An official soccer coaching program for incarcerated women is making waves across African correctional facilities, offering not only emotional uplift and empowerment but opening doors to career opportunities after their release. Participants in the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) Football for Reform initiative can earn their coaching certifications anonymously. Recently, 26 incarcerated women and five police officers completed the eight-day course at a correctional facility in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
“Life in prison right now, the only thing you need is respect,” Marie, whose real name was withheld by the prison authorities, told the BBC World Service. “When you [have] respect, [it is] like you are not in prison.”
Graduates of the program receive a CAF-accredited D license, qualifying them to coach grassroots soccer once released.
“It was more than the word ‘great’,” Marie said. “I am proud to get my certificate. With this coaching certificate, I want to be able to get a job.”
Isha Johansen, former president of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), launched the program after visiting the Freetown correctional facility and observing how much idle time the women had.
“I saw very young girls there, an inmate with a baby on her lap and another pregnant,” Johansen recalled. “Ninety percent of those inmates were in there because of poverty or petty crimes. They had no business being there. They are spending five, six, or eight years doing nothing. I had to make a change. I was compelled to do something, and football was a massive tool I had at my disposal.”
Since its launch, the Football for Reform initiative has expanded to Ghana, is currently underway in Liberia, and plans are in motion to roll out the program across other parts of Africa, as well as in Asia and South America. For inmates who don’t want to coach, they can sew jerseys and training bibs for football clubs throughout the country.
“What I’d like to see is when these girls go back into society, they don’t end up back in prison,” Johansen said. “When they come out, they’ve got skills. They can go to the football federation to look for a job, and they can coach in schools.”
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