history is especially important because it combines football, race, gender and political change.
The women’s national team, Banyana Banyana, was formed in the early 1990s and eventually became one of Africa’s strongest teams.
In 2018, South Africa reached the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final and qualified for its first FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The team then won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, demonstrating how far the country had progressed from the segregated structures of the apartheid era.
South African coach and former player Desiree Ellis has described the transformation of African women’s football as extending across technical, tactical, structural and cultural areas. She has also highlighted the growth of full-time contracts, facilities, qualified coaches and regular

competitions.

Ethiopia

The history of women’s football in Ethiopia began informally in neighborhoods, where trailblazing girls defied intense cultural barriers to play the sport.

Early pioneers, such as dentist Dr. Endegenalem Awaso and the senior national team’s first captain, Eyerusalem Negash, had to train alongside boys in local lots because women were not socially permitted to participate. Players frequently faced physical reprimands, verbal abuse, and rejection from their communities for wearing sportswear and cutting their hair.

Despite this isolation, these foundational athletes laid the groundwork for the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) to later step in and mandate that domestic men’s clubs establish parallel female divisions.
The sport shifted toward a professional era with the official introduction of the Ethiopian Women’s Premier League in 2012.

This structure allowed elite talents like forward Loza Abera, the highest scorer in league history to develop the skills required to secure high-profile international contracts in Europe and the United States.

Concurrently, the senior national women’s team, affectionately named “Lucy,” turned individual triumphs into collective pride. By packing local stadiums for critical tournament qualifiers and capturing the attention of the continent, these athletes successfully transformed a once-forbidden pastime into a highly respected and legally protected professional career pathway.

10. The Growth of Continental Competitions
Competitions have been one of the most important engines of development.
Without competitions, players have nowhere to demonstrate their abilities.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations created a continental stage for national teams.
The competition expanded over time. CAF’s historical account records important milestones including the move to an eight-team group-stage format in 1998, Nigeria’s dominance from 2000 to 2006, Equatorial Guinea’s historic title in 2008, and the expansion to 12 teams in 2019.
The emergence of Equatorial Guinea was particularly significant.

Nigeria had dominated African women’s football for years. Equatorial Guinea’s victory in 2008 demonstrated that another country could challenge Nigeria’s dominance. CAF identifies Equatorial Guinea as the first nation other than Nigeria to win the continental title.
Later, countries such as South Africa, Morocco and Zambia increasingly demonstrated that African women’s football was becoming more competitive.

11. The CAF Women’s Champions League
The development of club football is just as important as national teams.
A national team can bring together the best players for short periods, but sustainable football development requires strong clubs.

The CAF Women’s Champions League has therefore become an important part of the modern African game.
CAF describes the competition as a platform for talent identification and professionalization. The organization has also expanded coaching and administration programs designed specifically to increase women’s participation in football leadership.
This matters because the future of women’s football cannot depend only on national teams.

It reuires a complete football ecosystem:

schools → grassroots clubs → youth academies → domestic leagues → professional clubs → national teams → international competitions.

12. How African Women Contributed to the Growth of Football

It would be wrong to describe African women merely as people who benefited from the development of women’s football.
They were among the people who created that development.

12.1 Women were the players
The most obvious contribution was simply playing.

Every woman who entered a football field challenged the assumption that football belonged exclusively to men.

12.2 Women organized teams
Before professional structures existed, women and their supporters created teams and competitions themselves.
In Nigeria, women’s football existed despite limited support from football authorities. In South Africa, women created organized associations and leagues.

12.3 Women became coaches
African women gradually moved from playing to coaching.
Florence Omagbemi, Selam Zaray are some of most important examples.
Desiree Ellis is another.
CAF has also increasingly invested in female coaching education. During its 2024–25 development activities, CAF reported that 267 women obtained D, C or B-level coaching licenses through women-focused programs across several African countries.
This is extremely important.
When a girl sees a woman coaching a team, she learns that football leadership is not restricted to men.

12.4 Women became administrators and leaders
African women have also contributed outside the pitch.
Fatma Samoura became the first woman and first non-European to serve as FIFA Secretary General. CAF has highlighted her contribution to football development and her belief in football’s ability to change lives, particularly for women and girls.
Other women have entered football administration, player representation, refereeing, club management, media and business.

This broadens the meaning of “being involved in football.”
A girl who loves football does not have to become only a player.
She can become:
a coach;
referee;
sports journalist;
physiotherapist;
sports lawyer;
administrator;
scout;
analyst;
club owner;
sports photographer;
football researcher;
or federation leader.

13. African Women Are Changing the Meaning of Football
The greatest contribution of African women may not be a particular trophy.
It may be the transformation of the question:

“Can women play football?”

into:

“How far can women take football?”

That is a completely different question.
In the past, women’s football often had to prove that women belonged on the pitch.
Today, African women are increasingly proving that they belong everywhere in the football system.
CAF’s recent development work illustrates this transition: women’s football programs now include coaching education, leadership development, grassroots competitions, safeguarding, medical education and professional club competitions.

14. The Recognition of African Women’s Football Today
The modern African women’s game is much more visible than it was in previous generations.
African teams have competed at FIFA Women’s World Cups, Olympic Games and youth World Cups.

As of the current FIFA qualification records, Nigeria has made nine Women’s World Cup appearances, Ghana three, Cameroon two, South Africa two, and Morocco, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia one each.
That record represents something much bigger than statistics.
It represents decades of work by women who played before professional leagues existed.
A modern player standing on a World Cup pitch is connected to the girl who played an unofficial match in Nigeria decades earlier, the woman who created a club in South Africa, the pioneer who trained despite opposition, and the administrator who fought for women to receive an organized competition.

15. What Still Needs to Change

The story should not end by pretending that equality has already been achieved.
Women’s football in Africa has progressed enormously, but challenges remain.

What I think is the media, the people, us all need to change the way we see woman football.

let me ask you a question

when was the last time you watched a football game?

was it woman mach?

If so, good but if it is not, then you do not have to pretend like you care for woman football, this small things are the ones that makes big difference.

Some of the major areas requiring continued development include:

1. Stable professional contracts
Players need reliable employment rather than depending entirely on short-term arrangements.
2. Better facilities
Women need proper training grounds, changing rooms, medical facilities and equipment.
3. Youth development
Girls need pathways from school football to professional football.
4. Safeguarding
Players, especially young players, need safe environments and reliable systems for reporting misconduct.
5. Women’s leadership
More women need opportunities to become coaches, referees, administrators and decision makers.
6. Media coverage
A sport becomes more visible when people can watch, read about and discuss it.
7. Investment
Women’s football needs sustainable financial investment rather than occasional attention when a major tournament arrives.
8. Respect
Perhaps the most fundamental requirement is cultural.
A girl should not have to defend her decision to love football.

Chapter Three: What Does It Really Take to Be a Footballer?

First thing I want to make clear is that, there is no just one single thing that you need to be a footballer.

What do you need to become a footballer?

A football?
Football boots?
A team?
Talent?
Maybe.
But there is something much more important.

You need to keep going.

Because becoming a footballer is not as simple as putting on a jersey and stepping onto a field.
And it is not about being born with some magical talent that everyone else can see.

