SLUM SOCCER'S SHAKTI GIRLS -EMPOWERING INDIA

Slum Soccer has a track record of running local projects which help children and young people in deprived communities to develop themselves and find a route out of poverty. The Shakti Girls program has been specially developed to help young women to overcome additional barriers to their full participation in society which sadly are still too prevalent in Indian culture.

“Shakti” means power in the Marathi language which is native to Nagpurians, and the program seeks to empower participants to fulfill their potential by providing a range of opportunities for development. A key element of the program is the selection and development of girls who can take up roles as leaders within their communities, which helps to multiply the effect of the program as they reach more and more girls. The program has run successfully for two and a half years in Nagpur, with 800 cohorts of girls having graduated.

The programme includes the following components:

• Football coaching
• Workshops on specific topics
• English language teaching
• Training for community leaders

Through the programme, we impart knowledge to the girls in the following areas:

• knowledge about rights
• education and empowerment
• confidence and ability to make choices
• awareness against abuse
• appropriate nutrition
• menstrual health and hygiene
• communication and essential life skills
• health and wellness
• English language and general knowledge skill

PROJECT GOAL

The goal of the Shakti Girls project is:

“To empower 5000 adolescent girls in Nagpur by using participation in the game of football as a tool for the development of life skills, increase in knowledge about health and hygiene issues, development of social capabilities (confidence, self-belief and sense of responsibility) and improvement of their academic and sporting abilities, leading to a positive sustainable impact on girls’ parents, teachers and the wider community so that the girls can be actively associated with sports - especially soccer - without any societal constraints. 250 of the girls will be developed into community leaders and role models within their communities, creating a snowball effect and having a positive, wide and sustainable impact on the conditions of adolescent girls living in Indian cities today.”

Shakti Girls project is being run in 5 schools of Nagpur covering more than 500 girls in Nagpur.

Diving into Slum Soccer

Slum Soccer is a FIFA - awarded Football for Development organization that uses football as a tool to educate, empower and provide opportunities to diverse and underprivileged communities throughout India. Founded in 2001, Slum Soccer started with the simple idea that football promotes participation, inclusion, and unity. Today, we work with thousands of children and youth from underserved communities to increase participation in sports while creating a platform to explore social issues such as gender equality, health, education, leadership, and communication.

Through our programs, we are empowering participants to improve their conditions and strengthen their communities using sports education to drive impact.

It is a registered society and trust under the Bombay act and societies registration act Mumbai. 1860 The organisation has both FCRA and 80G and also approved by Maharashtra Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Intriguing Story of Slum Soccer

Slum Soccer was founded in 2001 by Vijay Barse, a retired sports teacher in Nagpur. Since his work was not making a huge impact on the society as a whole, he was not satisfied with it. Being a sports teacher, he knew how sports can inculcate life skills and morals into someone. It was then, through football, he reached out to children living in slums and redirected their energies from wrongdoings, including theft, addiction, etc to football.

That’s how Slum Soccer came into being.

His primary influence in starting the initiative was when he coached a few children in the nearby slums to play football.

He observed that these children would gather every weekend just for the love of football. He coached about a dozen kids in the neighboring playground and was able to see how these kids came together to learn a new sport.

He could see that the children liked having a purpose and were only too happy to find someone who could guide them. This was when he realized that football could be the means to transform the children living in the slum.

Zopadpatti football, as it was dubbed in its initial days, aimed at bringing in youngsters from underprivileged and difficult backgrounds such as drug abuse, anti-social activities, poverty, social alienation, and personal struggles.

What started as a simple weekend session coaching initiative is now an organisation with fledged football coaching camps, educational and healthcare workshops.

Today, Slum Soccer has seven programmes and has had an impact on nearly 70,000 children across six states in the country, in the past 10 years.

Societal development programmes are bringing a positive influence among men, women, and children in over 63 districts around the country.

Focus Areas

Focus areas of work include:

• Using football to teach and improve educational outcomes in schools
• Football and coach training
• Life skills development
• Talent showcase platform through the organizing of football tournaments at various levels
• Leadership development through sports
• Women empowerment through football 

Rewarding Programmes

They started various other rewarding programmes for the little magical wonders.

• Edu-Kick and School Connect

Program for young kids (Std. 3rd and 4th) using football based games to improve academic skills (specifically Math and English), apart from inculcating sports as a way of healthy life and imparting other life skills

• MHM (Menstrual Health Mgmt.)

Program for adolescent girls with specially designed activities and games (using football) to teach them about MHM and associated topics

• Community Centers

The program focused on providing a safe environment and space for children to

come together and play football and learn life skills

• Tournaments

Various themed tournaments, providing a platform to demonstrate skills while

bringing together people from diverse strata of society with a purpose

• Homeless World Cup

International platform for youngsters from Slums to represent India

: To raise funds for the unprivileged girls and empower them

: Slum Soccer is a renowned organization which has been changing lives since a long time now.