Story
In Haitian culture, girls aren’t encouraged to play sports. They’ve had no access to sports programs, and have never experienced the comradery, skills, and confidence that comes with being part of a team.
When I was competing in Ms. World America and Ms. World International, it was brought to my attention that the National Youth Football League of Haiti had 1,800 boys signed up to play soccer and zero girls. I immediately knew that I wanted to change this statistic.
Growing up, I loved playing sports – including fast pitch, gymnastics, and soccer – and it saddened me that so many girls in Haiti were missing out on this amazing experience.
I took on a volunteer role as the U.S. Ambassador for the National Youth Football League of Haiti, which helps impoverished children from ages six to 18 to play soccer at no cost. I knew the first thing I had to do was educate moms about the importance of their daughters playing in team sports, to help get them on board.
I met with Haitian mothers and shared my own positive experience playing sports. I told them that I’m a mother myself, who owns her own business and is educated, and how playing sports when I was young helped me become a better team player throughout my life and contributed to my success.
I also wanted them to understand that sports could open a world of opportunities for their children and families. If their daughters were good at soccer, they could get scouted which might give them the opportunity to move their families to countries like Canada or the United Kingdom where they would have better access to jobs, housing, and food.
In my mind, I also knew that playing sports was a gateway to an education. Sports has a special way of boosting someone’s confidence, which fuels an internal drive in them to set goals and persevere – which they need when they are learning something that might be difficult, like learning to read or write.
Impact
My pitch to Haitian moms was a success, and I was able to get 144 girls signed up for the National Youth Football League of Haiti. I also recruited sponsors through my social media outreach.
The girls were able to get beautiful uniforms and medical treatment covered in case they got injured, and meals for after the games. So far, I have made five trips to Haiti to watch them play, and it has been so touching to be there cheering them on. These girls have begun to feel empowered, and part of a team.
Their newfound confidence has motivated a lot of them to go back to school, which has given them the opportunity to read and write and opened their career options beyond the sex trade – which sadly, is a common way for Haitian girls to make money.
I continue to serve as U.S. Ambassador for the National Youth Football League of Haiti because I want to show these young women that I believe in them. They never had anyone who believed in them growing up, and I understand that feeling. But when I found a mentor early in my career, that person believed in me which gave me that boost to work harder and set my dreams high. It makes a world of difference when you know that somebody believes in you, and I want to be that mentor for these girls.