It starts much smaller. It starts with learning, with practicing and sometimes, it starts with simply deciding that you want to try.
Start With the Ball

You don’t need to be amazing on your first day.
Actually, you probably won’t be.
You might kick the ball too far, You might miss the goal, lose control, You might fall, You might make a mistake in front of everyone.
That’s okay.

Every footballer starts somewhere.
The first goal isn’t to become the best player in the world.
The first goal is to become a little better than you were yesterday.

Talent Is Not Everything
Some people seem naturally good at football. They are fast, They have good coordination,They understand the game quickly, They can control the ball beautifully.

But talent is only the beginning.

Imagine two players.
One is naturally talented but rarely practices.
The other struggles at first but practices consistently.
Who will become better?

There is no guaranteed answer, because football is unpredictable.
But one thing is certain:
Talent without effort has limits.

A footballer needs to learn.
And learning takes time.
That is why you should never look at someone who is better than you and think:
“I can never become that good.”

You are seeing their progress.You are not seeing all the hours that came before it.
You Need Your Body

Football is a physical sport.
You run, stop, turn, jump, accelerate, change direction, fight for space. You need coordination and balance.

You need to take care of your body and give it enough rest, food and recovery.
But becoming a footballer does not mean trying to change your body to look like someone else’s.

Mwai Muthiwa (Social Media User):
“Look at the goals, the keeper can’t even move. She’s too fat.”

Jerome Chisikwa (Sports Critic on X):
“These are the Scorchers’ star players who play for some of the world’s best football clubs. They have one thing in common: a lean physique and an optimal BMI. We demand the same from Mercy Sikelo and every other player. There is nothing personal or body…”

“That is not Analysis its Bullying” Sarah Munthali.

Footballers come in different shapes, sizes and body types.
What matters is being healthy, strong enough for your level of play, and able to develop your skills safely.

And women’s football has its own specific needs.
Modern football organizations are increasingly recognizing that training and support for female players should take women’s health and performance needs into account rather than simply copying systems designed around male athletes. FIFA’s 2026 Female Health and Performance Project provides science based education specifically focused on female athletes.

That is an important change.

Because understanding the player is part of developing the player.

You Need Your Mind Too. Football is not only played with your feet. A huge part of the game happens inside your head. You need concentration. You need confidence. You need patience. And you need the ability to recover from mistakes. Imagine you miss an important chance.

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You have two choices.

You can spend the rest of the match thinking:
“I ruined everything.”

Or you can think:
“I missed. Now I have another chance to do better.”

The second player has something powerful.
Resilience.

You will make mistakes in football.
Everyone does.
The question isn’t whether you will fail.
The question is:

What will you do after you fail?
You Need to Learn to Work With Others. Football is not a one person sport. You can be the fastest player on the field. You can have an incredible shot. You can dribble past several opponents. But eventually, you need your teammates. Someone has to pass to you. Someone has to defend behind you. Someone has to create space. Someone has to encourage you when you make a mistake. That is why being a footballer also means learning how to be a teammate.

A good team learns to keep moving together.
But perhaps the most important thing is this:

You have to believe that you are allowed to try.

Because before a girl can become a footballer, she often has to imagine herself as one.
She has to see herself on the field. She has to believe that the jersey can belong to her. She has to believe that the ball can be at her feet. She has to believe that the dream is not too big.
And then she has to take the first step. Maybe she won’t become a professional.
Maybe she will. We cannot know. But she deserves the chance to find out. Because becoming a footballer isn’t about guaranteeing that you will reach the biggest stadium. It is about giving yourself the opportunity to discover how far you can go.And sometimes, that journey begins with

something very simple:
a ball at your feet, a dream in your heart, and the courage to keep playing.

Five Important Disciplines Every Footballer Needs

1. Discipline

Discipline means doing what you need to do even when you do not feel like doing it. A footballer cannot train only on the days when they are motivated. Sometimes you will be tired, busy, or simply not in the mood, but you still have to take your development seriously.

Discipline can be something simple, such as arriving at training on time, listening to your coach, taking care of your equipment, and following your training schedule. These small habits can make a big difference over time. A disciplined player understands that every training session is an opportunity to become better.

2. Consistency

Consistency means continuing to work toward your goal instead of working hard for a few days and then stopping. Football skills do not improve overnight. Passing, shooting, dribbling, controlling the ball, and understanding the game all require repeated practice.

You might not notice a big improvement after one training session, but if you keep practicing over weeks, months, and years, the difference can become much clearer. Even when progress feels slow, continuing is important.

Consistency is what turns practice into improvement.

3. Hard Work

Talent can help a player, but talent alone is not enough. A footballer needs to be willing to work hard and improve the parts of their game that are difficult.

Hard work does not mean exhausting yourself without a plan. It means taking training seriously, putting effort into learning your weaknesses, and trying again after making mistakes. If you are not good at something yet, you should not immediately decide that you can never become good at it.

A player who works hard can gradually turn weaknesses into strengths.

4. Patience

Every footballer develops at a different speed. Some players may improve quickly in one area while taking longer in another. Comparing yourself constantly with other players can make you forget your own progress.

Patience means understanding that becoming a good footballer takes time. You may have a bad match, miss an important chance, or struggle with a particular skill. That does not mean your dream is over.

Instead of expecting immediate results, focus on improving little by little. The important question is not, “Why am I not there yet?” but, “What can I do today that will help me get there?”

5. Resilience

Resilience is the ability to keep going after something goes wrong. Football is full of moments that can disappoint you. You can lose a match, make a mistake, get injured, sit on the bench, or receive criticism from a coach.

Nobody plays perfectly all the time.

What matters is how you respond. A resilient player learns from mistakes instead of allowing them to completely destroy their confidence. Losing a match can teach you something. A mistake can show you what you need to practice. Criticism can sometimes help you see something you did not notice yourself.

Being resilient does not mean pretending that disappointment does not hurt. It means allowing yourself to learn from it and continuing forward.

Chapter Four: START

You have a dream. You know what you want. But sometimes the hardest part is not dreaming it is knowing where to begin.
You might not have a football club near you. You might have school, family responsibilities, exams, or very little free time. You might not have a coach, proper equipment, or even people who believe in your dream.

That does not mean you have to stop.
You don’t need a perfect plan. You just need a place to start.

Start With What You Have
Before thinking about competitions, teams, or becoming the best player, start with the basics.
If you have a ball, use it. If you don’t, find a safe way to practice basic movement and coordination. If you have a field, use it. If you don’t, look for a safe open space where you are allowed to practice.

Start small.
Practice controlling the ball. Work on passing. Learn how to move with confidence. Watch games and pay attention to how players position themselves. Learn the rules. Try to understand the game instead of only watching it.
You don’t have to be amazing on your first day.
You just have to begin.

Make Time Without Making Your Life Perfect
You do not need to train for hours every day.
You have school. You have homework. You have family. You have other responsibilities. Football should become part of your life, not something that makes everything else impossible.
Instead of creating a complicated schedule, ask yourself:
“When can I realistically give football some of my time?”
Maybe it is after school. Maybe it is on weekends. Maybe you have a little time before school. The exact time is not important.
What matters is consistency.
Even a small amount of practice can help you improve when you keep coming back to it.
And remember: resting, studying, sleeping, and taking care of yourself are also part of becoming better.

