By Esther Egbe
Meet Mercy Akide-Udoh, the first ever African Woman Player of the Year, and the first African woman to earn a soccer scholarship to the United States, is creating a pathway for young girls to follow in her footsteps, Salient Times Newspaper gathered.
Under her Play2Learn initiative, Akide-Udoh recently organized two training camps, in Port Harcourt and Uyo, to identify, develop and select young girls between the ages of 15 and 20, who can qualify for scholarships to US colleges.
According to Akide-Udoh, who is also the first ever African woman to play professional football abroad when she played for the San Diego Spirit in the WUSA league, young girls deserve as much of a chance as boys.
“Girls do not get the same kind of opportunities as boys have. My goal with this project is to empower and educate the girl child so they can have better opportunities in life.
“Football helped open opportunities for me by giving me a scholarship to the USA and that made me a better person overall. I want to see more young girls follow in the same pathway because when you empower the girl child, you empower the family, you empower the community, you grow the economy.”
Over 200 girls turned out for both camps, and the former CAF player of the hear said she was impressed by the performances
“The girls were very enthusiastic and I saw a few talented ones. I must confess that I did not see a D1 talent, but a couple of them could make D2 and D3 schools. We now have to take the videos back and evaluate them with the coaches and see who makes it.”
At the Port Harcourt camp, Prof Owunari Georgewill, Vice Chancelor of the University of Port Harcourt where the event was held, advised the girls to take advantage of the opportunity
“It is rare that an opportunity like this presents itself. Usually, what you see are agents looking to take players and make money, or carry young girls off for sex trafficking. But we know that when somebody of this caliber comes around, it is for good. This is a rare opportunity that you should do you best to grab with both hands.”
At the Uyo camp, Hon Kufre Edidem, Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly was present.”We are honored to have Mercy Akide in our midst offering such a great opportunity to our young girls to have a better life.
“We are ready to support and ensure that we help in any way we can, because not many people will offer such a great pathway to a better life. She was a great player in her day, and she is proving to be an even greater legend now off the field.”
Akide-Udoh said the event would be an annual one, with the next camps scheduled for the summer of 2025.
According to Mercy, women are certain to support and develop their home once they have a good fortune.“My late mother was my biggest supporter when I was going through difficult moments as a footballer. I want to help the little girl have the opportunity to better their lives, get an education, and also play the Sports that they love.”
