Refugee experience, exclusion, lack of prospects: many girls who come to Germany from other countries feel out of place here and suffer from a lack of self-confidence. The “Scoring Girls” project wants to empower these girls – of all things through soccer training, although this is not at all welcomed in some religions and cultures.
Girls who play soccer – almost unthinkable in some religions and cultures. Parents ban their daughters from sports for fear of uprooting or the gossip of others. But more and more girls want exactly that: play football. In Germany, the sisters Maisa and Maisun from Iraq experience team spirit, joie de vivre and the long-forgotten feeling of freedom in the soccer project “Scoring Girls”. Nobody asks where they come from or tells them that their history of immigration will make it difficult for them in society.
Project founder Tugba Tekkal is certain: football can be a key to integration. As the daughter of Kurdish-Yazidi immigrants, she made her dream come true against all odds and, after years of secret training, made it to professional football and the 1st Bundesliga.
With “Scoring Girls” she now wants to empower other girls – and not only in Germany: Tugba travels to her roots, in the autonomous region of Kurdistan in Iraq. In camps where IS refugees live, but also in the big city, she wants to ensure that more and more girls can finally play soccer.