Find Your People
If you want to play seriously, start looking for other people who play.
Ask classmates. Ask friends. Ask teachers. Look around your community. Search for school teams, youth clubs, community programs, or local football groups.
You don’t have to wait for someone to magically discover you.
You can ask:
“Are there any girls’ football teams near me?”
“Does this school have a football team?”
“Are there youth clubs where girls can train?”

One question can lead to another person, another opportunity, and eventually another door.
If there isn’t a girls’ team nearby, that doesn’t mean you have to give up. You can still look for safe opportunities to learn, practice, and connect with other girls who love the game.

Deal With Obstacles One at a Time
There will probably be obstacles.
Maybe your parents don’t understand your dream. Maybe you don’t have enough money for a club. Maybe people tell you football is not for girls. Maybe you are nervous about being the only girl there.
Don’t try to solve every problem at once.

Take them one at a time.
If money is the problem, look for free or affordable opportunities.
If you don’t know where to train, ask people and search your community.
If your family is worried, explain why football matters to you and show them that you are taking your responsibilities seriously.
If someone tells you that you cannot do it because you are a girl, remember that their opinion does not decide your future.

You may not be able to remove every obstacle immediately.But you can decide what your next step will be.Build Your Confidence Through ActionConfidence does not always come before you start.Sometimes, confidence comes because you started.

The first time you practice, you might feel awkward. The first time you join a team, you might feel nervous. The first time you make a mistake in front of other people, you might want to disappear.
That’s okay.
Mistakes are part of learning.
Don’t measure yourself by whether you are already good. Measure yourself by whether you are learning, trying, and coming back.

You don’t need to prove that you are the best player in the beginning.
You just need to prove to yourself that you are willing to keep going.

Your First Steps
Don’t make your first goal something huge.
Make it something you can actually do.
Learn one new skill.
Practice a few times this week.
Find one football club or team in your area.
Talk to one person who can help you.
Watch a game and learn something from it.
Ask about opportunities for girls.
Then take the next step.
That is how a dream becomes something real.
You don’t need to know exactly where you will be five years from now.
You just need to know what you can do today.
Start with what you have.
Start with what you know.
Start small.
And then keep going.

Chapter Five: How Do You Keep Going?

There is a question I think about when I look at African women’s football:

How did they keep going? Not when everything was easy. Not when the stadium was full.
Not when everyone believed in them. But when there was no stadium. When there was little money. When people told them football was not for Them. When their families worried about them. When they lost.When they were injured. When they were tired. When nobody was watching.

How did they keep going?

Maybe the answer is different for every woman.But when you listen to their stories, one thing appears again and again. They had something they refused to give up on.

Before the Applause
Today, we see African women footballers on television.We see the jerseys, The stadiums, The trophies, The celebrations.
But we don’t always see what came before.
We don’t see the girl practicing on a rough field.
We don’t see the player traveling long distances for training.
We on’t see the women who played before women’s football received much attention.
We don’t see the moments when they wondered whether it was worth continuing.

Florence Omagbemi, one of Nigeria’s pioneering Super Falcons, remembers a time when parents discouraged girls from playing football. She has explained that her generation was not mainly focused on money; they wanted to help build a Nigerian women’s team that would continue beyond their own playing careers.

Think about that.
They were not simply playing for themselves.
They were building something for girls they might never meet.
The Girl Who Played Anyway

Consider Halimatu Ayinde.

She grew up in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, in an environment where girls were expected to follow traditional paths rather than chase football dreams.

But she wanted to play.

CAF describes how she secretly went out to play football barefoot with boys. Today, she is a Super Falcons midfielder. The girl who once had to hide her football became a woman representing Nigeria.

That story makes me think about how many dreams begin quietly.

Sometimes nobody knows. There is no announcement. No photograph. No crowd. Just a girl sneaking out to play because she loves the game. And perhaps that is enough to begin a journey. Sometimes You Have to Start With What You Have. Not every African girl begins her football journey with an academy. Some begin in neighborhoods. Some begin at school. Some begin playing with boys. Some begin on rough ground. Some begin with an old ball. And some begin without knowing where the journey will take them.

Amanda Dlamini, who went on to represent South Africa, came from a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. She has spoken about growing up far from the major football centers and never imagining that someone would discover her. Yet she eventually reached the national team.

Her story is important because talent does not only live in famous cities.
Talent can be hiding in a village.
On a dusty field.
In a schoolyard.
In a girl nobody has discovered yet.
The question is not always: “Where are the talented girls?” Sometimes the question should be: “Why haven’t we reached them yet?” There Will Be Days You Want to Stop

Let’s be honest.
Resilience sounds beautiful when we talk about it afterward.
But living through difficult moments isn’t beautiful.
It can be frustrating. It can be lonely. It can make you question yourself. A footballer can train for months and still not be selected. She can work hard and still lose. She can give everything to a match and walk away disappointed. She can watch someone else get the opportunity she wanted. And sometimes, she may wonder:

“Why am I doing this?”
That question doesn’t mean she is weak. Losing Is Part of the Story
African women’s football has known plenty of heartbreak.

South Africa’s Banyana Banyana reached the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final five times between 1995 and 2018 and lost every one.
Five finals.
Five disappointments.

Then, in 2022, they finally won the tournament. That victory was not just a trophy. It was the end of years of coming close and going home without it. Imagine being part of one of those teams.
Imagine losing a final.

Then coming back again.And losing again.Then again.And again.
At some point, you have to decide whether disappointment is going to define you.

Banyana Banyana eventually answered that question with a trophy.

But the real victory may have started much earlier when they decided to return after losing.
Sometimes Your Body Says “Stop”. Footballers are athletes, and athletes get injured.

For women footballers, an injury can be especially frightening because opportunities can already be limited.
Missing one tournament can mean missing an important chance to be seen.
Missing months of football can mean losing form.And sometimes an injury arrives at exactly the wrong moment.
South Africa’s Gabriela Salgado knows this.

She suffered a shoulder fracture that kept her out of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, and later suffered a serious leg injury during the 2024 tournament. Yet she has continued working toward a comeback.

That kind of story reminds us that resilience isn’t always dramatic.

Sometimes resilience looks like rehabilitation.

The 10 Principles

1. Neutralize Your First Opponent (The Home)
The hardest barrier often comes from the people who are supposed to love you most. Traditional expectations dictate that a young African girl should focus on domestic chores, marriage, or safe academic paths.

Example: Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria) grew up in a strict household where her parents actively tried to block her from playing. She had to sneak out of the house and balance school just to touch the ball.

Lesson: You cannot wait for everyone to understand your vision before you start. Sometimes, you must quietly protect your dream from your own family until your success forces them to see the reality.

2. Perform Through Deep Personal Trauma
True resilience means showing up and delivering your absolute best even when your private world is completely collapsing behind the scenes.

The Example: During the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa) lost three close family members within a two-week span while in camp. Instead of packing her bags and quitting, she stayed, fought, and scored a historic 92nd-minute winning goal against Italy.

The Lesson: Life will not pause its tragedies for your big moments. Acknowledge your grief, but compartmentalize your pain so that it fuels your purpose rather than paralyzing your progress.

3. Defy Unjust Structural Bans
When corrupt or outdated institutions create laws designed to stop you, you do not quit the game you move the game underground.

