In an attempt to embrace female inclusivity in football, two of our female Year 11 students, Ifeoluwa Owoigbe and Munachi Emeghara pioneered a female football tournament which they tagged “Rising Female Footballers.” Their goal was to empower female football players and break gender biases in the sport.
The event was held on the 7th of October in our Lekki campus and female students from various secondary schools competed in the football tournament.
Speaking about the motive behind the tournament, Ifeoluwa said that it was held to showcase the talents that girls have. Munachi corroborated Ife’s statement and further disclosed that the tournament has come to stay and they would do their best to make it an annual event where girls would come together to display their football skills.
The tournament was organised in collaboration with our school and well supported by our girls’ parents who were in attendance at the occasion. They were full of delight as they watched their children’s vision being birthed.
According to Mrs Ayotunde Owoigbe, Ife’s mum, the vision the girls had for the tournament was in line with what they have always been taught i.e., “they can do whatever they set their hearts to do and they should remain confident” and they were happy to be a part of its success. She also noted that the parents of both girls worked together to make sure they provided all the support that the girls needed. Similarly, Mrs Joy Emeghara said that the tournament started as a mere thought in the minds of the girls and everyone worked together to produce a mind-blowing tournament.
The event had a good turnout of staff and students of our school and invited schools. Our Lekki secondary school principal, Mrs Deborah Alabi, who gave the introductory remarks, revealed that the school was proud of the girls and will continue to embrace similar initiatives that go in line with our vision which is providing a well-rounded and holistic education that cuts across education and extracurriculars like sports, arts, music etc.
Female football teams that took part in the tournament were from our school, Leadfortegate College, Lekki, Segun Odegbami International College and Sports Academy, Atlantic Hall School, Epe, Iwerekun Community Senior Secondary School, Lekki, Attwool College, Lekki, Flourish Hall School, Lekki and Corona Secondary School, Agbara.
At the end of the tournament, Greensprings School emerged winner, Corona, the first runner-up and Segun Odegbami International College, the second runner-up.
Watch the video below:
