Oct. 7, 2008
By Stephanie Libes, Penn State Athletic Communications Student Assistant
Many Latin American countries have male-dominated cultures that view sports as too dangerous or unbecoming of women. These countries have few resources and even fewer opportunities for girls to play. Nicaragua is no exception.
Within Nicaragua, many girls lack role models in the world of sports. They do not have encouraging coaches and parents. With the lack of support, most girls lose interest in sports at a time in their development when the physical, mental and social benefits would be most powerful.
However, with the help of dedicated athletes from the United States, Nicaragua is slowly making steps toward change. These steps are pushed further ahead with the help of Penn State women's soccer assistant coach Ann Cook.
Last spring, Cook took a weeklong trip to Granada, Nicaragua with Soccer Without Borders, a non-profit organization that uses soccer as a tool for youth development. The program works with disadvantaged youth throughout the world who, due to a variety of social and economic factors, do not have access to quality sport and educational opportunities.
"Soccer Without Borders is not a one size fits all project," said Cook. "Members of the organization's team will go into a country and figure out how they can reach the youth in the area and what that area needs the most. Then they tailor a program based on those needs. Soccer Without Borders is great because it gives to kids that aren't touched by other things."
Cook learned about Soccer Without Borders through her friend, Dartmouth assistant soccer coach Mary McVeigh, who she knows through the women's soccer recruiting trail. The two share a similar interest in the broader sociological reach of sports and youth development, and often discussed ways to give back to the sport that they both love. When McVeigh learned about Soccer Without Borders, she immediately knew that Cook would be an ideal resource and volunteer.
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McVeigh was right. Cook was excited to become a part of this organization and booked her flight to Nicaragua.
When Cook arrived in Nicaragua she learned that there is not enough classroom space for kids to go to school all day. Therefore, Cook ran a camp in the morning for girls who had school in the afternoon and ran a camp in the afternoon for girls who had school in the morning. All in all, she was able to teach about 70 girls the basics of how to play soccer.
"The other great part about Soccer Without Borders is that they try to make it sustainable for the people in the community," said Cook.
Besides coaching girls, Cook ran a coaches clinic where she taught interested adults in the area the basics on how to teach soccer to young women.
"All of us volunteers were women and all of the coaches we were teaching were men and in that culture, I was unsure if they would listen to us and learn from us," said Cook. "But they were awesome. I think the fact that the men were so receptive to our instruction gave me hope that things can change. That possibly, looking forward, they will really embrace the need for girls to be involved in sports be it soccer or something else."
Cook's work in Nicaragua was looked at with praise by other volunteers in Nicaragua.
"Ann's positive energy, wealth of experience and natural leadership ability allowed us to host an incredibly unique coaches' clinic," said McVeigh. "Her ability both as a player and a coach garnered instant respect from an audience of Nicaraguan men, creating a cultural role-reversal that we hope planted a seed for the future of girls' soccer."
Besides teaching soccer, Soccer Without Borders faced another problem; there is a tremendous lack of resources in Granada. Most coaches are only given one ball for their teams to practice with all year. If something happens to that ball, they are out of luck.
"I get angry when I don't have 50 Nike soccer balls to work with and they maybe have one ball if they are fortunate. That was a real unique challenge," said Cook.
To help alleviate some of the strain, Cook brought a bunch of coaches' kits. Each kit included 4 soccer balls, 10 pinnies, and 10 cones. However, much more equipment is necessary.
Upon Cook's return to Penn State, she instituted an equipment drive at all of the women's soccer home games this season. All of the equipment that is accumulated will be taken back to Nicaragua by Cook in January, and will be distributed to female teams.
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"Simple things like shoes and balls are so important; it's stuff that we take for granted. I know I do," said Cook. "Before I went to Nicaragua I had like four pairs of old soccer shoes in my closet that I didn't wear anymore. Most of us tend to do that."
Cook's spring break trip was the first of many to come, and she's not the only one at Penn State to get involved with Soccer Without Borders' Nicaraguan program.
"Our vision is for Mary and me to go a couple times a year and then each spring break period I hope to go down for a week or two with some of my current and former players," said Cook. "We want to give college soccer players a service opportunity. An opportunity to go down there and share something that they are passionate about and knowledgeable about with kids who would just love to have some role models."
Working with girls with so few opportunities allowed Cook to come back to the United States with perspective.
"It certainly allowed me to take a step back and say you know what this is a pretty phenomenal opportunity that these kids have and that I have," said Cook. "The fact that my salary is paid for being involved in a game that I love. It is a pretty special deal. So I think whenever you're involved in any kind of organization like this, the biggest thing you get out of it is perspective."
Although Nicaraguan women are currently restricted in jobs they take or activities they are involved in, Cook is teaching girls that it is okay to be strong, to be good and to be impressive. Hopefully, 10 or 20 years from now, the girls Cook worked with will have the confidence to make a better life for the women of Nicaragua.