Example: In 1950, British colonial administrators banned women’s football across Nigeria, threatening to seize public pitches. Instead of backing down, pioneer women moved their matches to hidden school fields and rural clearings, keeping the sport alive completely out of the colonizers’ reach.

The Lesson: If the front door is locked by an unjust system, look for a side window or build your own independent platform.

4. Silence the Body-Shamers with Absolute Efficiency
People will judge you based on your appearance, your weight, or your aesthetics rather than your actual capability.

Example: Malawian national team goalkeeper Mercy Sikelo was brutally cyber-bullied by thousands of online trolls who called her “too fat” after a tough match. She stayed silent, refused to feed the trolls, and made crucial saves that propelled Malawi to historical qualification milestones.

The Lesson: Your body is an instrument for performance, not an ornament for public approval. Let your scoreboard do the talking.

5. Push Past Early Rejection and the “Physical Stereotype”
Global scouting systems often box African players into rigid stereotypes expecting them to be hyper-muscular and aggressive, while ignoring their tactical intelligence.

Example: Countless smaller, highly technical African midfielders are rejected by European scouts who only look for tall, physical “enforcers.” Players who survive this track do so by sharpening their football IQ to a level that makes them impossible to ignore.

The Lesson: When people try to box you into a stereotype, make your unique skill set so sharp

and undeniable that they are forced to adapt to you.

6. Convert Racial Profiling and Hate into Fuel
As a Black or African woman on the global stage, you will face “misogynoir” where your mistakes are vilified by the media while white players’ errors are excused as “competitive passion.”

Example: Striker Eniola Aluko faced an institutional wall when she blew the whistle on casual racism from her national team manager. Despite being blacklisted and labeled “difficult” by executives, she fought a multi-year legal battle until the federation was forced to issue a public apology.

The Lesson: Expect the system to protect itself first. Document everything, protect your record, and turn institutional hostility into a burning drive to win on your own terms.

7. Keep Going Across Broken Structural Eras
When you play during an era of political instability, lack of funding, or complete media erasure, you must play for the future generation, not just immediate fame.

Example: The pioneers of SAWFA (South African Women’s Football Association) in 1974 played under the shadow of Apartheid segregation with no corporate sponsors or media coverage. Their quiet grassroots resilience built the foundation for today’s fully professional SAFA Women’s League and Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.

Lesson: Sometimes you are not planting the seed to eat the fruit; you are planting it so the next generation can sit in the shade.

8. Build Underground Protective Networks
When local leadership is toxic, corrupt, or abusive, individual survival depends on finding and trusting a tight, reliable circle of peers.

Example: When players in Gabon faced systemic sexual abuse from predatory coaches, they bypassed their local corrupt federations entirely. They formed secret underground networks to protect younger girls and routed their evidence directly to international unions like FIFPRO to secure lifetime bans for the abusers.
The Lesson: You cannot fight systemic corruption alone. Build a circle of trusted allies who will protect your back when you speak truth to power.

9. Shatter the Glass Ceiling of Authority
Breaking barriers means entering spaces where people believe you do not belong, and refusing to back down when they try to intimidate you.

Example: Tactical pioneer Selam Zeray (Ethiopia) fought through severe regional taboos to become a CAF Elite ‘A’ licensed instructor, eventually becoming the head coach of the Liberia Women’s National Team proving that an Ethiopian woman could command international technical authority.

The Lesson: Do not shrink yourself to make others comfortable with your authority. Command your space with your knowledge and credentials.

10. Navigate the Motherhood Penalty
The sports world often forces women to choose between having a family and having a career, treating pregnancy as a contract-ending liability.

Example: Midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene spoke out against the deep fear African players face regarding marriage and childbirth, before successfully returning to top-flight professional soccer after giving birth to her son.

Lesson: Refuse to let corporate systems dictate your human milestones. Your career can be paused, rebuilt, and expanded on your own timeline.

Chapter 6: Can It Really Be Real?

Have you ever had a dream that felt too big for your life?
Maybe you have imagined yourself walking onto a football field wearing a jersey with your name on the back. Maybe you have imagined hearing people cheer for you. Maybe you have pictured yourself representing your school, your city, your country, or even your continent.

And then, suddenly, reality speaks.
“Who do you think you are?”
“people like you don’t become footballers.”
“Be realistic.”
“What if you fail?”
“What if nobody notices you?”

Sometimes, the loudest voice trying to stop us isn’t another person.
It is our own.

So, can it really be real?
Can a girl from an ordinary family, an ordinary school, an ordinary neighborhood, or a place where opportunities are limited really become a footballer?

Yes, it can be real.
But I want to be honest with you. That does not mean it will be easy. And it does not mean that everyone who dreams of becoming a professional footballer will become one. A dream is not a contract with the future. Dreaming does not guarantee the result. But that doesn’t make the dream meaningless. The Truth About the Dream There is something important I want you to understand:
You can control your effort, but you cannot control the outcome.
You can train.
You can learn.
You can improve.
You can ask for opportunities.
You can show up when you are nervous.
You can keep going after a disappointing day.
But you cannot control who selects you.
You cannot control how quickly you improve.
You cannot control every opportunity that comes in your way.
And you cannot know exactly where your journey will end.
That uncertainty can be frightening. But it is also what makes trying so powerful. Imagine never trying because you were afraid that you might fail. You would never discover what you were capable of. You Don’t Need to Start With Everything Maybe you don’t have the perfect football field, you don’t have expensive equipment, there isn’t a girls’ team close to your home, your family doesn’t completely understand your dream yet, you have never had a professional coach.
Maybe you are starting later than you wished you had.
That doesn’t mean you have to wait until everything is perfect.
Sometimes a dream begins with something very small.
A ball.
A few friends.
A school field.
A little space.
A decision to practice.
A decision to learn.
A decision to try again tomorrow.
The beginning may look nothing like the dream you have in your head.
And that’s okay.
Every big journey has a beginning that looks small.

But What If I Am Not Good Enough?
This is one of the questions I think many girls secretly ask themselves.

“What if I’m not talented enough?”

I always used to say that, seeing all those talented girls, the one who started at there very young age, the one who goes to a professional club, the one who gets support from her family, friend, community or even country, “they are better than me” that is what I always used to say.

Here’s the difficult truth: talent matters in football.
But talent isn’t the only thing that matters.

Football also requires learning, discipline, teamwork, decision making, resilience, and continuous improvement.

You may not be the best player today.
That doesn’t tell you who you can become tomorrow.
And sometimes, being bad at something in the beginning is simply what being a beginner looks like.
You don’t have to be extraordinary on your first day.
You just have to be willing to learn.

What If I Never Become Professional?

This is where I want to be especially honest with you. You might work incredibly hard and still not become a professional footballer.

for example I still cannot do the simple “Around The World” trick. I tried hard and harder and harderrrrr but still no change.

That possibility exists.
And saying that doesn’t mean I am trying to destroy your dream.
I am trying to protect something even more important:
your understanding of your own worth.
Your worth cannot depend on whether a club selects you.
It cannot depend on whether you score the winning goal. It cannot depend on whether someone calls you talented. And it cannot depend on whether you eventually play professionally.

Maybe football teaches you lessons that you carry into a completely different career.
The destination may change.
But the journey can still matter.
So Why Try?

If success isn’t guaranteed, why should you even try?
Because sometimes the biggest regret isn’t failing.
Sometimes it is wondering:
“What could I have become if I had given myself a chance?”
You don’t have to know that you will succeed before you begin. You only need enough courage to begin without knowing. There is a difference between saying:
“I know I will become a professional footballer.”
and saying:
“I don’t know what will happen, but I am going to give this my best.”

The second one is not weakness.

It is courage.
Your Background Is Not Your Entire Future
Maybe you come from a place where football opportunities for girls are limited.
Maybe nobody in your family has played professionally.
Maybe you don’t know anyone in the football world.
Maybe you have never seen someone who looks like you achieve the dream you have.
That can make a dream feel impossible.
But remember:

Not seeing a path does not always mean there is no path.
Sometimes the path has not been built yet.
And sometimes, the people who take the first steps help create it for the girls who come after them.

Women’s football has grown through people creating opportunities, supporting girls’ participation, and building structures that did not always exist before. Organizations such as FIFA now have programs specifically aimed at increasing girls’ and women’s participation and strengthening women’s football development.

That progress matters.
But there is still work to do.
And perhaps some of that work will be done by your generation. You Don’t Have to Prove Everyone Wrong. This is something I want you to remember. You don’t have to become a footballer just to prove somebody wrong.You don’t have to become famous so that people who doubted you will regret doubting you.
Your dream should belong to you. Play because you love the game.
Work because you want to improve.
Try because you want to discover what you are capable of.
And if your dream changes one day, that is okay too. Changing your dream does not mean you failed.

That is exactly what I did.

Growing means discovering more about yourself. Maybe the Question Is Different
Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question.
Instead of:
“Can I really become a footballer?”
Maybe ask:
“What can I become if I give myself a real chance?”
That question is different.
It doesn’t promise you a trophy. It doesn’t promise you a contract. It doesn’t promise that everyone will applaud you.
It simply gives you permission to try, a permission to know who you really are.
And sometimes, that is where everything begins.

If You Are Starting With Almost Nothing Start with what you have. Learn what you can. Practice when you can. Find people who encourage you. Look for safe opportunities to play. Take your education seriously. Take care of your body. Learn from better players. Accept correction. Celebrate improvement. And when one door closes, don’t immediately decide that your entire dream is over. Look for another door.
Sometimes the route to a goal is not straight.
Sometimes you have to wait.
Sometimes you have to change direction.
Sometimes you have to begin again.
But beginning again is still beginning.

And If You Fail?
Then learn.
If you are rejected, learn.
If you make mistakes, learn.
If you lose a match, learn.
If your first opportunity doesn’t work out, learn.
Failure can hurt.
Disappointment can hurt.
But neither one has to become the final sentence of your story.
A single result cannot tell you the whole story of who you are.
So, Can It Really Be Real?
Yes.
But not because I can promise you success.
I can’t. No one honestly can. it can be real because girls have dreams, girls can train, girls can compete, girls can improve, girls can create opportunities, and women’s football continues to grow.
And it can be real because you are allowed to try.
Maybe your dream will take you somewhere you never imagined.
Maybe it will take longer than you expected.
Maybe it will change.
Maybe you will succeed in the exact way you imagined.
Maybe you won’t.
But if you never try, you will never know.
So don’t ask yourself to guarantee the future.
Ask yourself for something much simpler:
“Will I give myself a chance?”
If your answer is yes, then take the first step.
Not because you know exactly where it will lead.
But because sometimes you have to take the first step before you can see the road.
And perhaps, one day, you will look back at the girl who was afraid to begin and realize:
She didn’t know whether she would make it.
She just decided that her dream was worth trying for.
And that was enough to begin.

A Note From ME to You

First, answer this question for me “ Do You Really Want To Be That Girl You Are Dreaming Of?”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Then the obstacles you are facing should never be something to stop you from being that girl.

like never, never and ever.

Run like you only have one day to live.

how would you study at the final night before an exam.

if you really, really want it DO it like you have no other choose than that,

like someone will kill you if you do not do it, only if you really want it.

Your goal is yours.
Give it a chance.

Chapter 7: I Will.
There are moments when saying “I will” is harder than saying “I want to.”

“ I want to be a Doctor”

“ I want to be a Police”
“I want to become a footballer.”
“I want to play for my country.”
“I want to play in a stadium.”
“I want to inspire girls.”
Those are dreams.
But then comes the harder sentence:

