More than 5,000 girls in hundreds of teams actively play football in the region around Kilifi and Kwale. The project is co-financed by the Laureus Foundation, which supports children and adolescents through sport in over 40 countries of the world. Yet “Moving the Goalposts” is not just about kicking a ball. There are training and educational programmes teaching girls how to organise themselves. Former players have meanwhile become coaches who teach the younger girls. Moreover, the programme before every match is not just a warm-up. The coaches organise the girls into small play groups, though with a serious purpose. While at play, the aim is for them to learn things that nobody else will teach them: for example, what will happen to their bodies when they grow up, how to avoid becoming pregnant, and also what it means to be a member of a team, or speak in public.
