12 girls and 2 coaches from the slums of Mumbai, India, returned home after spending two highly successful weeks at a football training camp in Moraga, California recently.
This trip was part of an exchange programme between the Laureus-supported Magic Bus project and the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy, the football training camp founded by the former US national team captain.
The Magic Bus girls prepared to play football with their US peers
To the Mumbai girls, this trip was much more than just mastering football drills. Coming from a country where girls playing football is not widely accepted, the girls learned lessons of leadership and self-confidence through the football exercises and in mixing with the 100 American girls, who also participated in the camp.
The Magic Bus women's football team at the Julie Foudy Leadership Academy
Tutor Mira Ahmad was the one who witnessed the progress of the Indian girls after only five days at the Academy when the Magic Bus girls all ran around talking and chilling out with their new Californian friends and having the time of their life.
Mira remembered how shy these Magic Bus girls had been on the first day and how hard it was to push them to speak their limited English with their US peers. However, after doing team building and leadership activities via playing great soccer, “they were not afraid of the mistakes they were making. They are babbling away in Hinglish (Hindi/English) and making friends,” said Mira.
What better results can we ask for? We are proud of these kids who are riding the Magic Bus. As Mira said: “For those of us who have tried and tried again with little success, we know that making a mistake and taking that first step is the best way to get the ball rolling.”