“I will.”
I will try.
I will practice.
I will learn.
I will keep going.
I will give myself a chance.
And suddenly, the dream isn’t just something you imagine anymore. It becomes something you are willing to work toward. I Will Even If I’m Afraid
I don’t want you to think that courage means never being afraid.
You may be afraid.
You may wonder what people will say. You may be nervous the first time you step onto a team.
You may worry that you aren’t good enough. You may be scared of failing. You may even wonder whether your dream is too big. That’s okay.
You don’t have to wait until fear disappears.
You can say:
“I am afraid, but I will try.”
That is courage.
I Will Start , I will stop waiting for the perfect moment. I will start with what I have. all I have is a ball, I will start with a ball.
If I have a small space to practice, I will use it safely.
If I have friends who want to play, I will play with them.
If I have a school team, I will ask about joining.
If I don’t know something, I will learn.
I don’t need to have the whole journey planned before taking the first step.
Sometimes the first step teaches you what the second step should be.
I Will Learn
I will not expect myself to be perfect.
I will make mistakes.
I will miss passes.
I will make poor decisions.
I will have bad days.
I will sometimes lose.
And instead of asking only,
“Why am I not good enough?”
I will ask,
“What can I learn from this?”
A mistake can become a lesson.
A difficult training session can become experience.
A disappointing match can show me what I need to improve.
I will not allow one bad day to convince me that I am incapable of having a good future.
I Will Practice When Nobody Is Watching
It is easy to work hard when everyone is watching.
It is harder when nobody is.
There may be days when nobody congratulates you.
Nobody takes a photograph.
Nobody tells you that you are improving.
Nobody knows how hard you are trying.
Those days still count.
The quiet work counts.
The small improvements count.
The ordinary days count.
Because becoming better is not always dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like doing the same basic skill again and again until it becomes better.
Sometimes progress is so small that you don’t notice it until months later.
So I will keep working, even when the work is invisible.
I Will Not Let Other People’s Opinions Become My Identity
Someone may tell me:
“Football isn’t for girls.”
Someone may laugh.
Someone may say I should choose something else.
Someone may doubt me.
Someone may tell me that my dream is unrealistic.
I will listen carefully enough to learn when advice is useful.
But I will not allow every opinion to become my identity.
Other people can have opinions about me.
They don’t get to decide who I become.
I know that I still have things to learn.
I know that I am not perfect.
But I also know that I deserve the opportunity to discover what I can do.
I Will Respect My Education Too
I will not forget that I am more than a footballer.
My education matters.
My future matters.
My health matters.
My family matters.
My character matters.
I will not believe that I have to destroy one part of my life to build another.
I will learn to manage my time.
I will study.
I will train when I can.
I will rest when I need to.
I will take care of myself.
Because chasing a dream should help me become a stronger and wiser person — not make me forget everything else that matters.
I Will Ask for Opportunities
Sometimes opportunities don’t simply appear.
Sometimes you have to ask.
I will ask:
“Can I join?”
“Can I try?”
“Is there a team?”
“Can you teach me?”
“What can I improve?”
“What opportunities are available?”
Maybe the answer will be yes.
Maybe it will be no.
But I will not reject myself before someone else even gets the chance to answer.
A “no” can hurt.
But asking gives me something that never asking can never give me:
a chance.
I Will Try Again
There may be a day when I don’t make the team.
There may be a day when I lose.
There may be a day when someone better than me gets the opportunity I wanted.
There may be a day when I feel like giving up.
On that day, I will remember something:
One result is not my entire story.
I can rest.
I can be disappointed.
I can cry.
I can think.
And then, when I am ready, I can ask:
“What now?”
Maybe I need more practice.
Maybe I need a different opportunity.
Maybe I need to improve one specific skill.
Maybe I need to change my approach.
Trying again does not mean pretending that failure didn’t hurt.
It means deciding that the hurt will not be the end of my story.
I Will Remember Why I Started
There will be moments when football becomes difficult.
When that happens, I will remember why I started.
Maybe it was because I loved the feeling of having a ball at my feet.
Maybe it was because football made me feel free.
Maybe I loved playing with my friends.
Maybe I wanted to prove to myself that I could.
Maybe I wanted to become the role model I never had.
Maybe I simply loved the game.
Whatever my reason is, I will remember it.
Because sometimes the reason we begin is what helps us continue.
I Will Not Promise That I Will Win
This is important.
I will not promise myself that I will become famous.
I will not promise myself that I will become a professional.
I will not promise myself that I will win every match.
I cannot control all of that.
Instead, I will make promises I can actually keep.
I will give myself a chance.
I will keep learning.
I will work toward my goal.
I will accept that progress takes time.
I will respect myself whether I win or lose.
Those are promises worth making.
I Will Make Room for Other Girls
If I find a place on the field, I will remember the girl who is still standing outside it.
If I learn something, I will share it.
If I become confident, I will encourage someone who is still afraid.
If I get an opportunity, I will look for ways to help create more opportunities.
Because my goal does not have to end with me.
Maybe one day another girl will say:
“I started playing because I saw her.”
And I hope that when that happens, I will understand how powerful that is.
I Will Become Who I Can Become
Maybe the girl reading this wants to become a footballer.
Maybe she will.
Maybe she won’t.
Maybe her dream will change.
Maybe football will lead her somewhere she never expected.
And that’s okay.
The promise isn’t:
“I will become exactly what I imagined.”
The promise is:
“I will give myself the opportunity to discover what I can become.”
That is a much bigger promise.
Because you don’t know what you are capable of until you give yourself the chance to find out.
I Will
So, this is my promise.
Not to the crowd.
Not to the coach.
Not to the people who believe in me.
Not even to the people who doubt me.
To myself.
I will begin.
I will learn.
I will practice.
I will ask.
I will listen.
I will improve.
I will rest.
I will try again.
I will make mistakes.
I will learn from them.
I will celebrate small victories.
I will accept difficult days.
I will protect my education.
I will take care of myself.
I will respect my teammates.
I will respect my opponents.
I will respect the game.
And when someone tells me that my dream is too big, I will not need to argue with them.
I will simply keep walking.
Because I don’t need everyone to believe in my dream.
I need to believe enough to take the next step.:

And If One Day I Reach the Goal…
If one day I walk onto a professional field, I will remember the girl who once wondered whether it could ever happen.
If one day I wear my country’s jersey, I will remember the days when that dream seemed impossibly far away.
If one day people know my name, I will remember when nobody did.
But if I never reach that exact destination, I will still be proud that I tried.
Because the goal was never only the trophy.
It was never only the stadium.
It was never only the applause.
The goal was to become brave enough to pursue something I cared about.
And perhaps that is what Her Goal is really about.
Not guaranteeing the destination.
But choosing to take the journey.

I WILL.
I will give myself a chance.
I will not let fear make every decision for me.
I will learn from every step.
I will keep my dreams, but I will also stay open to where life takes me.
I will not measure my worth by one result.
I will remember the girls who came before me.
I will make the road easier for the girls who come after me.
And whatever my future becomes…
I will know that I was brave enough to try.
That is my promise.
I WILL________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Chapter 8: What They Wish They Had Done

In this chapter I want to share with you what professional Footballers once sayied about the things they wish they had done. so it is not directly my opinion but the lesson what they want to teach us.

1. Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)
The Deep Regret: Listening to societal pressure and her family’s early disapproval.

Oshoala grew up in an orthodox, Muslim home in Lagos where women playing football was heavily stigmatized. Her parents strongly disapproved of her playing street football, pushing her to focus entirely on school. For a long time, she allowed their disapproval to fill her with guilt, fear, and hesitation, keeping her from pursuing professional setups earlier. She regrets allowing that collective skepticism to slow down her initial trajectory.

What She Said: Reflecting on her youth and her foundation work with CAF TV, she noted:

“I had to fight my family. My parents didn’t want me to play… I faced a lot of criticisms from people around me, saying football is not for girls. If I could go back, I would tell my younger self to stand firm earlier and not let the guilt of disobeying them weigh me down. We are born leaders, we are born winners.”

The Lesson: Do not sacrifice your destiny to please your critics even if those critics are your family. Oshoala’s primary lesson is that the guilt of going against tradition is temporary, but the regret of letting others kill your dream is permanent.



2. General African International Players (Anonymized for Safety)

The Deep Regret: Waiting for traditional scouts and expecting broken regional systems to advance their careers.

What They Said: Players emphasize taking proactive control rather than waiting for opportunities, with full insights and quotes available in the referenced source.
The Lesson: Be your own agent and media company. Players must record their footage and market themselves directly.



3. Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene (Nigeria)

The Deep Regret: Hiding personal choices and delaying motherhood out of fear of career retaliation.
What Happened & What Was Said: Okobi faced harsh pushback after returning from childbirth, highlighting systemic pressure that forces athletes to compromise their personal lives for sports federations.

The Lesson: Never compromise your human identity for a jersey. Players must demand better infrastructure and protect their personal timelines.

4. Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa)

The Deep Regret: Letting public criticism break her focus and hiding raw emotion during personal grief.
What She Said: Kgatlana reflected on playing through the loss of family members while managing ruthless criticism, noting that hiding her trauma nearly broke her. Full statements can be found via Sowetan Live and CAF media.

The Lesson: Grit does not mean silence. Acknowledging pain and setting boundaries are vital for mental well-being.

Summary Checklist of Career Lessons
Own Your Image: Do not wait for a scout or a federation connection. Record your footage and market yourself directly.
Defy Doubters Early: Familial and societal expectations will stall your peak athletic years if you let them.
Protect Your Boundaries: Your personal development, mental health, and family planning should never be bartered away for a sports contract.

Chapter 9: Her Story

A footballer is never just a name on a shirt. Behind every name is a beginning.

let us all together read and learn something from HER..

Loza Abera: From a Small Field in Durame to Professional Football

Loza Abera Geinore is an Ethiopian professional footballer whose story began far away from the biggest football stadiums. Born on 2 October 1997 in Durame, southern Ethiopia, Loza started playing football when she was about six years old. She grew up near a football field, and that field became an important part of her childhood. As she later explained, “I believe that field impacted me. It was right in front of our house.”

