Girl Child in Nigeria in Spotlight as Asisat Oshoala, Nike & Women Win Unveil Football Academy in Lagos

Asisat Oshoala, four-time African Footballer of the Year and FC Barcelona Femení star in partnership with Nike and Women Win Thursday, June 30, unveiled and launched the ‘Asisat Oshoala Academy,’ (AOA).

Timescape Magazine understands that the AOA is designed to provide access to football and life skills for marginalized schoolgirls in Lagos.

The academy, Timescape Magazine gathered, is the latest initiative of Oshoala, former captain of Nigeria’s senior women’s team, the Super Falcons, to be used to build upon her mission of providing access to sports and education for young girls in her community.

“I have always strived to give back to the girl child in my community and I believe this football academy will provide opportunities for more girls to excel through the combination of sports and education. I want to thank our partners, Women Win and Nike for helping bring this platform to life. Together we can go further and achieve a lot more,” Oshoala said from Morrocco where she is currently on a national assignment for Nigeria within the framework of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, which begins over the weekend.

The Asisat Oshoala Foundation, established in 2015, a pet project of the football star will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the academy. Women Win, the Amsterdam-based Global Women’s Fund dedicated to advancing girls and women’s rights, will bring their expertise to the academy’s development.

“Women Win is very proud and excited to be partnering with our longtime partner Nike, Asisat and the Asisat Oshoala Academy to leverage the power of sport to support girls in Nigeria to become better equipped to exercise their rights. This partnership and program will be key in ensuring that girls can thrive as they face the most pressing issues of adolescence and realize their inherent leadership potential,” said Yvonne Henry, Women Win, Brands Director.

Timescape Magazine can report that the AOA will provide 30 girls (ages 12 – 18) with access to 90 minutes of football training three times a week. The program will be complemented with life skills education covering a range of empowerment and rights-based topics. Graduates from the academy will be encouraged to convert their leadership skills to make a positive impact in their respective communities.

In addition to the weekly programming, the academy will host 4 ‘She Plays’ events a year. These events will broaden the reach of the academy’s activities and will host up to 100 schoolgirls, ages 12 to 18 years, every session. 

The Asisat Oshoala Foundation, which was launched in 2015, is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization, established with the mission to give hope to the girl-child through education and sports. 

Born of a passion for mentoring young girls to embrace education while aspiring for success through sports, the foundation has frequently collaborated with partners at home and abroad to bring the vision to actualization, including the Lagos State Government, pan-African pharmaceutical company Emzor, and African Children’s Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF). It holds an annual ‘Football4girls’ tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.

Women Win is a global women’s fund guided by the vision of a future where every girl and woman exercise their rights. Women Win and its global portfolio of local implementing partners advance the playing field that empowers adolescent girls, young women and gender non-conforming people through sport and play. Their intra and cross-sector collaborations with a wide variety of grassroots women’s organizations, corporations, development organizations, sports bodies and government agencies are essential in achieving the mission.