When Loza was young, there were very few girls playing football in her area. She was often the only girl playing with boys in neighborhood and school matches. She later explained that although girls had played before her, it was not common and girls were not always accepted. Despite this, she continued playing because she loved the game.
Her dream was already clear when she was young. In an earlier interview, Loza said that she had “always had a big dream of becoming a footballer since childhood.” She also explained that her community encouraged young people to focus on education, but the football fields around her helped draw her toward the sport.

Her opportunity came when she was around 15. She joined Hawassa City, beginning her professional club career in 2012. She spent two years there and became the team’s leading scorer in both seasons. In 2014, she moved to Dedebit, where her goals continued to make her one of the most successful players in Ethiopian women’s football.
Loza’s success was not only about football. She also cared about her education. During her time at Dedebit, she chose to finish high school before fully moving on to the next stage of her career. She later studied at Addis Ababa University. Her story therefore shows that pursuing a football dream does not have to mean giving up education.

She eventually played outside Ethiopia, including in Sweden and Malta. Her time abroad was not always easy or permanent. Some opportunities did not work out, and she returned to Ethiopia before continuing to search for another opportunity. In Malta, however, she became the league’s leading scorer in her first season, scoring 30 goals in 12 appearances.
Her biggest breakthrough came in the United States. In September 2024, Loza signed with DC Power FC in the USL Super League. The club described her signing as the first contract for an Ethiopian-born woman in a first-division professional women’s football league in the United States. For Loza, this was the realization of a dream she had talked about when she was much younger.

Looking back, she remembered telling her friends, “I will be the first woman professional international player.” At the time, she said, “No one believed me.” Years later, she had actually reached the kind of professional international football career she had imagined.
But Loza does not see her achievement as being only about herself. She has spoken about wanting her career to create opportunities for other Ethiopian players. In a later interview, she explained that playing abroad is important not only for her, but because it can help open opportunities for other Ethiopian footballers. She said she has worked with agents to help players find opportunities abroad and hopes a system for Ethiopian players to do so will develop.
She has also given advice to young female footballers. In one interview, she encouraged aspiring players to avoid things that can harm their health, choose the right path, not give up, set goals, and face challenges with perseverance.

Her journey has included many different stages: playing on a field near her home in Durame, becoming a professional player in Ethiopia, representing the national team, playing abroad, experiencing setbacks, trying again, and eventually reaching professional football in the United States.

Loza’s story is important because she did not begin with everything already prepared for her. She began with a football field near her home and a dream that other people did not always understand. Her journey does not mean that every girl who dreams of football will have the same path. Instead, it shows what can happen when a person continues developing their ability, takes opportunities seriously, learns from setbacks, and refuses to give up on a goal.
For a girl reading this book who dreams of becoming a footballer, perhaps the most important part of Loza’s story is not where she is today. It is where she started.

A small field. A young girl. A dream that other people did not believe in.
And eventually, that dream took her far beyond the field she grew up beside.

Loza Abera

Asisat Oshoala : A Girl Who Refused to Give Up on Football

Asisat Lamina Oshoala is one of Africa’s most successful women’s footballers. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1994, she discovered her love for football as a young girl. She played football at school and on the streets, often with boys because there were few opportunities for girls around her. She later recalled that the boys would tell her to stay at the back because they did not believe she could score or dribble past defenders. In one school final, however, she dribbled past several players and scored the winning goal.

Her biggest challenge was not her ability it was getting the people around her to believe in her dream. Her parents initially wanted her to concentrate on education and did not support her playing football. She has described her parents as her biggest obstacle at the beginning of her career. She sometimes had to hide the fact that she was playing. Eventually, after her success at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, where she won both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball, her family became more accepting of her football career.

Oshoala’s career then grew rapidly. She played professionally in Nigeria before moving to Liverpool, becoming one of the first African players in top-level English women’s football. She later played for Arsenal, Dalian Quanjian in China, and FC Barcelona, where she won major trophies including the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She later moved to Bay FC in the United States.
But Oshoala’s story is not only about trophies. She has repeatedly spoken about using her success to encourage other girls. Through her foundation, she has supported opportunities for girls who want to play football. She has said that girls should “never give up” and should keep believing in themselves. She has also encouraged girls to combine football with education or another skill because football careers do not last forever.

One of her most meaningful statements about football is:

“Football means the world to me. It’s changed my life.”

She has also explained that she wants her career to be about more than personal success:

“It’s about how many people you inspire, and I want to leave a legacy.”

That idea makes Oshoala’s story especially powerful for HER GOAL. She did not begin with everyone’s support. She began as a girl who simply loved football and had to prove that her dream was worth pursuing. Years later, she became someone other girls could look at and think, “Maybe I can do it too.”

Her story teaches an important lesson as well:

sometimes the people around you may not understand your dream at first. That does not automatically mean the dream is impossible. Keep learning, keep working, listen to good advice, and continue building yourself.
Oshoala’s journey also shows that success is not only about becoming famous. It can be about opening a door for the person who comes after you.

For a young girl who loves football, her story carries a simple message: your beginning does not have to determine your ending.

Asisat Oshoala

Barbra Banda : A Dream That Kept Growing

Barbra Banda is a Zambian professional footballer who was born in Lusaka, Zambia. She started playing football when she was only six years old, inspired by her father, who became an important mentor during the early part of her career. She later joined Bauleni United Sports Academy and progressed into Zambia’s youth national teams.
Her talent quickly became clear. In 2018, she moved from Zambia to Spain to play for Logroño, becoming the first Zambian woman to play professionally in Europe. She later moved to China, where she became the Chinese Women’s Super League’s leading scorer in 2020. She then became an important player and captain for the Zambian national team.
One of the biggest moments of her career came at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she scored hat-tricks in two consecutive matches. FIFA described this as an unprecedented achievement in women’s Olympic football at the time. She later scored the 1,000th goal in FIFA Women’s World Cup history during Zambia’s 2023 World Cup match against Costa Rica.
In 2024, Banda joined Orlando Pride in the United States. That season, she helped the club win the NWSL Championship and was named the league’s MVP. She also finished as the second-highest scorer at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

But what makes Banda’s story especially is what she says about young girls who dream of football. After receiving the BBC Player of the Year award, she encouraged young African girls to “keep that dream and work hard”, saying that dreams can come true. She also tells young people that they should chase their dreams because the journey is not easy, but “hard work and determination always pays off.”

Earlier in her career, she also spoke about the importance of discipline, saying after her remarkable Olympic performances that she still had a long way to go as a player and “just have to be disciplined.”

Banda’s story is not simply about goals and records. It is about starting young, learning from coaches, taking opportunities, working hard, and continuing to dream bigger. She once said, “I am aiming to become the best footballer in the world.”

Today, Banda is also conscious of the example she sets for young people. She has said that being a role model is important because many young girls and boys in Zambia look up to her. Her message is simple: chase your dreams, work hard, stay determined, and keep believing.
For a girl reading HER GOAL, Barbra Banda’s journey gives a powerful reminder: you don’t have to know exactly how your dream will happen. You just have to keep working toward it, one step at a time.

Barbra Banda

Thembi Kgatlana — The Girl Who Chose Her Own Path

Thembi Kgatlana is a South African professional footballer, born on 2 May 1996 in Mohlakeng, South Africa. Her love for football began when she was a child. When she was about eight years old, she decided to join a football practice with boys from her school. In her hometown, it was unusual for girls to play football, so she knew people would notice her. She remembered wondering, “What will people think?” But she went onto the field anyway.

That decision became the beginning of an extraordinary journey. The young Thembi continued playing football and eventually developed into a talented forward. She studied at the University of the Western Cape and played for its women’s team. She later played professionally in countries including the United States, China, Portugal and Spain.

In 2018, Kgatlana had a breakthrough year. She was named CAF African Women’s Footballer of the Year, Player of the Tournament at the Africa Women Cup of Nations, and the tournament’s top scorer. She also won CAF’s Goal of the Year award.
Her achievements continued with the South African national team. At the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, South Africa made its first appearance at the tournament, and Kgatlana scored the country’s first-ever Women’s World Cup goal, against Spain.

But her journey was not only about goals and awards. Kgatlana has spoken openly about the challenges of trying to build a football career as a Black female athlete from a township. She once said, “I had to learn to rise above all negative things to reach my dreams.” She also said that she hoped her success would “inspire and serve as a beacon of hope to all young women.”
Her story also shows the importance of believing in your own path. In a football story about her childhood, she gave young people this message: “Don’t let someone else choose for you what you want to do with your career.”

Kgatlana has also faced setbacks. In 2022, while injured, she watched South Africa win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations from the sidelines. Instead of stepping away from her teammates, she supported them throughout the tournament and described herself as their biggest cheerleader.
Her career continued to grow. At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she helped South Africa reach the knockout stage for the first time, scoring the dramatic late winner against Italy that sent her country through.

Thembi’s story is powerful because it began with a simple decision: she wanted to play football, even when it was unusual for a girl in her community. She did not know exactly where that decision would take her. She simply stepped onto the field.
Her message to young people is equally important: “Your journey is your journey. Embrace it, and live life to the fullest. Never compare yourself to anyone.”

her story gives us an important lesson: sometimes the first step toward a dream is simply refusing to let other people’s expectations decide what you are allowed to love.

Thembi Kgatlana

One day your story will also be written like this. maybe as a footballer or as a doctor, as a pilot, as a swimmer and the list goes on ……………. But until that day you have to try, fail, try, fail, try , fail and fail and again and again until you reach itJ

Chapter 10: A Hope, A wish and Her Goal

Why do I wrote this book?

This book is not something you read and become a footballer. It is just to show you what might be waiting for you, prepare you and help you if you are facing challenges.

I wrote this book, to share you my little experience, my thought and things I find useful.

The things that inspired me to write this book are the fact that I grow up hearing to people saying some specific dreams only belong boys and men. why do we need to make gender specific rules, customs and culture that harms millions of people when we could just live peacefully?

Football is not the only thing that is considered as a man thing to do, but other sports and professions as well.

Every human being needs to get a chance to work for their dreams. If there is no chances then do not be an obstacle for them to create it for themselves.

I want to start my own football training project for Ethiopian girls. I do not want it to start with 1,000 girls or have fancy materials. I just want to help young girls reach their dreams. I would not search for talented girls. I would search for girls with a dream. the talent comes later when she gets the opportunity to train.

One thing I notice In many clubs or even small training centers is that they only search for promising, talented girls. but what about the girls who have dreams and goals. I know that they will become better and earn that talent themselves.

My story Time J

Hiiii, as you already know my name is Rebecca Tadesse.

I cannot share detail things about me but I will try to be as clear as possible. Let’s start:

I was born in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. I am currently 15 years old, Basically in grade 10.

Yap, simple like that but there was always something special inside me, Football.

I mean you also love football that is why you are here. So we all are special.

I started playing football when I was very young like every kid. We mostly used to play at school, but that small game grow in to something big in my heart. It became a big dream, future hope and something that I want to do 24/7.

At that time I did not know anything about being in a club or playing professionally. all I did was just play. play at home, play at school, play everywhere where there is something to kick and a small space. It always does not have to be a professional ball that we play with. It can be a plastic bottle, a small ball made up of socks, a small rock, just anything we found.

I wanted to be a footballer soooooo… bad. But sometimes life does not have to go to in the path they we wanted or expected it to go. Maybe there is something God has planed for us bigger that what we have imagined.

I faced some challenges and those challenges helped me to discover another thing inside me. So I hope this book will either help you to become what you want or help you discover another thing inside you, like I did.

But to be honest I still have the dream of becoming a footballer inside my heart (:

A HOPE

I believe every girl have all right to be what she want:

Maybe a doctor

A lawyer

An engineer

A chafe

A business woman

Anything she wants, And being A Footballer is one example.

A hope, that I have for you is not to a wish for you to become a footballer but to be someone who you wanted to be. Something that you will never get bored of, something that will be told by your great grand children.

You do not have to discover it now, tomorrow, after tomorrow, or after a week. Just give your self a time and an opportunity to discover it. Take your time to get to know yourself. know and understand who you are. That is what it takes.

This is book was not written by a professional football player or someone who already did it, this book is a collection of others story to inspire you, researches to increase your knowledge on the past and current history of woman football, and my ideas.

I hope you love and get a lot of things from it.

See you in the stadium.

References

I have used AI assistances, reliable internet sources and other for grammar check, spelling editor, help me write, researches and other thing so it is better to know and check them:

FIFA — Women’s Football
FIFA Publications — Women’s Football⁠
FIFA Publications
FIFA — Women’s Football 2021
FIFA Publications — Women’s Football 2021⁠
Particularly useful for statistics, professionalization, development and African women’s football.
FIFA Publications
FIFA — CAF/FIFA Women’s Football Strategy in Africa
FIFA — CAF-FIFA workshop on women’s football strategy⁠
Good source for the development and challenges of women’s football in Africa.
Inside FIFA
CAF — Women’s Africa Cup of Nations history
CAF — WAFCON milestones and history⁠
Excellent for the history of the African women’s game and WAFCON.
Confederation Africaine de Football
CAF — African women’s football pioneers
CAF — African Women’s Football pioneers⁠
Useful for stories about pioneers and the evolution of women’s football in Africa.
Confédération Africaine de Football
CAF — Evolution of women’s football in Africa / Desiree Ellis
CAF — Desiree Ellis on African women’s football⁠
Confédération Africaine de Football
Taylor & Francis — History of women’s football in Nigeria
International Journal of the History of Sport — Media Framing of Women’s Football in Nigeria⁠
Taylor & Francis Online
Taylor & Francis — Development of African women’s football
Soccer & Society — Football feminine: Development of the African game⁠
Academic research examining women’s football in countries including Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa.
Taylor & Francis Online
ResearchGate — Women, Football and Protests in Eastern Nigeria
ResearchGate — Feet on the Ball, Minds on Their Rights⁠
A newer historical study covering women, football, colonialism and resistance in Nigeria.
ResearchGate
PubMed — Research on African women’s football
PubMed — Research agenda for COSAFA women’s football⁠
Useful for understanding current research into women’s football in Southern Africa.
PubMed
Western Sydney University — Women coaches in African football
Western Sydney University — Women coaches and African football⁠
Western Sydney University
For the historical Nigeria section
Wikipedia — Women’s football in Nigeria
Women’s football in Nigeria⁠
Wikipedia
Wikipedia — Bans of women’s association football
Bans of women’s association football⁠
And others.